Learning Chinese Characters Research Articles

Entropy-based Sound-Character Mapping for Chinese Character Learning

Entropy-based Sound-Character Mapping for Chinese Character Learning

On the Content and Training of Chinese Character Learning Strategies

Chinese character learning is a major focus and difficulty in learning Chinese as a second language. In order to learn Chinese characters more efficiently, learners can adopt appropriate Chinese character learning strategies. The article firstly classifies the Chinese character learning strategies in second language acquisition and analyses the main influencing factors of Chinese character learning. Secondly, the target learners of Chinese characters are classified into two categories: Chinese character circle and non-Chinese character circle, and the differences of their Chinese character learning strategies are analysed. Finally, the training process of Chinese character learning strategies is analysed. The aim is to further understand the use and training of Chinese character learning strategies, and to provide help and guidance for future Chinese language teachers to train learners in Chinese character learning strategies in a targeted manner.

Effects of Playing an Interactive Educational App on Children's Learning and Executive Function

AbstractChildren are increasingly using educational apps, but little research has been conducted to determine their effectiveness. The current study compared the effect of an interactive touchscreen app to the effect of a noninteractive video about the app on young children's Chinese characters learning and executive functions (EFs). In a mixed between‐within design, 50 children aged 5 to 6 years old were randomly assigned to play the app on touchscreen or to watch a noninteractive video about the app. Results showed that children in the app condition made more progress from the pretest to the posttest in Chinese characters learning, and more improvement in working memory scores and inhibitory capacity scores compared to the video condition. Results suggest that interactive literacy apps on touchscreens benefit children's learning and EFs. Future research should continue to focus on the impact of different forms of touchscreen use on children's executive functioning.

Review of Oreste Vaccari’s Pictorial Chinese-Japanese Characters (漢字の母體)

This review examines the organization and content of Pictorial Chinese-Japanese Characters (1964), a textbook for learning Chinese characters written by Oreste Vaccari (1886–1980), and examines its features and limitations. Pictorial Chinese-Japanese Characters (漢字の母體) is a textbook for westerners who are new to Chinese characters, and seems to have been written with this in mind judging from the level of Chinese characters included and the editorial organization. This book has the advantage of teaching Chinese characters in a systematic way, explaining how they are organized. However, if we look at the details, we find that the explanations of the interpretation of the characters are sometimes incorrect, and there are also errors such as overinterpreting the meaning of the sound part of the phonetic characters (形聲字). This review will examine the organization and content of this book and identify its strengths and limitations.

Design and practice of human-machine cooperative international Chinese character teaching in ChatGPT application

The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into language education has created new opportunities for improving the instruction and acquisition of Chinese characters. Nevertheless, the cognitive difficulties linked to the acquisition of Chinese characters, such as their intricate visual features and lack of clear meaning, necessitate thoughtful deliberation when developing AI-supported learning interventions. The objective of this project is to explore the capacity of a collaborative method between humans and machines in teaching Chinese characters, utilising the advantages of both human expertise and AI technology. We specifically investigate the utilisation of ChatGPT, a substantial language model, for the creation of instructional materials and evaluation methods aimed at teaching Chinese characters to individuals who are not native speakers. The study utilises a mixed-methods approach, which involves both qualitative examination of lesson plans created by ChatGPT and quantitative evaluation of student learning outcomes. The results indicate that the suggested framework for human-machine collaboration can successfully tackle the cognitive difficulties associated with learning Chinese characters, resulting in enhanced learner involvement and performance. Nevertheless, the research also emphasises the constraints of AI-generated material and the significance of human involvement in guaranteeing the accuracy and dependability of educational interventions. This research adds to the expanding collection of literature on AI-assisted language learning and offers practical insights for educators and instructional designers who aim to use AI tools into Chinese language curriculum. The results emphasise the necessity of employing a multi-disciplinary strategy in AI-supported language learning, incorporating knowledge from cognitive psychology, educational technology, and second language acquisition.

App-assisted learning of Chinese characters: Matching parts and radicals in structural templates

App-assisted learning of Chinese characters: Matching parts and radicals in structural templates

Effects of cue and instructor demonstration on the learning of Chinese characters for Chinese as a second language beginners

This study purports to investigate the effects of cue and instructor demonstration on Chinese as a second language (CSL) beginners' Chinese character learning performance, cognitive load, learning motivation and attitude. In the current research, 100 CSL beginners were randomly assigned to four experimental groups, i.e., instructor demonstration cued character, instructor demonstration non-cued character, non-instructor demonstration cued character and non-instructor demonstration non-cued character. Participants were instructed to watch an instructional video and subsequently complete a post-test and a questionnaire. The results show that (1) in the presence of instructor demonstration, the cued characters can noticeably reduce CSL beginners' cognitive load and enhance their learning attitudes towards character learning, enabling them to achieve better performance in character stroke but not in radical and structure, and (2) in the presence of cued characters, the instructor demonstration can noticeably reduce CSL beginners' cognitive load and increase their learning motivation and attitudes towards character learning but can not improve their character learning performance. The findings have significant implications for educators and instructional designers of Chinese and other non-alphabetic languages, such as Kanji and Hangul.

Unity-based Chinese Digital Education Game: Journey to Cultural Relics of Ancient China

This project is the study of a digital educational game primarily designed to aid foreigners in the process of learning Chinese characters and Chinese culture. The game was created to be three-dimensional, incorporating semi-realistic traditional Chinese art-style illustrations. In addition to the incorporated card memory game, designed to help memorize Chinese characters, there are also elements used to introduce the culture and history of China's four great inventions, assimilating them into four task-setting mini-games. Through this method, players can deepen their impression of Chinese culture by playing mini-games. The game was developed based on the Unity development platform, utilizing Maya for modeling, Substance Painter for textures, employing PS and Proceate for material painting, and interface design. From the interview results of the user test, the game has achieved the purpose of helping players learn Chinese characters, understand Chinese culture, and increase their interest in China.

International Students' Attitudes toward Chinese Character Learning: Interplay with Motivation and External Educational Factors

International Students' Attitudes toward Chinese Character Learning: Interplay with Motivation and External Educational Factors

Applying the stroke extraction method in learning Chinese characters for Vietnamese students

Applying the stroke extraction method in learning Chinese characters for Vietnamese students

Does testing potentiate new learning because it enables learners to use better strategies?

Testing can potentiate new learning, which is often called the forward testing effect. One potential explanation for this benefit is that testing might enable participants to use more effective learning strategies subsequently. We investigated this possibility by asking participants to report their encoding strategies in a multi-list foreign language learning paradigm with four preregistered experiments and one non-preregistered pilot experiment. In Experiments 1-3, participants learned three lists of Chinese-English pairs; one group took a test after every list (i.e., test condition) and the other group took a test only for the criterial List 3 (i.e., restudy condition). In addition, participants completed a transfer test and a study strategy survey. Although we found a forward testing effect in all experiments, participants in the test and restudy conditions did not report differences in strategies. In Experiments 4 and 5, we used a within-subject design so that we could correlate changes in strategy use with the magnitude of the forward testing effect on an individual level. Interestingly, individual differences in strategy change were moderately associated with the magnitude of the forward testing effect, but even here, strategy change did not mediate the effect of testing on performance. Overall, our data showed that, at least for foreign language learning of Chinese characters, interim testing did not enhance new learning by altering participants' subsequent encoding strategies. Moreover, our data showed that interim testing did not promote the transfer of Chinese language learning to novel characters. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Character Alive: Designing and Evaluating a Tangible System to Support Children’s Chinese Radical and Character Learning

Character Alive: Designing and Evaluating a Tangible System to Support Children’s Chinese Radical and Character Learning

What Visibilising Pedagogical Approaches do the Chinese as a Foreign Language (cfl) Teachers Adopt in the Teaching of Chinese Characters?

Abstract Chinese can be considered as one of the more challenging languages to learn for many non-native learners. Its complicated visual script, the Chinese characters, demands that teachers be proficient in utilizing diverse visual pedagogical approaches, coupled with different digital visual tools, to enhance their teaching effectiveness. Adopting a descriptive qualitative analysis method, interview transcripts from fourteen cfl teachers were examined. There were five online teachers, four university teachers and five pre-service teachers. The findings revealed that: 1) all the teachers use various visual pedagogical approaches, such as pictures, videos, Chinese character digital image files, Chinese character studying applications, and websites, to enhance the effectiveness of Chinese character learning, as well as motivate and engage learners; 2) teachers choose different pedagogical approaches to help students visualise characters as a whole unit or as several separate radical components; 3) the use of Pinyin to input characters on digital devices has been widely taught in class; and 4) online teachers, and some pre-service teachers, have replaced traditional handwriting methods with digital character input methods, whereas university teachers have not made this shift. The ways in which these perspectives relate to the form of Chinese characters and developing teaching practices are discussed.

GlyphGenius: Unleashing the Potential of AIGC in Chinese Character Learning

GlyphGenius: Unleashing the Potential of AIGC in Chinese Character Learning

Is animation always better for learning Chinese characters?

Abstract The present study investigated the effect of animations on Chinese character learning in multimedia presentations. In particular, we examined whether animations focusing on different knowledge of characters would yield different performance among students learning Chinese characters. The role of the animations which focused on the etymology of Chinese characters was tested in Experiment 1 with twelve English secondary school students. The results found that etymological animations were superior to flashcards for learners in recognizing forms of Chinese characters but not for understanding their meanings. In Experiment 2, the effect of animations which focused on demonstrating stroke order along with the audio explanations and on-screen written texts was addressed with 60 Thai secondary school students. The results revealed that animations demonstrating stroke order did not provide learners with advantages in orthographic learning. However, the findings support the redundant principle that static imagery and spoken and written text together facilitated character learning. In addition, the study showed that the students’ pace and flexibility of learning, the level of character difficulty, and students’ active processing have significant roles in character learning performance in a multimedia settings. This study provides implications for the design of multimedia instruction in foreign language acquisition and sheds light on the theoretical assumptions of dual-coding theory regarding learners’ cognitive loads in multimedia processing.

Modeling the relationships among teacher instruction, learner belief, and learning strategies in Chinese character learning by alphabetic learners

With the increasing research on self-regulated learning of English as a foreign language, scant attention has been devoted to investigating Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). To partially address this issue, we investigated self-regulated Chinese character learning by alphabetic learners. Using structural equation modeling, we constructed a model of the relationship among teachers’ instructions, learners’ beliefs, and learning strategies based on a survey of 202 CFL learners. The model indicated that teachers’ instructions directly and positively affect learners’ beliefs and learning strategies. However, learners’ beliefs cannot predict what strategies they adopt in character learning. The findings of this study shed light on the effective teaching of Chinese characters to CFL learners. We suggest that in addition to shape-related and pronunciation-related instructions, CFL learners should be provided with more meaning-related instructions and that Chinese character typing should be introduced to facilitate the learners’ use of effective strategies in self-regulated character learning.

My Darling Hyeonhi, I am not Ashamed of Hearing your Words! (Tcheonzamun 769th-784th)

French Missionary Dallet (1874) wrote in his book that ‘The thousand character essay’ was utilized as a textbook for the ancient Chinese children for their learning of Chinese characters. The thousand character essay is called in Korea as Tcheonzamun (Han, 1583). The object of this work is “What is the main theme of total Tcheonzamun?”. The range of this work is for the poem of (Tcheonzamun 769th-784th). There are two methods of translation of Tcheonzamun poem. The first translation is done through Korean pronunciation of Chinese characters on Tcheonzamun (Park et al., 2021b). And the second translation is carried out through the meaning of Chinese character on Tcheonzamun (Park et al., 2021a). The title of this work is ‘My Darling Hyeonhi, I am not ashamed of hearing your words! (Tcheonzamun 769th-784th)’. The theme of this research is as follows. (781-784 凌(Neung) 摩(Ma) 絳(Gang) 霄(So). 781-784 凌(Neung)-冫-夂-冫=土 摩(Ma) 絳(Gang)-夂-小-五=幺 霄(So)-冫-小-五=月). My husband! Being in the heaven as if you were a bird, do you want again to touch (摩) the soil (土)? This state is really great in the world! In order to become such a splendid man. On the contrary your attitude (月) must be modest (幺) to the Lord! My husband! I want that you are kind to me also…

Can Students With Dyslexia Learn Independently? A Seven-Week Study of Chinese Character Learning in an Informal Learning Environment

Can Students With Dyslexia Learn Independently? A Seven-Week Study of Chinese Character Learning in an Informal Learning Environment

The Effect of Multimedia Technology on Deep Learning of Chinese Characters Among Primary School Students

Although deep learning is a hot topic in the educational field nowadays, the study of how multimedia technology affects students’ deep learning of Chinese characters is still insufficient. Therefore, a quantitative study administered via a quasi-experiment was conducted, aiming to: analyse the difference in literacy writing achievement between students taught using multimedia technology as compared to those taught with conventional method; and explore whether the multimedia technology promotes deep learning of Chinese characters. A total of 73 primary school students were selected using the random sampling method. 36 pre- and post-test questions identified the difference in Chinese literacy writing achievement between the experimental group (n = 37) and control group (n = 36), while a questionnaire assessed differences in deep learning. The findings show that multimedia technology had no significant impact on the cognitive and intrapersonal domains but was effective in the interpersonal domain of deep learning, which suggested teachers to make full use of multimedia technology in cultivating students’ communication, collaboration, responsibility, and conflict resolution skills.

Research on The Application of Mind Mapping in Indonesian-Chinese Character Teaching Review Lesson: A Case Study of The Department of Chinese Language and Culture Universitas Sebelas Maret 心智导图在印尼汉字教学复习课中的应用研究——以 三一一大学中文系为例

<p>In order to probe the application of mind mapping in the Indonesian Chinese character teaching review lesson, the author attempts to use mind mapping to promote the development of student's writing skills in the Chinese character teaching review lesson. The research object of this article is a junior class student in the Department of Chinese Language and Culture of Universitas Sebelas Maret (first semester, newly exposed to Chinese) 180 mind maps were collected from 90 students and drawn. The analysis results of the observation method, action method, and questionnaire survey method indicate that Chinese character mind mapping is helpful in improving Indonesian students' ability to master Chinese characters and improve their quality and interest in Chinese character learning during the review lesson. When using mind mapping, teachers should try to highlight their strengths and avoid weaknesses. With the popularization of computers and the rapid development of graphic technology, the application of mind maps in Chinese character teaching as a foreign language will gradually be recognized, indicating that the development prospects of mind maps are bright. </p><p align="center"> </p><p><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p>