動詞密度作為5至7歲華語兒童敘事語句複雜度指標之探討

發展性語言障礙兒童（development language disorder, DLD）的複雜句表現持續落後典型發展兒童（typical development, TD），例如數量與種類較少。英語研究常以子句密度分析語法複雜度，但因華語謂語包含動詞、名詞與形容詞，且以動詞最多，本研究探討動詞密度是否可作為華語語法複雜度的發展指標之一。 本研究分析兒童語言學習與介入實驗室中的故事重述語料，所有語料經系統性處理與人工標記後進行分析。研究先檢視73位5至7歲TD兒童動詞密度與語法指標的相關性，再分析這三個年齡組TD兒童，及45位5至7歲DLD與45位年齡配對（chronological age-matched group, CA）兒童在總語句動詞密度與複雜句動詞密度的表現，並比較DLD與CA兒童在不同語句長度的動詞密度變化。 結果顯示，動詞密度與謂語密度呈高度相關。總語句及複雜句動詞密度可區分5歲與7歲TD兒童，也能藉由總語句動詞密度區分DLD與CA兒童。5至7歲TD兒童使用複雜句時，語句複雜程度會提升，而7歲兒童複雜句數量及複雜程度皆高於5歲兒童。DLD兒童複雜句數量低於CA兒童，但DLD與CA兒童的語句內複雜程度皆尚在發展中。DLD與CA兒童的語句隨長度增加而變複雜，惟DLD兒童的平均語句長度與複雜句數量皆落後CA兒童。動詞密度適合作為華語語句複雜度指標，提供臨床人員比計算複雜句比例更細緻，比計算複雜句種類更便捷的評估選擇。分析動詞密度有助於臨床治療師評估兒童在動詞使用、複雜句產出及語句複雜度等語言面向的發展狀況。

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) consistently exhibit deficits in complex sentence production compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. In English, clausal density is a widely accepted measure of syntactic complexity; however, its application in Mandarin poses challenges due to the language’s predicate-based clause structure, which includes verb, noun, and adjective predicates, with verb predicates being the most prevalent. This study aimed to investigate whether verb density can serve as a reliable alternative metric for evaluating syntactic complexity in Mandarin-speaking children.Spontaneous language samples were extracted from our laboratory corpus of children’s story retellings. These samples were transcribed, manually coded, and analyzed. The study first examined correlations between verb density and established syntactic complexity measures in a sample of 73 TD children aged 5 to 7. Subsequently, a comparative analysis was conducted across age groups (5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds) and between 45 children with DLD and 45 chronological age-matched TD controls.Findings indicate that verb density is a valid proxy for predicate density in assessing syntactic development. It effectively differentiated between TD children aged 5 and 7, and between children with DLD and their age-matched peers. Among TD children, the use of complex sentences increased with age, although full syntactic mastery was still emerging. While syntactic complexity also increased with sentence length in both DLD and TD groups, children with DLD demonstrated significant delays. Overall, verb density emerges as a practical and sensitive measure for evaluating syntactic development in Mandarin-speaking populations.We suggest that clinicians use verb density to assess 5- to 7-year-old children's complex sentence production and syntactic complexity.