音韻分析對於幼兒在非詞覆誦作業表現之重要性

Phonological Analysis Facilitates Nonword Repetition in Young Children

非詞覆誦作業常被視為是用來反映音韻記憶的測量工具（Gathercole, 2006），但此作業需要正確並有效率處理語音之能力，這樣的主張容易忽略了音韻分析能力對於該作業的影響，尤其在音韻發展未臻成熟的孩童，非詞覆誦的表現會受到音韻分析能力之限制。本研究旨在探究音韻記憶及音韻分析對於孩童在非詞覆誦表現的相對預測效度，尤其關注孩童音韻能力的角色。參與受試者為60名4至5歲之幼童，皆接受詞彙量，音韻口語輸出能力，音韻覺識，記憶廣度、發音速度及非詞覆誦等測試。藉由迴歸分析，我們發現音韻口語輸出能力為主要預測非詞覆誦表現之變項，而記憶廣度僅略有貢獻。錯誤分析亦顯示幼兒在非詞覆誦表現的個別差異是來自於他們將非詞做正確音韻編碼之能力。由此研究可得知在中文孩童在覆誦非詞時，記憶量及音韻分析能力皆為關鍵之能力。而欲正確解讀非詞覆誦表現所反映之能力，需考慮受測者的音韻能力，非詞刺激之長度，以及非詞刺激之似詞度等因素。

Nonword repetition (NWR) is often adopted as a measure of phonological storage (Gathercole, 2006). However, this task requires the ability to effectively process phonological information, which could be challenging for young children, whose phonological systems are still in development. This study proposes that in addition to phonological storage, phonological analysis constrains young children's NWR performance. Sixty 4- to 5-year-old children were tested on vocabulary size, productive phonology, phonological awareness, digit span, articulation rate, and NWR. Regression analyses revealed that productive phonology was the major predictor of NWR, while digit span made a minor contribution. Error analyses showed that the children's individual differences resided in their ability to encode nonwords into appropriate phonological units. The findings indicate that phonological analysis and phonological storage are the two major factors contributing to the children's performance in encoding novel forms. The recallers' phonological capacities, and the lexicality and the length of the stimuli determine the capacities reflected by NWR.