汉语学前儿童的词汇语义发展研究

Vocabulary Development of Pre-school Mandarin-Speaking Children

本研究以上海地区3—6岁汉语儿童为对象,采用国际通用的理解性词汇语义评估工具(PPVT)和表达性词汇语义评估工具(EVT)进行测查,并辅之以问卷调查方法,探讨汉语儿童理解性词汇语义与表达性词汇语义习得发展的规律特点。研究发现,中国汉语文化情景中3—6岁儿童词汇语义发展呈现出清晰的上升态势,不同阶段儿童的理解性语义水平和表达性语义水平,都随着年龄增长在不断地提高;但不同于国际儿童语言研究结论,他们认为儿童呈现出表达性词汇语义发展先于和优于理解性词汇语义。研究分析3—6岁汉语儿童不同词类语义习得发展,检核儿童理解性语义和表达性语义习得最高正确率和最低正确率的词汇,提出儿童词汇语义习得遵从儿童对周围生活探索成长的基本顺序,建议从儿童发展整体观认识早期语义习得过程。研究结果还报告了影响3—6岁汉语儿童词汇语义发展的环境因素。

The present study explores the development trajectory of receptive and expressive vocabulary in pre-school Mandarin-speaking children. Mandarin-speaking children between the age of three and six in Shanghai are tested by the globally used language assessments, including Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test(PPVT) and Expressive Vocabulary Test(EVT), and children's parents are invited to participate in an interview. Findings show that there is signifi cant growth in vocabulary development of Mandarin-speaking children between the age of three and six in Chinese culture. The levels of receptive and expressive vocabulary of children at different development stage develop with age. However, in contrast with fi ndings from child language research in the world, the results show that the development of expressive vocabulary begins earlier than that of receptive vocabulary and the former skills are better than the latter. Furthermore, the study investigates the acquisition of part-of-speech types of children between the age of three and six. By examining the words with highest and lowest percentage of response accuracy in both receptive and expressive vocabulary assessments, we fi nd that children's acquisition of vocabulary is related to their exploration of the surroundings and suggests that we should understand children's acquisition of vocabulary development from a systematic perspective. The study also examines the infl uences of different factors on vocabulary development of children between the age of three and six.