華語遲語幼兒及典型語言發展幼兒的表達性詞彙發展

Expressive Mandarin Vocabulary Development in Late Talkers and Typical Language Development Children

本研究旨在探討華語遲語幼兒（Late-Talker， LT）及典型語言發展幼兒 （Typical language development， TLD）的表達性詞彙發展，以標準化家長報告的 方式（華語嬰幼兒溝通發展量表臺灣版）蒐集37 名LT 及32 名TLD 在24 個月 及36 個月的表達性詞彙發展，分析兩組幼兒在四種詞類（普通名詞、謂語、封 閉詞、其他詞類）的詞彙數量、各詞類在總詞彙量中所占的詞類組成比例，以及 各詞類詞彙量在24 ～ 36 個月間的變化差異。結果顯示，LT 在兩個年齡階段的 整體及各詞類詞彙量皆顯著少於TLD，代表LT 的詞彙量在24 個月和36 個月時 皆落後於TLD。在24 個月時，TLD 的詞類詞彙量由多至少，依序為普通名詞、 謂語、其他詞類、封閉詞，而LT 的詞類組成在此時與TLD 略為不同，詞類詞彙 量依序為其他詞類、普通名詞、謂語、封閉詞。其中，其他詞類（含人物稱謂） 顯著多於TLD，而普通名詞及謂語比例顯著少於TLD，封閉詞則無顯著差異。 然而，在36 個月時，LT 和TLD兩組幼兒的詞類組成比例相似，依序為普通名詞、 謂語、其他詞類、封閉詞，但LT 在封閉詞的比例顯著少於TLD，推測封閉詞包 含較多語法（如連接詞），LT 在封閉詞的習得較慢。整體詞彙在一年內的數量 變化上，LT 顯著大於TLD，惟兩組幼兒在封閉詞的變化量無顯著差異。本研究 發現，LT 在總詞彙量上較TLD 少，其詞類組成在24 個月時與TLD 有所不同， 但到36 個月時即與TLD 類似；另外，LT 在24 ～ 36 個月間的各詞類詞彙變化 量大於TLD，惟在封閉詞上的發展仍較慢於TLD，顯示LT 早期詞彙有遲緩的現 象，但在「質」的向度上則無明顯偏異。

Purpose: This study examined the expressive vocabulary development of Mandarinspeaking children who exhibit late talking (LT) and compared it with children who exhibit typical language development (TLD). Methods: Thirty-seven LT and 32 TLD participated in the study. Their expressive vocabulary development， which included vocabulary size， vocabulary composition， and vocabulary developmental change， was assessed. The Mandarin-Chinese Communicative Development Inventory of Taiwan (MCDI-Taiwan) was used to determine the early expressive vocabulary development of these two groups of children. All pieces of vocabulary in the MCDI-Taiwan were categorized by semantic class into four types: “common nouns，” “predicates，” “closed class，” and “other pieces of vocabulary.” Three measures of vocabulary development， including the total vocabulary produced， the percentage of each vocabulary type in the total vocabulary size， and the progress in total vocabulary size between 24 months and 36 months were collected for individual children. Results/Findings: The total amount of vocabulary produced and the four types of vocabulary of LT were all significantly less developed than those of the TLD. These results indicate that the vocabulary produced by the LT at both 24 and 36 months was delayed when compared with that produced by TLD. Vocabulary size analysis for both groups revealed that “common nouns” were the most developed， “predicates” the second most developed， “other pieces of vocabulary” the third most developed， and the “closed class” the least developed. By contrast， the vocabulary composition of LT was significantly different from that of TLD at 24 months old. The four vocabulary categories ordered by use proportion， from most to least production category， were “other pieces of vocabulary，” “common nouns，” “predicates，” and the “closed class;” in other words， “other pieces of vocabulary” were employed significantly more often by LT than by TLD. However， the production of “common nouns” and “predicates” by LT was less than that produced by TLD; finally， the proportion of “closed class” words did not differ between the two groups at 24 months of age. Further analysis of these vocabulary categories revealed that the most used lexical choices in the “other pieces of vocabulary” category related to people (e.g.， “father，” “mother”). This result concerning vocabulary composition may be assumed to result from the emphasis on respect for seniority in Chinese society. At 36 months， vocabulary composition for both groups was similar: the most to least produced word groups were “common nouns，” “predicates，” “other pieces of vocabulary，” and the “closed class.” Notably， the use of “closed class” words by LT was significantly less than that of TLD. More syntactical usage (e.g.， conjunctions) potentially occurred for the “closed class” words， resulting in slower development among LT. Overall， the developmental change in the vocabulary of LT over one year was significantly greater than that of TLD; however， the amount of that increment in the use of “closed class” words was similar between the two groups. Conclusions/Implications: The vocabulary size of LT is significantly inferior to that of TLD. Additionally， vocabulary composition differs between the two groups at 24 months but is comparable at 36 months. Furthermore， the developmental change in terms of vocabulary for LT was greater than is that of the TLD， although the development change of “closed class” words was comparable to TLD; this indicates that use of “close class” vocabulary is difficult for both groups. The results suggest that LT exhibit “delayed” vocabulary development rather than the “deviant” when compared with TLD.