Wu Chung-Chin
Department of Early Childhood Education, National Pingtung University, Pingtung 900391, Taiwan.
Children (Basel). 2023 Jul 24;10(7):1273. doi: 10.3390/children10071273.
The profiles of kindergarteners' learning interests in Hakka bilingual teaching programs are unclear and the effects of these programs on the transition of such interests over the long term are under investigation. This study analyzed the learning interest profiles of 112 kindergarteners (data gathered by kindergarten teachers) enrolled in immersion/non-immersion Hakka bilingual programs in Taiwan. Latent transitions in these profiles were analyzed based on pre- and post-implementation data. The results showed that two different subgroups were identified based on the kindergarteners' learning interest profiles before and after the implementation of the Hakka bilingual program. The pre-implementation subgroups contained the "moderate situational and low-to-moderate individual interest" and the "high situational and moderate-to-high individual interest" profiles. Post-implementation subgroups consisting of "moderate-to-high situational and moderate individual interest" and "high situational and individual interest" profiles were identified. Moreover, four patterns of transition in the kindergarteners' learning interest profiles were uncovered: (1) a slight increase in both learning interests, (2) a significant increase in both learning interests, (3) a slight regression in both, and (4) a maintenance of situational interest coupled with a slight increase in individual interest. Lastly, the non-immersion Hakka program showed significant and more positive effects on the "moderate situational and low-to-moderate individual interest" profile subgroup compared to the equivalent group from the Hakka immersion program. These results provide new evidence complementing previous findings reached via different analytical approaches and contribute to the overall conclusion that bilingual programs improve learning outcomes.
幼儿园儿童在客家双语教学项目中的学习兴趣概况尚不明晰，这些项目对这种兴趣的长期转变影响仍在研究中。本研究分析了台湾112名参加沉浸式/非沉浸式客家双语项目的幼儿园儿童（由幼儿园教师收集的数据）的学习兴趣概况。基于实施前后的数据，分析了这些概况中的潜在转变。结果显示，根据客家双语项目实施前后幼儿园儿童的学习兴趣概况，确定了两个不同的亚组。实施前的亚组包括“中等情境兴趣和低到中等个人兴趣”以及“高情境兴趣和中等至高个人兴趣”概况。实施后的亚组包括“中等至高情境兴趣和中等个人兴趣”以及“高情境兴趣和个人兴趣”概况。此外，还发现了幼儿园儿童学习兴趣概况的四种转变模式：（1）两种学习兴趣均略有增加，（2）两种学习兴趣均显著增加，（3）两种学习兴趣均略有下降，（4）情境兴趣维持不变，个人兴趣略有增加。最后，与客家沉浸式项目的同等组相比，非沉浸式客家项目对“中等情境兴趣和低到中等个人兴趣”概况亚组显示出显著且更积极的影响。这些结果提供了新的证据，补充了通过不同分析方法得出的先前研究结果，并有助于得出双语项目能提高学习成果的总体结论。
