| Abstract: | 本計畫的研究目的是要延續目前執行中的「台灣華語子音習得：長期觀察及實驗研究」計畫，繼續探討台灣台北地區華語的幼兒對於子音習得長期發展的歷程模式。目前計畫已收集到16名幼兒，紀錄他們7個月到2歲2個月時的子音習得過程。本計畫打算進行為期兩年、大規模、有系統的繼續收集研究這群幼兒（2；3至4；2）習得個別子音的年齡層階段、子音次序及錯誤類別，研究方式擬採取長期個案追蹤觀察法。對於此項長期個案追蹤觀察的幼兒是以傳統的基本自發性語料(spontaneous speech)為收集方式，對象為目前執行中「台灣華語子音習得：長期觀察及實驗研究」計畫的16名幼兒，（6名男生，10名女生）。除了長期觀察追蹤法之外，本計畫同時打算進行兩年，採用跨年齡層大量收集的量化研究，跨年齡層的幼兒將以說故事測驗(narrative-retell)為主，對象為2歲到6歲，共計80名幼兒（2歲到6歲；40名男生，40名女生）。本研究主要的研究主題細分為四類：（1）台灣華語子音個別習得的年齡階段及習得次序；（2）台灣華語子音個別習得使用數量及穩定性；（3）台灣華語子音的習得錯誤類別; (4)台灣華語整體子音發展與其他外語比較以及音韻理論的應用。 第一研究主題為收集台灣華語子音個別習得的年齡階段以及子音的習得次序。這個研究主題希望能夠仔細探討個別子音出現的年齡月份以及研究趨於穩定發展的年齡階段。單就從目前所收集到的資料來看，對於子音習得較快的幼兒，25個子音中（包括3個滑音），有20個在一歲半前已經陸續出現，絕大部分的幼兒，大約是習得15個音左右。從習得快的幼兒來看，已有的子音有[p, m, f, , t, th, n, l, ts, tsh, t, th, , j, k, kh, x/h, w, ]，習得較慢的幼兒，則有[p, m, t, n, j, k, x/h, w]。雙唇塞音[p]在7個月到1歲3個月之間就會出現，雙唇塞音出現之後，與其發音方法對立的鼻音塞音[m]或與其對立部位的齒齦塞音[t]也出現。除此之外，發音在口腔前部位似乎會比口腔後部位快，而在同樣的發音部位內，塞音會遠比塞擦音來得早，而塞擦音反而比擦音來的快一些，捲舌音組及擦音[s]目前都還未出現。另外，非送氣音比送氣音早學會。在字尾的鼻音來看，[n]比[]來的快學會。流音目前是比較晚，比滑音晚一些，有些幼兒甚至先學會塞擦音，才學會流音。 第二個研究主題為子音的個別習得使用數量及穩定性，在子音數量上，目前從發音方法來看，塞音[p, t, k]使用率最高，而正確率也最為穩定，鼻音方面，雙唇音[m]是最早先穩定的音系，[n]次之，塞擦音中則以[t]較常出現，也比[ts]來得早些，擦音的話，均非常晚習得，就算出現，穩定性低，時常會變成類似英文[], [t]的語音，或者[f]也是如此情形，就算出現，偶而變成[]，偶而變成[]，而幼兒常會互相代換[x]或是[h]，滑音[j]遠比[w]早學會而且穩定正確，而流音[l]時而出現，時而發音錯誤，最常被[n]所取代。從發音部位來看，唇音與齒音在數量上似乎是差不多，而捲舌音及流音整體數量，不但比較少，而且不穩定。以目前階段來看，塞音占了所有幼兒會發音的子音73%，而非送氣塞音遠比送氣塞音高達9倍之多，就塞音、鼻音而言，習得次序越早、使用頻率愈高其發展正確率也愈高。但對於硬顎音而言，雖然習得的年齡大約1歲2個月，但是幼兒對於此組音系使用頻率並沒有其他音組高，正確率也不是很穩定。因此本研究目前的觀察為，語音習得的次序是跟在語言中使用的頻率高低有關，但是，的確不是每一個習得次序早的語音就一定視為使用高頻率。 第三研究主題為子音習得錯誤類別，就目前資料顯示，全部幼兒所發出的字彙中，只有47%是正確的；錯誤類型有代換(substitution), 省略(deletion)及加入（addition）。常被省略的有音節首的子音，特別是塞擦音機率相當高，偶爾音節首的子音會被取代。1歲1個月至1歲6個月的幼兒語音中，因為許多子音還尚未能順利發展，因此他們會以較熟悉穩定的語音來做取代動作。一般而言1歲6個月的幼兒還未能發展捲舌音，所以由舌尖塞音取代，而1歲6個月的幼兒也通常未能發出舌尖塞擦音，有些幼兒則是用硬顎音取代。目前收集到的語料，送氣音都比非送氣音晚出現，因此絕大部分的送氣音都會被非送氣音所取代。另外，有聲捲舌音則常常被硬顎滑音所取代。詳細數值都還處於整理階段。 本計畫打算利用兩年時間長期觀察2歲3個月至4歲2個月之幼兒以及執行80名說故事測驗的幼兒子音習得議題： 一、幼兒子音習得歷程為何？各個子音分別習得年齡階段為何？各個子音習得順序為何？最早出現的子音是否如國外研究所預測為鼻音、塞音及喉音？擦音、塞擦音及流音是否習得時間比較晚？非送氣無聲塞音與送氣無聲塞音習得的順序為何？ 二、幼兒子音個別習得的數量為何？子音音型出現率、正確率及穩定狀態為何？ 三、幼兒的子音錯誤類型為何？代換的類型又該如何細分？ 四、與國外文獻比較，差異及相同處為何？音韻理論如何解釋這些不同的語料？ 在本計畫中，長期觀察個案研究與跨年齡層的量化收集法各有利處，一方可以一窺語言發展語音的變化也可以探討幼兒習得的個別差異，另一方則能提供許多可靠性的數據提供子音發展詳細歷程，以便與西方音韻理論做一詳細比較。計畫主持人主要的工作為收集語料、實驗設計、組織CHILDES語料系統及音韻分析，而共同主持人可負責實驗語料項目或統計分析，協同主持人負責設計電腦應用程式，透過語料分析可進一步驗證音韻習得的假設以及音韻通用性。
The aim of this project proposal is to provide solid evidence on consonant acquisition of phonology by children learning Taiwan Mandarin as their first language. The on-going project, Consonant acquisition in Taiwan Mandarin: Evidence from longitudinal and experimental studies, has so far collected 16 children aged 1;3 - 2;2 for the longitudinal observation and will collect 320 children aged 2;0 - 6;0 (40 children in each group of eight age levels 6 month apart) for picture-naming task. This two-year proposal will thus further investigate issues involving age of consonant development, order and rate of consonant acquisition, types of errors and, types of substitution by looking at two sources of data. The first one will be drawn from the developmental study of consonant acquisition by those 16 children aged 2;3 - 4;2 at a naturalistic setting. The second one will be drawn from a cross-sectional study (i.e., narrative-retelling task), which will involve consonant articulation in the speech of 80 children selected from the above 320 children (10 children in each group of eight age levels 6 month apart). A number of studies have shown the consonant development of children learning Taiwan Mandarin as their first language (e.g., Li 1977, Jeng 1979, Shiu 1990, Su 1995, Hua & Dodd 2000, Hsu 2003). They all tested the validity and basically highlighted the heavy influence of Jakobson’s early work. Results from the on-going project so far support the following: (1) As for consonantal development, in the 16 Taiwan Mandarin children (0;7-1;6), the earlier talkers have acquired the following consonants [p, ph, m, f, , t, th, n, l, ts, tsh, t, th, , j, k, kh, x/h, w, ], and the late talkers have got at least the following eight consonants [p, m, t, n, j, k, x/h, w] in the 25 consonants. Regarding place of articulation, labials and alveolars develop earlier than velars, which occur earlier than palatals; there is no case of retroflexes so far. Regarding manner of articulation, stops develop more earlier than glides, which then occur more earlier than affricates. Fricatives and liquids are not common. Unaspirated stops develop way much earlier than aspirated ones. (2) As for rate of consonant acquisition, labials and alveolars are more prominent than the other place of articulation, and retroflexes are rarely to be found in the children. Stops (orals and nasals) are the most common manner of articulation (73%) and fricatives are the least common type. Unaspirated consonants occur nine times more often than aspirated ones. (3) As for types of errors, deletion is by far the most common, followed by substitution, and addition is the least common. The findings in general confirm universal patterns. In this research project, the PI will continue the two sources of data collection. The PI and the research team will observe and record the conversations and interactions between the subjects (children) and their main caretakers; data involving spontaneous running speech, word imitation or elicited speech will be observed and collected during the whole recording sessions. The PI will also adopt the cross-sectional study involving narrative retelling task, for elicitation of error collection containing different types or tokens of error patterns. A number of fundamental questions regarding consonant acquisition to be explored involve the following: 1) What are developmental stages of consonant acquisition in Taiwan Mandarin children? At what age will children acquire those consonants? What consonant phones are acquired in each stage? What is the developmental process with those consonant phones? In what chronological order will they be acquired? Will the age of consonant acquisition reflect the degree of difficulty of articulation? Will distinctive features help explain this chronological order? Will Mandarin children follow the similar pattern found in English studies? 2) What is the rate of consonant acquisition at various stages? Will children have any preference to acquire certain consonant phones or even phonological features earlier than the other sets? Will those phones be distributed evenly in their production system? Moreover, what are the alternations and/or variations observed in children’s consonant forms since children do not simply acquire a sound and produce it correctly? 3) What are the error patterns undergoing phonological processes? Are children more likely to substitute one phone for another? Are the target-error sets more likely to interact with one another when they are phonetically similar? Do error patterns also honor phonotactic constraints and/or syllable structure? Are consonants more likely to interact with each other syllable-initially or syllable-finally? The PI plans to describe the consonant repertories and errors patterns in Taiwan Mandarin by utilizing the follow-up longitudinal study and cross-sectional studies. The PI will work on data collections, experimental designs, phonological analyses and organize CHILDES system. The Co-PI will help the test material and run statistic programs, and the associate investigator will work on the computer techniques and programming. The PI is hoping to add the growing body of knowledge that will facilitate some understanding of the phonological acquisition process and its relation to phonological universals. |
