This study explores the impact of cultural competence on success in completing key missionary tasks. Qualitative survey results are supported by data from an intercultural effectiveness assessment and a Mandarin Chinese listening proficiency test to describe themes related to missionary communicative success and to explore correlations between intercultural effectiveness and listening proficiency. Missionary communicative tasks are clarified into themes:"obtaining referrals,"obtaining teaching opportunities," and"helping people make and keep commitments." Factors perceived as associating with communicative success include"feeling and communicating love" and receiving"spiritual guidance." The effect of training on intercultural competence is also described. The intercultural effectiveness subcategory of positive regard is shown to have significant correlation with listening proficiency and with missionaries' perceptions of their own awareness of Chinese culture. Suggestions are made for further research and program development.

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<p dir="ltr">Comprehensibility refers to the degree of effort that a listener requires to understand a speaker’s utterance (Derwing & Munro, 1997; Munro & Derwing, 1995; Derwing & Munro, 2005). Previous studies on L2 pronunciation have found that segmental errors could affect comprehensibility (Derwing et al., 1998; Derwing & Munro, 1997; Isaacs & Thomson, 2020; Saito et al., 2017). However, this finding only indicates a correlation between the number of segmental errors and lower comprehensibility. It is still unclear what aspects of pronunciation L2 learners need to practice in order to improve the comprehensibility of their speech. This thesis proposes that the degree of acoustic contrast may play a role in determining comprehensibility. More specifically, it investigates the relation between Mandarin speakers’ acoustic contrast between tense and lax vowels in English (i.e., [i] and [ɪ], [u] and [ʊ]) and the perceived comprehensibility of their speech.</p><p dir="ltr">A sentence production task and a comprehensibility rating task were conducted. In the sentence production task, 20 Mandarin speakers and 10 English speakers read aloud English sentences containing tense and lax vowels and were audio-recorded. The acoustic measurements of the vowels were taken in order to compare Mandarin speakers’ acoustic realization of the tense and lax vowels with English speakers’ productions. In the comprehensibility rating task, 48 English speakers transcribed the sentences recorded during the sentence production task and rated the comprehensibility of the sentences. The comprehensibility ratings were tested for correlation with the number of transcription errors, the degree of spectral and durational contrasts between vowels, and the speakers’ US residency length, in order to investigate the relation between intelligibility errors and comprehensibility, between acoustic contrast and comprehensibility, and between US residency length and comprehensibility.</p><p dir="ltr">The results of the linear-mixed effect model indicated that spectral contrast between [u] - [ʊ], but not [i] - [ɪ], was significantly reduced in Mandarin speakers’ productions compared to the English speakers, suggesting that Mandarin speakers under-differentiated the back vowel pair. A correlation test using Kendall’s <i>tau</i> indicated a significant negative correlation between number of intelligibility errors and comprehensibility, suggesting that intelligibility errors decreased comprehensibility. A correlation test using Kendall’s <i>tau</i> indicated a significant positive correlation between the degree of spectral contrast and comprehensibility rating for sentences with semantically meaningful context, suggesting that increasing the contrast between tense and lax vowels could help increase the comprehensibility of speech. Finally, a correlation test using Kendall’s <i>tau</i><i> </i>indicated no significant correlation between US residency length and comprehensibility, meaning that the relation between residency length and comprehensibility was not confirmed.</p><p dir="ltr">To sum up, acoustic contrast could be one of the contributors to speech comprehensibility. Therefore, directing English L2 learners to focus on increasing the acoustic distance between contrasting vowels could prove a fruitful strategy for improving the comprehensibility of L2 speech.</p>

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.

本研究將繪本運用於成人華語的非正式課程（課外免費教學），旨在透過成人華語學習者對於繪本運用於成人華語文教學的看法及其學習成效，了解成人華語繪本教學的可行性。為達研究目的，本研究採用探索性的研究，以需求分析、課堂觀察記錄與焦點團體訪談為研究工具，蒐集研究資料，作為分析及討論問題的依據。本研究先針對臺灣北部某國立大學之華語文教學中心中級以上之外籍成人學習者發放需求調查問卷，之後以中級程度為限，於該華語中心開設「繪本學華語」免費課，並對修課之學習者進行焦點團體訪談，探討其對成人華語繪本教學的想法與意見。 經過研究實施與資料分析，歸結研究結果如下：（一）有趣又有助於學習者語言能力的繪本教學活動亦適用於成人華語學習者，可見繪本教學不只是兒童的專利；（二）繪本教學能為學習者帶來語言認知、情意上的助益，並彌補正規課程的不足；（三）繪本運用於成人華語教學時，繪本適合與否主要取決於「語言程度」、「繪本題材」與「圖片色彩與畫風」，其中又以「語言程度」最為重要，優先於另外兩者；而就主題而言，與「生活」及「文化」有關的內容最吸引學習者；（四）受限於免費課課程課時短少、分散，且對學習者缺乏約束力與強制力的特性，繪本教學在語言新知與技能提升方面的成效並不明顯，但可作為正規課的複習與輔助教材；（五）繪本運用於中級成人華語免費班教學所遭遇的主要困難為：難以找到與學習者語言程度相符的繪本、過於分散的課型易打斷繪本情節的連續性、免費班學習者語言程度不一。 最後根據調查結果提出華語文教學上的啟發與後續研究建議，以供華語文教學者在成人華語繪本教學方面的參考。 / This study applied picture books to an adult CSL free course, aiming to investigate adult CSL (Chinese as a second language) learners’ perspectives toward using picture books in adult CSL teaching, and the learning efficiency through picture book instruction. The research methods adopted in the study include needs analysis, classroom observations, and focus group interview. The participants of the study are intermediate-level students from a Chinese language center of a university in Northern Taiwan. The results of this study are (1) picture book instruction with interesting and language skill enhancing teaching activities suits adult CSL learners; (2) picture book instruction can benefit adult CSL learners both cognitively and affectively; (3) When using picture books to teach adult CSL learners, the main concerns are language difficulty, topic choice, and the style of pictures; (4) as the instruction time for the adult CSL free course is short and scattered, and it lacks the mandatory and binding force, such picture book instruction does not improve learners’ vocabulary and grammars significantly; however, it may serve as a good supplementary or review course; (5) the three major challenges for picture book adult free CSL course instruction are choices of picture book to suit learners’ needs, short and scattered instruction time, and learners’ various proficiency levels. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research are included in the end of the thesis

本篇論文檢視台灣華語為母語之正常幼童以及構音異常幼童之滑音[j],[w], [ɥ]發展與產製表現，採長期觀察之方式，詳細描述正常幼兒滑音產製之出現及穩定年齡、頻率、正確率和發展順序，並且比較此三滑音於各音節位置之產製表現，進而比較兩組幼童之台灣華語滑音產製及音韻歷程之使用行為。本研究以標記理論及位置層級理論來檢驗幼兒滑音之發展與表現。 本研究總共觀察了四位幼童，將其分為兩組，第一組為兩位正常幼童，年齡在九個月至二十八個月和十個月至二十九個月，為期十九個月的觀察，另一組為兩位構音異常幼童，年齡在三歲十個月至四歲三個月和四歲三個月至四歲九個月，為期六個月的觀察。每兩週收錄一次長達一小時之語料，並利用錄製之高規格影音檔做譯寫及分析。 研究結果顯示，正常幼兒之滑音出現順序和穩定順序皆符合標記理論之預測，無標音早於有標音，其滑音產製之穩定度與音節位置相關，音節首位之滑音表現較音節中與音節末之滑音表現來的穩定，這與位置層級理論之推測相符合。構音異常幼童組中發現了有別於正常幼童之特殊取代模式，由較晚習得語音取代較早習得語音，其所產製的語音中會違反華語的音法限制。音韻歷程之表現在兩組幼童中皆偵測到刪除、換位、取代三種模式，其中皆以刪除為主要策略。 / The purpose of the present study is to report the developmental process of three Mandarin glides [w, j, ɥ] in terms of three word positions by examining the age of emergence and stabilization, the order of stabilization, and accuracy rate of thechildren’s production, and further compare the normative data with phonological disorder data in order to explore the possible phonological processes. This study alsoaccounts for the developmental process of glides on the basis of markedness theory and positional prominence hierarchy. A longitudinal study was carried out for the investigation of two normally-developing children, aged between 0;9-2;4 and 0;10-2;4, and two phonologically-disordered children, one of whom is between 4;3 and 4;9, and the other between 3;10 and 4;3. The data were collected at two-week intervals. The results showed that the order of glide emergence and stabilization of the normally-developing group is in accordance with the markedness theory. The unmarked [j], [w] precede marked [ɥ]. Moreover, the stabilization order of the three glides in terms of the three syllable positions was found to reflect the interaction between markedness constraint and positional prominence hierarchy. The unmarked glide in the initial position is the first to stabilize and the marked glide in the non-initial position is the last to stabilize. On the other hand, the children in the phonologically-disordered group were found to consistently replace the presumably earlier-developing glide with a presumably later-developing one, which differs from the process used in the normally-developing group. Furthermore, this group of children produced the combination that violates the phonotactic constraints of Taiwan Mandarin. In addition, there are three phonological processes, including deletion, metathesis, and substitution detected in children’s data. The most commonly used process is deletion in both groups of children.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

以往從句法或詞彙學的角度對漢語複合動趨結構&#65339;V-D-lai/qu&#65341;的研究，並沒有達到具全盤性且令人滿意的共識。本篇論文採用了詞彙化的觀點，認為從語意及構詞句法兩個方面出發，藉由探討複合動趨結構由句法轉向詞彙的過程，有助於理解此一結構在詞彙句法上表現的紛歧。 　　我們認為複合動趨結構立基於&#65339;D-lai/qu&#65341;，並據此推論出三個相關類型：詞彙結構&#65339;V-&#65339;D-lai/qu&#65341;&#65341;和句法結構&#65339;&#65339;V-D&#65341;…lai/qu&#65341;及&#65339;V…&#65339;D-lai/qu&#65341;&#65341;。在&#65339;D-lai/qu&#65341;的詞彙化過程中，語意結構的改變促使詞彙句法結構隨之變動，而複合動趨結構因採用了&#65339;D-lai/qu&#65341;結構為基礎，也自然具備了同樣性質的變化。由上述複合動趨結構的例子中，證實了詞彙化過程中語意結構的改變通常早於詞彙句法結構，並會與之互動促其產生變化，進而步入更高一層的詞彙化階段。 / Traditional syntactic and lexical approaches do not reach a satisfactory conclusion to explain Mandarin complex V-Ds. In this thesis, the framework of lexicalization is adopted. Through discussing both semantic and morphosyntactic structures, lexicalization helps to clarify how complex V-Ds turn from syntactic constructions to lexical items. And this change can be a key point in explaining why complex V-Ds present variant syntactic behaviors, especially in relation to OBJs. It is asserted that the complex V-Ds must be built on the [D-lai/qu] structure. According to it, three patterns in complex V-Ds are formulated: lexical [V-[D-lai/qu]] structure and syntactic [[V-D]…lai/qu] and [V…[D-lai/qu]] constructions. In the lexicalization of the [D-lai/qu] structure, deviation of “lai/qu” claims change in the semantic structure. And this change also affects the morphosyntactic structure, banning the syntactic realization of LOCATION argument. The same change is applied to complex V-Ds since the [D-lai/qu] structure is the basis of them. From the lexicalization process of the above two, semantic reduction does precede the grammatical reduction. Semantic structure interacts with morphosyntactic structure and the change in semantic structure urges morphosyntactic performances to alter. Since the morphosyntactic structure starts to change, the internal connections can become opaque and lead to a higher degree of lexicalization.