從全體至部份：學前兒童學習英語

“From Whole to Part”: Pre-Schoolers Learning EFL

本研究是要瞭解學前兒童學習外語的過程，研究主要目的是要瞭解學前兒童英語初學者從整體學習中，學到語文的部份－－語文規則和形式。這是一個質性「教師為研究者」的研究，做為一個「教師為研究者」，作者設計以探思為主的課程，學生可以自由創造意義，學習整體語文，換句話說，學生不需要學習文法、單字等。筆者設計課程、親自教學。筆者也收集分析資料。研究的結果發現，語言的規則和形式是從使用中而獲得的，而且每個兒童有自己的學習方式。筆者建議教師可以設計課程讓學生在豐富的語言環境中學習。

This study sets out to explore the underlying processes of learning English as a foreign language (EFL), bringing an alternative perspective to the field. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the process by which children who are beginners in EFL learning can learn conventional rules and forms of a foreign language through holistic learning, which exposes language learners to various texts and to the free construction of meaning. This is a teacher-based study using qualitative research in the form of a case study. As a teacher-researcher, I set up an inquiry-based curriculum, within which students were able to interact freely with a foreign language; this was then followed by an investigation of that process.The findings suggest that language forms and rules are learned through use. In other words, language learning is from ”whole to part” (a phrase used in Goodman, 1986); that is, from a whole text, learners acquire a kind of understanding of such abstract parts as forms and rules. Another approach to this idea is that language learners acquire rules and forms by engaging in holistic language environments, in which language learners can use language freely.