本研究旨在探討英文童謠教學對台灣國小英語學習低成就學童對英語的音素覺識、認字、拼字能力、以及英語學習態度的影響。實驗分兩階段進行。第一階段進行小規模的前測作為正式研究的準備，先行測試選用的英語童謠是否適切、教學活動是否可行，以及低成就學童在音素覺識與學習態度是否因此改善等等，並根據初探結果規劃正式實驗。第二階段的正式實驗，除音素覺識與學習態度外，更進一步探討英文童謠教學對認字及拼字能力的影響。 在正式實驗中，實驗對象為桃園市某國小36名四年級的學習低成就學童(學業表現為後百分之十)。研究者將此36名學童隨機平均分配為兩組；實驗組及對照組兩組，各18名學生。對實驗組施以平衡閱讀「由整體到細部」(whole-to-parts)架構設計的英文童謠教學，將音素覺識及字母拼讀法(phonics)等技巧訓練自然地融入有趣的英文童謠情境中；而對照組則單獨採用字母拼讀教學，循序教授字母與音的對應關係。實驗組及對照組每週均有兩節英語補救教學，每節課40分鐘，持續十二週。兩組學生在教學前後各施以前測及後測，內容包括音素覺識測驗、認字測驗、拼字測驗，以及英語學習態度問卷調查，以評量受試者在早期讀寫技巧上的發展，及學習態度上的改變情形。 同組組內前後測比較結果顯示，在十二週實驗教學後，實驗組及對照組二組學生在音素覺識、認字及拼字能力三方面，均有顯著的進步。然而，只有實驗組學生對英語學習的態度有顯著的正向改變，對照組學生則無。此外，兩組組間比較結果發現，雖然在實驗前，兩組學生英語拼讀能力相當，對英語的看法也類似，但經實驗教學後，兩組的後測成績有非常明顯的差異，實驗組學生在音素覺識、認字、拼字能力的進步幅度，以及學習態度各方面，均顯著優於對照組。 以上研究結果顯示，運用英文童謠進行補救教學確實極為有效，不但能增進台灣英語低成就學童的早期讀寫技巧，且能改善其學習英語的態度。本研究之結果及教學建議，可供未來國小補救教學相關研究之參考。 / The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of nursery rhyme instruction on Taiwanese elementary school EFL underachievers with regard to their development on phonemic awareness, word recognition and spelling abilities, and their attitudinal changes toward learning English. The present study was conducted in two stages. A small-scale pilot study was first carried out as a preparation for the formal study. The feasibility of nursery rhyme instruction and the effects of this instruction on phonemic awareness and learning attitudes were tested on seven EFL underachievers preliminary to the formal study. In the second stage, a formal study which followed closely the design of the pilot study, further explored the effects of nursery rhyme instruction on word recognition and spelling abilities. In the formal study, thirty-six fourth grade underachievers (whose academic performances were at the bottom 10 percent) with deficient phonemic awareness were screened for this study. The experimental group and the control group were evenly matched with eighteen students each. The experimental group received nursery rhyme instruction using the “whole-to-parts” framework of balanced reading within which training in skills including phonemic awareness and phonics is embedded into the context of children’s literature. The eighteen subjects in the matched control group received explicit phonics instruction wherein the isolated sound-letter correspondences were sequenced and taught explicitly and systematically. To assess their development in early literacy skills, all subjects took the pretests and posttests of phonemic awareness, word recognition and spelling. Moreover, to measure their attitudinal changes toward learning English, they were administered the attitude questionnaires before and after the remedial instruction. Data was collected from early-September until early-December, 2006, covering twenty four 40-minute class periods for each group. Comparison of within-group performance indicated that both the experimental group and the control group made significant post- over pretest improvements in phonemic awareness, word recognition and spelling abilities. However, only the experimental group had a significant positive change on their attitudes toward English. In addition, at the onset of the study, both groups started with equivalent early literacy skills, and held similar attitudes toward English learning. However, posttest scores revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in phonemic awareness skills, word recognition and spelling abilities. Significant differences can also be found in their attitudes towards learning English. The findings from this study indicate that a remedial instruction utilizing nursery rhymes can effectively help Taiwanese EFL underachievers improve their early literacy skills, and more significantly, their learning attitudes towards English. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications and suggestions for further studies are provided.

傳統上認為以中文為母語的孩童並不具有「音位覺識能力」(phonemic awareness)，本研究以實驗方式直接測量以中文為母語孩童的「音位覺識能力」，同時探討孩童「音位覺識能力」及「聲母—韻母覺識能力」(onset-rime awareness) 在英文拼字與讀字上所扮演的角色。在本研究中，一百九十二位國小四年級的孩童參與二項「母語音韻覺識測驗」，包括「聲母/韻母異音測驗」(onset/rime oddity test) 和「韻腹/韻尾異音測驗」(nucleus/coda oddity test)。根據上述二項測驗的成績，將孩童分為三組：第一組孩童(共29人)，其「聲母—韻母覺識能力」和「音位覺識能力」皆佳；第二組孩童(共29人)，其「聲母—韻母覺識能力」佳，但「音位覺識能力」差；第三組孩童(共26人)，其「聲母—韻母覺識能力」和「音位覺識能力」皆差。我們接著利用「拼英文假字測驗」和「讀英文假字測驗」來測量三組孩童的英文拼字與讀字的能力，在施測之前，孩童們有八次的機會學會「拼字」與「讀字」兩項測驗所需具備的「字音對應規則」。結果顯示，雖然孩童的「音位覺識能力」在程度上有所不同，但以中文為母語的孩童已具備「音位覺識能力」。此外，在考慮了孩童們「記憶廣度」(digit span)與「英文聽話字彙」 (English receptive vocabulary)的差異後，「聲母—韻母覺識能力」和「音位覺識能力」皆佳的孩童，在拼字的表現上優於「聲母—韻母覺識能力」佳，但「音位覺識能力」差的孩童來，接著「聲母—韻母覺識能力」佳，但「音位覺識能力」差的孩童的拼字表現優於「聲母—韻母覺識能力」和「音位覺識能力」皆差的孩童。最後，「音位覺識能力」佳的的孩童，在讀字的表現上優於「音位覺識能力」差的的孩童，此外，並無證據顯示「聲母—韻母覺識能力」在孩童的讀字能力上扮演著重要的角色。整體而言，本研究的結果支持其他研究的看法，這些研究認為以中文為母語的孩童在母語習得過程中所發展出來的「音韻覺識能力」對於其英文拼字與讀字的能力上有著一定的貢獻，此外，本研究更進一步顯示，這種貢獻會隨著「音韻覺識」程度的不同而有所改變。 / It has been conventionally assumed that Chinese-speaking children do not have phonemic awareness. In this study, Chinese-speaking children’s phonemic awareness was empirically tested and its role, relative to onset-rime awareness, in the acquisition of English spelling and reading abilities was examined. Two L1 phonological awareness tests (i.e., an onset/rime oddity test and a nucleus/coda oddity test) were administered to a total of 192 Chinese-speaking fourth-graders. The children were selected and categorized based on their performances on the two L1 phonological awareness tests: 29 children with good onset-rime awareness and good phonemic awareness, 29 children with good onset-rime awareness but poor phonemic awareness, and 26 children with poor onset-rime awareness and poor phonemic awareness. The three groups of children were then tested on their abilities to spell and read English pseudowords. Before taking the English pseudoword spelling and reading tasks, the children were provided with eight opportunities to master the requisite letter-sound knowledge for the success in spelling and reading the pseudowords. The results showed that Chinese-speaking children demonstrated phonological awareness at the phonemic level, though varying in degree. Considered along with individual differences in digit span and English receptive vocabulary, children with better phonological awareness at both the onset-rime level and the phonemic level performed better in English pseudoword spelling than children with better onset-rime awareness but poorer phonemic awareness, who in turn, performed better than children with poorer phonological awareness at both levels. Finally, children with better phonemic awareness outperformed the other two groups of children with poorer phonemic awareness in pseudoword reading. Onset-rime awareness did not seem to play a significant role in pseudoword reading. These results support and extend other studies suggesting that the acquisition of English spelling and reading abilities in Chinese-speaking children benefits from the phonological awareness obtained during the course of first language acquisition and that the beneficial effect varies with the levels of phonological awareness.