Chapter 3. Methodology
3.2 Data analysis
The data were analyzed to investigate the types, person subjects, and pragmatic functions of the modal hui in the children’s speech.3 The modal hui can be divided into three types of meaning: dynamic, deontic, and epistemic (Hsieh, 2005, 2006; Wu, 2009).
The dynamic modal hui is concerned with the ability of the subject (Chang, 2001;
Hsieh, 2005, 2006; Huang, 1999; Wu, 2009). For instance, the modal hui in Example 1 was identified as the dynamic use. SEN and his mother were playing baby yoga cards. SEN tried to do the yoga action shown on the card, and he successfully turned a somersault. Then, his mother praised SEN for his extraordinary ability. SEN was proud of being able to turn a somersault and used hui utterance to show his ability.
Example 1 (SEN, 2;7)
%act: SEN is turning a somersault
*MOT: /hong -: honghonghonghong/ 對 -: 好 厲害!
“I could turn a somersault just now.”
3 In some cases, the token of the modal hui may seem to carry more than one type. However, in the study, only the primary type was coded. Thus, each token was coded as only one type. So is the case in the coding of pragmatic functions.
‧
According to Searle’s (1983) classification of speech acts, a commissive demonstrates that the speaker is committing him/herself to ensuring that an event will take place. As mentioned earlier, when what the speaker undertakes to do is welcome to the addressee, it is viewed as a promise (Hsieh, 2006; Huang, 1999). In Example 2, the deontic modal hui expresses commissive. XUN and his mother were playing with toy cars and XUN promised that he would definitely save his toy cars while they dropped into the river.
Example 2 (XUN, 4;0)
*MOT: 你 不 救 它們 的話.
ni bu jiu tamen dehua.
you NEG save them if
“If you didn’t save them,”
*MOT: 你 的 車車 是不是 要 說.
“You didn’t save me. You didn’t save me.”
*XUN: 我 一定 會 <救 它> [>]! wo yiding hui <jiu ta> [>]!
‧
“I will definitely save it.”
*MOT: <那 你 不 是> [<] 好 主人.
<na ni bu shi> [<] hao zhuren.
DM you NEG COP good owner
“You are not a good owner.”
The epistemic modal hui shows the speaker’s judgment of the possibility of the propositional content (Chang, 2001; Hsieh, 2005, 2006; Wu, 2009), as illustrated in Example 3. XUN was putting a remote control into the drawer. He replied to his mother that it was possible that his younger brother would play with the remote control in secret.
“Ah, you shouldn’t tell your younger brother the remote control is here.”
*MOT: 知道 嗎?
‧
because he will stealthily play remote control
“Because he will play with the remote control in secret.”
To ensure the reliability for the coding of the types of the modal hui, one fourth of the data were randomly selected and were coded by another coder. Cohen’s Kappa was used to determine the inter-rater reliability, and the reliability for categorizing the types of the modal hui was 0.93.
In addition, analyses were conducted to examine the distribution of person subjects with the dynamic, deontic, and epistemic modal hui in the children’s speech.
According to previous studies, there is a specific relationship between specific type of modality and its subjecthood (Bassano, 1996; O’Neill & Atance, 2000; Pea & Mawby, 1981). Thus, the utterances with the modal hui were coded for the first, second, and third person subjects. An independent coder coded one fourth of the data which were randomly selected in order to determine the reliability for the coding of the person subjects with the modal hui. Cohen’s Kappa was used to determine the inter-rater reliability, and the reliability was high (k= 1).
Finally, the pragmatic functions of the different types of the modal hui utterances in the children’s speech were provided through data-driven analysis. The children’s
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
21
uses of the three types of the modal hui were examined within the contexts. In order to understand the function of the modal hui utterances, it is necessary to investigate the modal hui through the context or discourse where it appears. In addition, the frequencies of occurrences for the different functions of the modal hui utterances by the two age groups were also examined.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
22
Chapter 4 Results
This chapter presents results of the three analyses. The first one was conducted to examine the different types of the modal hui. The second one investigated the person subjects of the different types of the modal hui. The third one examined how the utterances of the three types of the modal hui express their functions.
4.1 The distribution of the different types of the modal hui
Table 2 shows the frequency of total utterances and the frequency of the modal hui utterances in the children’s speech. As shown in Table 2, there were 4869
utterances in the younger group (Group I) and 5105 utterances in the older group (Group II), respectively. The utterances with the modal hui in Group I and Group II were 129 and 182, respectively. The frequency of the modal hui utterances per minute and the proportions of the modal hui utterances in Group I was 1.08 and 2.65%, and 1.52 and 3.57% in Group II. It appears that the use of the modal hui increased in frequency with age.
‧
Frequencies of Total Utterances and Utterances With hui Group I Group II
Total utterances 4869 5105
Utterances with hui 129 182
Utterances with hui per minute 1.08 1.52
% of utterances with hui 2.65 3.57
Further analysis was conducted to examine the different meanings of the modal hui in the children’s speech. Since the modal hui is used with more than one meaning
(Chang, 2001; Hsieh, 2005, 2006; Huang, 1999; Wu, 2009), the different meanings of the modal hui exhibit the different degree of challenge for the children. Children may acquire meanings of the modal hui from the concrete one to the abstract one. Table 3 shows the frequencies and proportions of the three types of the modal hui in the children’s speech.
Table 3
Frequencies of the Three Types of the Modal hui
Modal Group I Group II Note. DYN- dynamic; DEO- deontic; EPI- epistemic
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
24
As seen in Table 3, only 15 tokens (4 tokens in Group I; 11 tokens in Group II ) of the deontic modal hui were found. There were few tokens in the deontic modal hui in this study. The finding is consistent with previous studies, which indicated the deontic use of the modal hui is an extremely marginal use in Mandarin (Guo, 1994;
Wu, 2009). As for the dynamic modal hui, it decreased with age (from 59.69% in Group I to 30.22% in Group II), while the epistemic modal hui increased with age (from 37.21% in Group I to 63.74% in Group II). The younger age group children used the dynamic modal more because this concept reflects nonepistemic meaning.
The epistemic meaning of possibility which related to the abstract concept was more frequently used by the older age group children. It indicated that the younger age group children relatively rarely used the epistemic modal; that is, they used nonepistemic more. The findings may support previous studies which suggested that the epistemic meanings are developed relatively late due to the cognitive complexity (e.g. Fletcher, 1975; Guo, 1995; Shatz & Wilcox, 1991; Stephany, 1986; Wells, 1979, 1985).
4.2 The distribution of the person subjects in the three types of the modal hui The distribution of the person subjects in the different types of the modal hui was also analyzed. Several studies have found that there is a relation between specific type
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
25
of modality and subjecthood (O’Neill & Atance, 2000; Pea & Mawby, 1981). It is assumed that children may acquire certain types of modal with specific person pronoun subjects. Table 4 shows the frequencies and proportions of the different person subjects of the dynamic, deontic, and epistemic modal hui by the two age groups.
Table 4
Distribution of the Person Subjects in the Three Types of the Modal hui
Person Group I Group II
DYN DEO EPI DYN DEO EPI
N % N % N % N % N % N % 1st 54 70.13 4 100 13 27.08 47 85.45 11 100 21 18.10
2nd 2 2.60 0 0 4 8.33 1 1.82 0 0 6 5.17
3rd 21 27.27 0 0 31 64.58 7 12.73 0 0 89 76.72 Total 77 100 4 100 48 100 55 100 11 100 116 100
As shown in Table 4, the children tended to use the dynamic (70.13% in Group I;
85.45% in Group II) and the deontic modal hui (100% in both groups) with the first person subject. However, the subject of the epistemic modal hui was usually with the third person (64.58% in Group I; 76.72% in Group II). This finding is consistent with Pea and Mawby’s (1981) study that children produce agent-oriented modal verbs with the first person subject. In contrast, children use epistemic terms mainly with the third person subject to express events and states of third-party entities (Bassano, 1996;
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
26
O’Neill & Atance, 2000).
In the following section, the children’s use of the different person subjects in the different types of the modal hui were further examined. Section 4.2.1 presents the analysis of the first person subjects in the three types of the modal hui. And the analysis of the second person subjects in the three types of the modal hui is presented in Section 4.2.2. In Section 4.2.3, the analysis of the third person subjects in the three types of the modal hui is presented.
4.2.1 First person subjects in the three types of the modal hui
The following table, excerpted from Table 4 to clearly present and further explain the data, shows the frequencies and proportions of the first person subjects in the three types of the modal hui. As seen in Table 5, the subject of the dynamic modal hui was usually first person in the two groups (70.13% in Group I; 85.45% in Group
II).
‧
Table 5 (Excerpt from Table 4)
Distribution of the First Person Subjects in the Three Types of the Modal hui Modal N %
The dynamic modal hui with the first person pronoun subject wo “I” is presented in Example 4. TIN and her mother were putting together jigsaw puzzles, and TIN said she did not know how to place jigsaw puzzles. The use of the first person subject indicates that the children are most interested in their own abilities when using the dynamic modal hui.
“How about using this one?”
‧
Children also tended to use the deontic modal hui with the first person pronoun wo “I”. As seen in Example 5, YOU was going to give his father a call, and he
promised his mother that he would not give a wrong call by using the first person subject to give his mother his promise.
Example 5 (YOU, 5;4)
“You shouldn’t press (it) at will.”
*YOU: /hang/ 我 不 會 亂 按!
“I have tried (it) before.”
However, there were low percentages of the epistemic modal hui with the first person subjects (27.08% in Group I; 18.1% in Group II). First person subjects were
‧
expected to be animate beings. However, most of the subjects of the epistemic hui utterances were inanimate entities, such as an object that does not have any expected animate functions, an abstract concept, or a place (Guo, 1994). Thus, it would probably result in low percentages of the epistemic modal hui with the first person subjects. Nevertheless, there were still some examples of the epistemic modal hui utterances with the first person subjects. As seen in Example 6, LEE and her mother were playing cards. LEE’s mother asked her why they had to play again, and LEE replied that “I have many good cards, so I will win.” The person subject of this utterance of the epistemic modal hui was the first person wo “I” to express LEE’s judgment of the possibility of the propositional content.
Example 6 (LEE, 5;1)
*MOT: 然後 又 再 比 喔?
ranhou you zai bi o?
then again again compete Q
“And then (are we going to) play again?”
*LEE: 對 啊.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
30
why need “Why?”
*LEE: 有 很 多 喔 [% looking at the cards she is holding]!
you hen duo o [% looking at the cards she is holding]!
have very many PRT
“(I) have many (good cards).”
*LEE: 我 會 贏 的 喔!
wo hui ying de o!
I will win NOM PRT
“I will win.”
4.2.2 Second person subjects in the three types of the modal hui
The usage of the second person subjects in the three types of the modal hui is presented in Table 6, excerpted from Table 4 to clearly present and further explain the data. As shown in the table, there were only a few tokens in the dynamic modal hui (2.6% in Group I; 1.82% in Group II). The reason there were so few tokens of the dynamic modal hui with the second person subjects may be that children are most interested in their own abilities (Pea & Mawby, 1981); that is, they usually refer to themselves, using first person subjects. Thus, children seldom use the dynamic modal hui with the second person subjects.
‧
Table 6 (Excerpt from Table 4)
Distribution of the Second Person Subjects in the Three Types of the Modal hui
Modal N %
However, some tokens were still found, as seen in Example 7. In Example 7, SEN and his mother were playing baby yoga cards. The mother wanted to do some yoga action shown on the card, but SEN refused to do it by saying that he could not.
Then the mother said he could do it with her help. However, SEN still thought his mother was unable to do it. The mother asked SEN the reasons, and SEN answered, ni buhui “You can’t”.
“(When I) hold (you) in the arms, (you do the action of) sleeping.”
*SEN: 可是 <我> [/] 我 不 會 啊.
keshi <wo> [/] wo bu hui a.
but I I NEG can PRT
‧
“(When) I hold you in the arms, (you do the action of) sleeping.”
*SEN: 不 -: 行 -: .
There were also few tokens of the second person subjects in the epistemic modal hui (8.33% in Group I; 5.17% in Group II). According to Guo (1994), the subject of
the epistemic modal hui utterances may be inanimate entities rather than animate beings. However, the second person subject is expected to be animate. As a result, the number of the epistemic modal hui with the second person subjects was small.
Although few tokens were found, there were still some epistemic modal hui utterances with the second person subject, as shown in Example 8. In this example, BUO and his mother were playing with toy fruits, and he told his mother that she
‧
should not put too many toy fruits in the plate, or she would be too full. BUO’s epistemic modal hui with the second person subject expresses his judgment of the possibility of the propositional content.
Example 8 (BUO, 3;2)
4.2.3 Third person subjects in the three types of the modal hui
Table 7, excerpted from Table 4 to clearly present and further explain the data, shows the distribution of the third person subjects in the three types of the modal hui.
In the epistemic modal hui, the subject of the epistemic hui utterances was usually the third person (64.58% in Group I; 76.72% in Group II).
*BUO: 不 要 放 好 多 東西.
bu yao fang hao duo dongxi.
NEG should put very many thing
“Don’t put too many things.”
%act: BUO pushed away all the fruits in his mother’s plate
*BUO: 這 樣子 你 會 吃 不 下!
‧
Table 7 (Excerpt from Table 4)
Distribution of the Third Person Subjects in the Three Types of the Modal hui Modal N %
In Example 9, XUN and his mother were playing with blocks. XUN said it was impossible that the blocks he made would explode because they were made of solid blocks. The person subject of the epistemic modal hui was the third person inanimate ta “it”.
Example 9 (XUN, 4;0)
*XUN: 我 不 相信 它 [= block] 會 爆炸!
wo bu xiangxin ta hui baozha!
I NEG believe it will explode
“I don’t believe it will explode.”
*MOT: 0 [=! laughing].
*XUN: 才 不 相信 咧!
cai bu xiangxin lie!
just NEG believe PRT
“(I) just don’t believe (it).”
*XUN: 它 做 實心 的.
ta zuo shixin de.
it make solid NOM
“It was made of solid blocks.”
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
35
In the dynamic modal hui, children usually used the third person inanimate subjects, as shown in Table 8. However, as a matter of fact, most of third person inanimate subjects were animate ones. They referred to the dolls the child was playing with, which were the symbol of animate beings. Thus, the results confirmed that the dynamic modal hui has semantic association with abilities which are intrinsically connected to animate beings (Chang, 2001; Guo, 1995; Huang, 1999).
Table 8
Third Person Animate and Inanimate Subjects in the Dynamic hui Dynamic Group I Group II
N % N %
3A 2 9.52% 1 14.29%
3I 19 90.48% 6 85.71%
Total 21 100.00% 7 100.00%
Note. 3A- third person animate; 3I- third person inanimate
For instance, the dynamic modal hui with the third person inanimate subject ta
“it” is presented in Example 10. YIN and her mother were playing with some toys.
YIN told her mother that the toy monkey she was holding could climb up the tree to get bananas. Here the toy monkey was a symbolic animate being.
‧
“Climbing up the tree.”
%act: YIN holds the toy monkey and pretends that it climbs up the tree
*YIN: /ei/ 摘 到 了 [% holding the toy monkey and jumping].
/ei/ zhai dao le [% holding the toy monkey and jumping].
hey pick to CRS
“Hey, (it) picked (something).”
*MOT: 摘 到 什麼 <小 猴子> [>]?
zhai dao shenme <xiao houzi> [>]?
pick To what little monkey
“What did the little monkey pick?”
*YIN: <香蕉> [<].
<xiangjiao> [<].
Banana “Bananas.”
To sum up, the person subject of the three types of the modal hui in Group I was similar to Group II. Thus, it seems that children from the early years on are sensitive to the person subject of specific type of the modal hui. The dynamic and deontic modal hui were usually the first person subjects, while the epistemic modal hui were usually the third person subjects. As for the second person subjects, there were
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
37
relatively few tokens in the three types of the modal hui. It was also noteworthy that the subject of the epistemic modal hui utterances may be inanimate entities rather than an animate being, whereas the dynamic modal hui mostly appeared with animate subjects or symbolic animate beings.
4.3 The pragmatic functions of the three types of the modal hui utterances This section provides the pragmatic functions of the different types of the modal hui utterances in the children’s speech. The functions of the modal hui are
investigated within the contexts. Furthermore, the numbers and proportions for the different functions of the modal hui utterances by the two age groups are also discussed.
4.3.1 Dynamic hui utterances
The dynamic modal hui is related to the ability of the subject. The analysis showed that the major functions of the dynamic modal hui utterances included (1) request, (2) refusal, (3) reporting, and (4) boasting.
(1) Request
In requesting adult help, the children simply stated to the adult that they did not
‧
know how to do certain things so that the adult should help them. Example 11 illustrates this function of the dynamic modal hui utterance.
Example 11 (LEE, 5;1)
*LEE: 媽咪 這 種 的 [= dress] 我 不 會 摺.
mami zhe zhong de [= dress] wo bu hui zhe.
mommy this kind NOM I NEG can fold
“Mommy, I can’t fold this kind of clothes.”
*MOT: 啊 你 不 是 說 這 個 難 不 倒 你 [=! laughing].
a ni bu shi shuo zhe ge nan bu dao ni [=! laughing].
well you NEG COP say this CL hard NEG beat you
“Didn’t you say that you could handle it?”
*LEE: 0 [=! laughing].
%act: LEE’s mother took the dress away and showed her how to fold it
%act: LEE’s mother took the dress away and showed her how to fold it