本文研究以華語作為外語的學習者對華語語氣詞「嗎」、「吧」和「呢」的習得。研究發現不同學習者之間存在差異。中級華裔學習者比非華裔學習者有優勢，而高級華裔學習者並無此優勢。我們因此提出只有初級和中級的華裔學習者在語氣詞習得上比非華裔學習者有優勢。研究也發現同一個語氣詞的不同用法有不同的習得順序。對語氣詞習得偏誤的分析顯示，語氣詞的教學應在語境中進行。

This study examines the acquisition of three Chinese sentence-final particles (SFPs), ma, ba and ne, by English learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL), both heritage and non-heritage learners. Our analysis shows that different groups of learners have different patterns in the acquisition of SFPs. It is found that the intermediate-level heritage learners have advantage over the non-heritage learners at the same level, while the advanced-level heritage learners do not possess such advantage over the non-heritage learners at the same level. It is proposed that only at the beginning and intermediate levels do heritage language learners possess advantage over non-heritage language learners. Our study also shows that different usages of the same SFPs may be acquired in different orders by CFL learners. An analysis of the errors in the use of SFPs highlights the importance of situating the usages of SFPs in the context of discourse.