本研究旨在探討華語為母語兒童對於華語中可數名詞分類詞(count-noun classifiers)和不可數名詞分類詞(noncount-noun classifiers)以及個體分類詞(individual classifiers)和群體分類詞(group classifiers)還有形狀分類詞(shape classifiers)之習得過程與發展。主要研究的議題包括兒童對華語不同語意類別的分類詞的習得表現，以及年齡是否影響兒童在分類詞上的理解與表達。本研究包含兩個實驗：第一個實驗為圖片描述測驗，第二個實驗為圖片圈選測驗。研究對象依照年齡共分為三組：第一組為五到六歲兒童、第二組為七到八歲兒童、第三組為九到十歲兒童，每組各十六人，以及二十位成人為對照組，總共六十八位。
研究發現，在可數名詞分類詞和不可數名詞分類詞上，各組兒童的不可數分類詞表現皆優於可數名詞分類詞。在個體分類詞與群體分類詞方面，各組兒童的個體分類詞表現皆優於群體分類詞。在形狀分類詞表現方面，不規則的三維(three-dimensional)分類詞比二維(two-dimensional)分類詞容易習得，二維分類詞又比一維(one-dimensional)分類詞來得容易，而規則的三維分類詞對兒童來說難度最高。最後，兒童對分類詞的理解與表達隨著年齡的增長而有所提升，五到六歲兒童雖已能理解大多數的分類詞，其表現尚未及成人，部分形狀分類詞亦無法完全表達，七到八歲兒童雖能理解及表達各類分類詞，但其理解與成人母語者僅部分相同，而在九到十歲兒童在各類分類詞的表現，已達成人母語者之理解能力，但其分類詞之表達與母語者仍有顯著差異。

The present study aims at investigating Mandarin-speaking children’s acquisition of classifiers. Two experiments were designed to elicit the subjects’ comprehension and production: a picture-pointing task and a picture--description task. The issues addressed in the present study included children’s difficulty in acquiring count-noun and noncount-noun classifiers, individual and group classifiers, and shape classifiers, as well as age effect. Forty-eight children participated in the present study, and they were further divided into three age groups: Group 1 (five to six years old), Group 2 (seven to eight years old), and Group 3 (nine to ten years old). In addition, sixteen adults were recruited as the control group. The major findings are summarized as follows:
First of all, it was found that our subjects performed significantly better on noncount-noun classifiers than on count-noun classifiers (p < 0.05). Secondly, there was a significant difference between the subjects’ performances on individual classifiers and group classifiers (p < 0.05). They showed better ability in dealing with individual classifiers than with group classifiers. Thirdly, with regard to shape classifiers, all the child groups demonstrated an identical acquisition pattern, where irregular three-dimensional classifiers were the easiest to acquire, followed by two-dimensional classifiers and one-dimensional classifiers. Regular three-dimensional classifiers were the most challenging to acquire. Finally, the results indicated that children at the ages of five and six could comprehend and produce count-noun and noncount-noun classifiers, individual and group classifiers, and some shape classifiers, but not adult-like yet. Children aged seven to eight obtained adult-like comprehension of count-noun and noncount-noun classifiers, individual and group classifiers, and part of shape classifiers; however, they were not able to show adult-like production yet. Moreover, the subjects aged nine to ten comprehended all the test classifiers as the adult group did; nevertheless, their production was still not adult-like yet.

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