線上多媒體模塊對時間表達輔助學習的影響──彈性學習教學法初探

The Effects of Using an Online Multimedia Module to Enhance CFL Learners’ Understanding of Time Expression: A Preliminary Study of an Approach for Flexible Learning

對多數英文為母語的中文初級和中級學習者來說，要熟練掌握時間表達，包括動作發生的時間點、發生頻率和動作持續時長，具有一定挑戰。學習者在表達時間時往往存在很多問題，否定、時貌、時態等語言因素的加入更增加了學習的困擾和難度，因此找到一個能夠幫助學習者複習（或者重新學習）時間表達的有效的教學方法迫在眉睫。有鑑於一些文獻曾指出多媒體能夠在不同方面有效地幫助學生學習外語，本研究聚焦於一個為幫助學生學習時間表達而設計的線上多媒體模塊，就其在提升學生學習時間表達上的有效性以及學生使用後的反饋進行了考察。該模塊的設計基於多媒體認知學習理論以及加工深度概念。本研究採用了混合研究方法，參與者為一所美國大學的十三位以中文為外語的中級程度學生。前測、後測以及問卷調查的結果表明，此多媒體模塊能夠有效提高學生對時間表達的學習。本研究在中文教學的多媒體模塊的設計，以及如何利用線上模塊促進彈性學習方面，提供了有益的参考。

Teaching English-speaking students to express time, including point-in-time, frequency, and duration, in Chinese is challenging. They made various errors when expressing time, and they struggle even more when adding negation, aspect, and tense. It is necessary to find out an approach to help students review (or re-learn) time expression, yet no empirical research has been done in this regard. Some previous literature pointed out that multimedia pedagogies have positive impacts on language learning. Since almost every learner has convenient access to online modules, designing a multimedia module could be beneficial for helping learners review or re-learn time expressions in various contexts. In this study, a multimedia module was designed for this purpose based upon the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer 2009, 2014) and the depth of processing concept. Mixed methods were adopted. Thirteen intermediate CFL learners participated in the study. Pre- and post-tests and a post-survey were administered. The results show that the use of the module effectively improved students’ understanding of time expression. This study sheds light on how to design and use online multimedia modules to promote flexible self-learning of Chinese as a foreign language.