新加坡双语学前儿童中英文词汇使用情况研究 = A study of commonly used Chinese and English words by pre-school bilingual children in Singapore

• Main Author: 陈盈敏 Chin, Ying Min
• Other Authors: Helena Gao Hong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: Chinese
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/55655
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

新加坡是个多元种族的国家，英文和华文在新加坡都具有非常重要的地位。中国的崛起也使华文在新加坡的地位变得日益重要。随着科技的发达和教育制度的进步，越来越多新加坡华族儿童的双语能力也跟着提升了。然而，新加坡华族儿童的双语水平究竟处于一个什么样的状态？家庭和教育制度等各种因素对于新加坡儿童的双语能力又有什么影响？这些都是值得研究的问题。词汇是语言最基本的要素，手部动词则是词汇中较基本的一组词汇，也是儿童较早习得的词汇。利用手部动词来测试儿童对于中英文词汇的掌握，进而了解他们双语的发展，可说是一个简单又直接的方法。本研究采用了高虹导师为先前一项研究设计的家长问卷，调查了 40 位来自两所幼儿园的新加坡华族双语儿童的中英文手部动作动词习得的情况，以及影响儿童双语词汇习得的因素。研究员通过对研究结果做相关性检验，试图寻找影响双语儿童词汇习得的因素。另外，研究也测试了其中 10 位儿童的实际动词习得量，分析造成问卷与测试之间出现差异的可能原因。调查结果发现，新加坡儿童的中英文词汇习得的确受到家庭主要用语的影响，但由于儿童长时间待在幼儿园，因此幼儿园的语言环境对于儿童的词汇发展也具有明显的影响。新加坡男女儿童之间的语言发展也具有明显的差异，但却会随着年龄的增长而消失。本文将用实际的数据与例子，深入调查与分析新加坡3 到 5 岁华族双语儿童的词汇习得情况，探讨影响儿童双语词汇习得的因素。Singapore is a multi-racial country, with both English and Chinese holding important roles. Due to the rise of China, the position of Chinese in Singapore has become increasingly important. The bilingual ability of a rising number of Singaporean Chinese children has also improved along with technological advancements and improvements in the education system. However, what level is the bilingual ability of Singaporean Chinese children at? What are the impacts of family, education system and other factors on the bilingual ability of Singaporean children? These are questions worth investigating. Lexicon is the key element of language, and hand action verbs, which belong to the more basic group of lexicon, are more quickly acquired by children. Using hand action verbs is a simple and direct method to evaluate the acquisition of Chinese and English vocabulary in children, and in turn understand their bilingual development.This study used a parental report designed by Prof Helena Hong Gao for a previous research project, and investigated the acquisition of Chinese and English hand action verbs in 40 Singaporean Chinese bilingual children from two childcare centres. This study also aims to find out the factors which influence bilingual children’s vocabulary acquisition, by performing correlation tests on the research results. 10 out of the 40 children were also tested on their actual vocabulary size, after which the reasons for causing the difference between the parental report and the language test were evaluated. Research results showed that Singaporean Chinese children’s vocabulary acquisition is indeed influenced by the main language used at home. However, due to the long hours spent at the childcare centres, the language environment of the childcare centres were also found to have a significant impact on children’s vocabulary acquisition. There is also a significant difference between the language development in Singaporean male and female children, however this difference will disappear with age.This paper aims to provide in-depth analysis and discussions of the vocabulary acquisition in Singaporean Chinese bilingual children aged 3 to 5, and evaluate the influencing factors on language acquisition in bilingual children. Concrete data and examples of the vocabulary development in the children are illustrated in the study.