汉字的词素影响科学概念的学习

The Influences of Chinese Morphemes on the Understanding of Scientific Concepts

中文字在字形、字义、构词、词义上含有丰富的认知元素。以中文学习科学,能启发学生思维,但学生在学习过程中或会产生另类的概念。本研究访问30位小六学生,选出12个可能产生"另有概念"的词汇并加以探讨,以了解中文与学生学习科学概念的影响。本研究可得出以下结论:一是构词的定义影响学生去理解动物的属性,同时也会造成错误的理解;二是对于动物的认知,例如外形,生活状况,吃的食物等,能用中文来描述,而且描述的内容十分丰富,换句话说,如果要求不是在种类或属性上面,学生通过听来的,看过的知识和认知经验,其实受中文的影响准确性也颇高;三是由于研究的方法从字词的结构如部首引导学生的思考方向,因此学生从文字推敲出科学的概念;四是学生对不太熟悉的科学字词,往往是通过他的认知经验去建构科学概念。

Chinese words possess rich cognitive elements in its shapes, structures and meanings. Learning science with Chinese medium can stimulate students＇ thinking. This may help them to build up scientific concepts, or may also lead to the development of alternative conceptions. The researchers interviewed 30 primary 6 students, and identified and discussed 12 science terms in Chinese which may lead to the development of alternative conceptions to understand the influence of Chinese on students＇ understanding of scientific concepts. Four implications can be derived from the results of this paper. Firstly, the meanings of structural morphemes influence the development of students＇ conceptions related to the classification of animals, and may result in misconceptions. Secondly, Chinese can be used to richly describe the characteristics of an animal, such as its appearance, living conditions, feeding habits... etc,In other words, if scientific concepts such as classification are not involved, students can learn and interpret their experience accurately using Chinese, both in written form or verbally. Thirdly, when the students in this study were asked to observe the structure of the Chinese characters e.g. the radicals, they would derive the scientific concepts from the words only. Finally, students＇ cognitive experience may help them to build understanding of new or unknown scientific terms.