| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立新竹教育大學 === 中國語文學系碩士班 === 103 === The purpose of this study was to use the mythology picture book, Nuozha Conquers the Dragon King, to improve the speaking ability of “lái” and ”qù” phrases and teach cultural connotation.The advantage of picture books is that pictures assist reader to comprehend the text easily. In this text, there are a lot of different types of “lái”and”qù”phrases. Among them, complement of direction is the major one. Complement of direction is one of the most difficult phrases for Chinese learners. Therefore, this study used the picture book where situations are provided. It allows learners to better understand all types of “lái” and ”qù” phrases ranging from radical meaning to compound complement of direction, potential complement, “yuè lái yuè” and Verb + “lái” Verb + ”qù”. Then, learners become capable of using all “lái” and ”qù” phrases in the text. In addition, the cultural connotation of the mythology will be taught during the teaching process in order to reach the goal of simultaneously learning language and culture.
Action research was adopted during the teaching experiment, where teaching time was 2 hours a week for 4 weeks. This study recruited 4 adults with Chinese levels between basic and intermediate as the participants. Prior to teaching, a pre-test with pictures was given to the participants in order to understand their original ability of using “lái” and ”qù” phrases. After 4 teaching sessions, a post-test was immediately given, and a deferred test was given a month later. All tests were graded according to different grammar levels and degrees of precision. The research sources of the cultural connotation teaching were from discussions during and after class; At the end of 4 weeks teaching, students’ feedback questionnaire about teaching strategies and learning effects were collected.
The results of this study showed that post-testing of “lái” and ”qù” phrases were improved after teaching. S1’s grade was 20.75 higher than the pretest, S2:+5.25, S3:+ 14.5, S4:+21.25. The basic level participants, S3 &; S4, and the new immigrant S1, showed a greater significant difference in post-testing. The subject of the intermediate level, S2, also improved in post-testing. The 2 participants of the basic level, S3 &; S4, became able to use different types of “lái” and ”qù” phrases, while the new immigrant S1 was stimulated to use all different types of “lái” and ”qù” phrases. In deferred testing, all participants were able to reach similar grades as the post-test, showing that long-term learning effect was sustained.
Regarding the teaching of cultural connotation, almost all participants were interested in cultural discussions, and were able to compare with their own culture. Feedback questionnaires also showed that the participants agreed the pictures in the book were helpful to understand the story and dynamic situations, and the teaching activities were helpful for improving the speaking ability of “lái” and ”qù” phrases. They also agreed that the mythology picture book was helpful for understanding Chinese culture.
The suggestions for future research are as follows. Firstly, picture books as the material in teaching Chinese as a second language for adults should be actively developed. Secondly, oral practice should be the first priority for the activity design of “lái” and ”qù” phrases. Physical activity should be considered depending on participants’ dispositions. Thirdly, in order to cultivate learner’s authentic language senses and use “lái” and ”qù” phrases correctly, different types of “lái” and ”qù” phrases should be allocated during teaching. And learners should be taught to observe the substantive to intangible transformations of “lái” and ”qù” phrases.
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