本研究的目的為瞭解母子對話中的打斷現象，分析的語料來自於兩對以漢語為母語的母子對話，兩位小孩皆為三歲。首先，為瞭解母親與小孩打斷句之本質，我們採用Goldberg (1990:891)的分類來做判斷，結果顯示兩者在對談中皆大多使用rapport-oriented interruptions，代表在母子對話中，兩方傾向在打斷句中表達對對方話語的興趣與投入，並且藉由著打斷一同建立談話主題。再者，小孩的打斷句更進一步的用Dunn and Shatz’s (1989)的研究方法來分析其與對話言談的語意關連，結果發現小孩的打斷句多數都包含了與之前相關並且新的訊息，而這類的打斷句是最有可能得到母親的注意並且回應。 / The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature and function of mother-to-child and child-to-mother interruptions in conversation. The data analyzed are natural conversations from two Mandarin-speaking mother-child dyads. The children are about three years old. Goldberg’s (1990:891) categorization of interruptions is adopted to examine the nature of the mothers’ and children’s interruptions. The results show that both the mothers and the children use more rapport-oriented interruptions than other types of interruptions, which indicates that in mother-child interaction, both parties tend to use interruptions to signal their involvement and interest and to construct a shared topic cooperatively. In addition, the children’s interruptions are further examined based on Dunn and Shatz’s (1989) framework in order to investigate the semantic relations between the children’s interruptions and the conversational discourse. The findings show that most of the children’s interruptions contain relevant new information. Such interruptions are likely to succeed in getting the attention and response from the mothers.

本篇論文主要研究漢語兒童的否定表達，與其性別對否定表達方式之影響。使用的語料來自四位平均年齡五歲一個月的兒童，在家中與母親的日常對話。參與研究的兒童共使用八種語用策略與其組合，來對他們的母親表達七種否定。分析語料後顯示，此年齡層的兒童表達方式與成人不同，他們偏好使用單一策略做否定。此外，有別於同儕互動中主要使用間接否定來維持友誼，兒童對母親表達否定時較為直接。而他們的間接否定策略，大多出現在可能危及聽者面子的拒絕（Rejection）與否認（Denial）這兩者，也較常出現在表達自己能力與知識上的不足時（Inability & Epistemic negation）。在性別對否定表達的影響方面，女生在否定時有注重關係的傾向（care orientation）。她們拒絕或否認她們母親的次數比男生少，表達拒絕或否認時，也比男生使用更多間接策略與提供較容易理解的原因。在其他的否定語意方面，女生比男生更常表達自己在能力或知識上的不足，此外也更常述說物品的不復存在（Nonexistence）。本研究提供了漢語兒童在否定表達上的結果，也為兒童性別對否定表達的影響提供說明與證據。 / The study investigates children’s expression of negation, and how each gender expresses it to their mother. We observed 4 Mandarin-speaking children of age 5 (mean age= 5; 1) when they were having natural conversation with their mother at home. We found that children used 8 pragmatic strategies (account, nonverbal, correction, temporizing, challenge, countering move, partial agreement, and appealing) to express 7 negation meanings (Nonexistence, Non-occurrence, prohibition, rejection, denial, inability, and epistemic negation). The results showed that children preferred to use single strategy to negate, unlike adults. In contrast with peer interaction in which children preferred to use indirect strategy to maintain their friendship, the amount of direct strategy and indirect strategy were quite even in our data. Their indirect strategies tended to appear in negation meanings that are potentially face-threatening (rejection and denial) or reveal their own insufficiency (inability and epistemic negation). They also inclined to use a combination of strategies to deliver rejection, denial, and prohibition. When we further examine negation in boys and girls, we observe ‘care orientation’ in girls’ negation. They denied and rejected their mother less than boys did, mainly using indirect negation or understandable accounts while boys did the opposite. As for other negation meanings, girls revealed one’s insufficiency (Inability and Epistemic negation) and reported nonexistence of entities (Nonexistence) more often than boys did. The findings provide Mandarin children’s results and evidence of the expression of negation in mother-child interaction, and suggest gender does affect how boys and girls deliver various negation meanings.

本研究旨在探討漢語母子對話中孩童問句的語言形式和語用功能，以及其問句和母親回應之間的關係。研究語料來自於一對以漢語為母語的母子在日常生活的對話，孩童的年紀約為二至三歲。研究將孩童問句的語用功能分為四類：詢問訊息(informational)、請求行為(directive)、對話修補(conversational)以及針對自我(self-directed)。母親針對孩童問句所作的回應分為三類：直接回應(answers)、非直接回應(non-answer responses)與無回應(no answers)。研究發現漢語孩童大量依賴疑問詞問句和語助詞問句，而隨著年紀增長，孩童的問句語言形式也更趨多元。研究也發現孩童多使用問句來詢問訊息，而孩童使用問句執行對話修補功能的比例也隨著年紀增長而有所增加，另外，執行此項功能的問句的語言形式也隨年紀增長而越加豐富。最後，研究發現孩童問句多伴隨母親的回應，而母親的回應有時會重複孩童問句或以問句形式出現鼓勵孩童參與對話。 / The study aims to investigate forms and functions the child’s questions and their relations to the mother’s responses in Mandarin mother-child conversations. The data examined are from one mother-child dyad. The child is around two and three years old. The pragmatic functions of the child’s questions are categorized into four types: informational, directive, conversational and self-directed. The mother’s responses to the child’s questions are categorized into three types: answers, non-answer responses and no answers. The results show that the child mostly uses wh-questions and sentence-final particle questions. As the child grows older, the question forms he uses become more various. In addition, the child uses questions mainly to ask for factual knowledge. The child’s questions which repair the breakdown of the conversation are significant as the child grows older. The result suggests that the child gradually becomes a skillful conversationalist. Last, the data reveals that the child’s questions are mostly followed by the mother’s responses, and the mother’s responses may be related to the pragmatic functions of the child’s questions. The mother’s responses also exhibit some characteristics in child-directed speech in order to encourage the child’s participation in verbal interactions.