PDF《Title children》

Title Response to question-words of Cantonese-speaking preschool children Other Contributor(s) University of Hong Kong Author(s) Yuen, Chi-pun, Kevin;

袁志彬 Citation Issued Date

1994 URL http://hdl.

handle.net/10722/56447 Rights This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.;

The author retains all proprietary rights, such as patent rights and the right to use in future works. RESPONSE TO QUESTION-WORDS OF CANTONESE-SPEAKING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN YUEN Chi Pun, Kevin A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 29,1994. ABSTRACT This study investigates responses to two series of question-words : (1) who [ H A ] question-words and what [t2a i?fl 5f ] question-words in sentential subject and object positions;

(2) when ?§|B#], where [5#^]? why [Ifil?] and how [l?|i] question-words, of Cantonese-speaking preschool children. Each of the eighty-four children aged 3;

0~5;

11 gave responses to thirty-six questions about pictures. The study controls sentence complexity across questions and varies specific question-words. The amount of information depicted in the ambiguous context was constant across pictures used within each series of question-words. Results implied acquisition orders of response to the two series of question-words. McNeill'

s (1970) hypothesis of horizontal development of the semantic system explains the developmental sequence found for who and for what question responses. Blank, Rose and Berlin'

s (1978) notion of perceptual-language distance accounts for the developmental sequence of when, where, why and how question responses. Different error patterns reveal certain question answering strategies. INTRODUCTION There are studies on children'

s comprehension of wh-questions (Ervin-Tripp 1970;

Tyack &

Ingram 1977;

Carins &

Hsu 1978;

Gullo 1981;

Johnson 1981;

Gullo 1982;

Lee &

Ashmore 1983;

Pamell, Amerman &

Halting 1984;

Parnell, Patterson Harding 1986). Apart from English literature, there are also studies on Mandarin-speaking population (Mao, 1981;

Lee, 1989). Most of the above studies are cross-sectional ones except Ervin-Tripp (1970) and Lee (1989). These studies came up with different developmental sequences of wh-question comprehension. Most of them agreed that children'

s acquisition of responses to '

who'

, '

what'

and '

where7 questions was easier than responses to '

when'

, '

why1 and '

how'

questions according to certain general cognitive principles. As stated by Blank and Allen (1976), '

what'

and '

where'

are acquired early since they represent objects, relations, or events that are perceivable in a sensorimotor way. Whereas later emergence of '

when'

, '

how'

and '

whtf had been considered as an indication of the more abstractness of the underlying notions of temporality, manner and causality (e.g. Tyack &

Ingram 1977;

Cains&

Hsu 1978;

Clancy 1989). In addition to the underlying differential cognitive requirements, Bloom, Merkin &

Wotten (1982) found that the syntactic function of wh-forms also operates in affecting children'

s ability to acquire wh-questions. Wh-pronominals - '

what'

, \vhere'

and '

who'

emerged earlier than the wh-sententials - Ttow'