摘要
本研究探討閩南語ka字句的第一語言習得。目的是要了解閩南語ka字句的四大屬性，ka名詞組的指涉性、ka名詞的省略性、ka動詞的動作性，以及現在進行標誌的使用在學齡前兒童母語習得中所扮演的角色。主要的研究議題包含屬性效應、副屬性效應、題型效應、非典型作答模式，以及年齡效應。本研究共設計兩個測驗：文法判斷測驗與看圖回答測驗。研究參與者為64位以閩南語為母語的人士，包含48位平均年齡為4至6歲的兒童及16位成人。
研究結果顯示，不同的屬性、副屬性、題型及年齡，皆影響閩南語ka字句的習得。ka字句的四大屬性對實驗對象而言難易程度有所不同：ka動詞的動作性最簡單，ka名詞組的指涉性次之，現在進行標誌的使用再次之，ka名詞的省略性難度最高。此次序可用Pinker (1989)的保守理論來解釋。在副屬性效應方面，本研究結果支持ka字句的理論性研究，實驗參與者在一般指涉和定指名詞表現優於非定指名詞、非狀態動詞優於狀態動詞、無目的性動詞優於有目的性動詞。根據這些結果，我們更進一步發展Pinker (1989)的保守理論，提出在習得區別出可出現和不可出現在某特定句型的元素的過程中，本研究之學齡前兒童似乎歷經三個發展階段：階段1: 無區別階段2: 部分區別階段3: 完全區別。在題型效應方面，基本上受試者在文法判斷測驗表現優於看圖回答測驗，支持理解先於口語能力的看法 (Oviatt 1980, Brown 1987, Gerken and Shady 1996)。最後，觀察各個年齡層的表現，我們發現5歲是閩南語ka字句的轉變階段，然而直到6歲時，ka字句發展才達到完全成熟。

ABSTRACT
The present study aims to explore children’s acquisition of the Taiwanese ka construction. Four major constraints, i.e., Referentiality, Omission, Dynamicity, and Progressive, were examined in the present study. Property effects, sub-property effects, task effects, age effects and other related patterns were investigated in this pioneer research. A comprehension task (Grammaticality Judgment task, the GJ task) and a production task (a Picture-cued Production task, the PP task) were employed. Forty-eight preschoolers in Xinying City, Tainan County and sixteen adults were asked to participate in the experiment. The preschoolers were further divided into three age groups, ranging from 4 to 6.
The findings suggested that main properties, sub-properties, tasks, and age were all crucial factors in the acquisition of the Taiwanese ka construction. The four constraints were found to impose a different degree of difficulty on the subjects: Dynamicity > Referentiality > Progressive > Omission (from easy to difficult). The hierarchical sequence supports Pinker’s (1989) Theory of Conservativism. Concerning the sub-property effects, the present results argued for the previous theoretical analyses in that our subjects did prefer Nonstative to Stative, Definite/Generic to Indefinite, and Atelic to Telic. The above findings showed that in acquiring the contrast between elements permitted and prohibited in a certain construction, our children seemed to go through three developmental stages: Stage 1: No ContrastStage 2: Partial ContrastStage 3: Full Contrast. Moreover, it was found that our children performed better on the GJ task than on the PP task, supporting the view that comprehension is prior to production (Oviatt 1980, Brown 1987, Gerken and Shady 1996). In addition, it was found that age 5 was a transitional point for the acquisition of the Taiwanese ka construction and age 6 was the cutting age where our children achieved an adult-like grammar.

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