Learning Chinese Characters Research Articles

Semantic and Phonological Decoding in Children’s Orthographic Learning in Chinese

ABSTRACT In this study, we investigated if children build a print-to-meaning connection via the semantic radical – a mechanism we call semantic decoding – and its interaction with phonological decoding in orthographic learning of Chinese compound characters. Ninety-two Grade 4 children were taught the pronunciations and meanings of 16 pseudocharacters and were then exposed to their written forms in short stories. Half of the characters contained semantic radicals related to the taught meaning; the other half were unrelated. Half of the children learned the pseudocharacters’ regular pronunciations; the other half learned the irregular pronunciations. There was better orthographic learning of regular than irregular pseudocharacters across measures of spelling and orthographic choice. However, the effect of semantic decoding was not as unequivocal. The findings indicate that in Chinese, decoding via phonetic radicals underpins orthographic learning. Whereas, the effect of semantic decoding might depend more on the linguistic features of the radicals and the learning environments.

ISU DAN MASALAH PEMBELAJARAN DAN PEMUDAHCARAAN MENGENALI AKSARA CINA DI SEKOLAH RENDAH JENIS KEBANGSAAN CINA KUCHING [ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN LEARNING AND TEACHING CHINESE CHARACTERS AT CHINESE VERNACULAR PRIMARY SCHOOLS KUCHING

This report is part of a study on the development of Chinese character recognition modules. This report focus in the issues and problems in the learning and teaching of Chinese characters among Chinese students and teachers in Chinese vernacular primary schools, Kuching. The purposive sampling is conducted in the selection of seven first-level Chinese language teachers. Data collected using a semi-structured interview and analyzed using keyword thematic techniques. Some of the identified issues in relation to student’s learning are: (1) Unable to recognize the form of characters and meaning of Chinese characters effectively, and (2) Unable to write Chinese characters correctly. While the issues generated in relation to teacher’s teaching are: (1) No emphasis in recognizing and acquisition of the Chinese characters during learning and teaching, and (2) Lack of awareness of the teaching approaches according to the characteristics of Chinese characters. The findings indicated that further studies related to the development of Chinese character recognition modules, reviews of Chinese characters learning in textbooks, the use of appropriate and effective methods to aquire Chinese characters are greatly needed to ensure the quality of the learning and teaching Chinese.

The influence of sensory-motor components of handwriting on Chinese character learning in second- and fourth-grade Chinese children.

In the present study, 144 second- and 150 fourth-grade Chinese students were recruited to complete a Chinese character learning task to explore the specific contributions of sensory-motor components (i.e., visual, motor, and haptic systems) of handwriting to Chinese character learning. After matching for age, nonverbal IQ, and a series of cognitive-linguistic skills, each child was assigned to 1 of 4 training conditions (i.e., reading, visual processing, air-writing, or handwriting) to investigate the specific contributions of the sensory-motor components (i.e., visual, motor, and haptic systems) of handwriting to Chinese character learning. In the reading condition, the children were shown images of characters. In the other 3 conditions, they were shown animations of how a given character is written. The participants were asked to view the animations in the visual processing condition, whereas in the air-writing and handwriting conditions they were asked, respectively, to follow the animations and write the Chinese characters with their index fingers in the air or write the Chinese characters with a pen on paper. They were asked to name the learnt characters in the posttest. Both air-writing and handwriting elicited a larger training effect than reading or visual processing, but there was no difference between the air-writing and handwriting groups. Also, no age differences were found in either the air-writing or the handwriting conditions. Unique contributions of visual-motor integration, motor programming, and their corresponding integration with a haptic system of handwriting to reading are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Nontransparent Compound Character Learning in L2 Chinese: Does Radical Awareness Always Work?

Chinese character learning requires various reading subskills, such as radical awareness and character knowledge. Radical awareness refers to learners’ ability to identify, analyze, and apply semantic radicals in compound characters. Previous studies have shown that radical awareness and character knowledge facilitate learning semantically transparent characters. Yet, little is known regarding whether radical awareness plays an active role in the meaning retention for nontransparent characters. The meanings of transparent characters, such as “河” (river) containing the radical “氵” (water), are related to the semantic category of the radicals within the characters, whereas the meanings of nontransparent characters, such as “淑” (kind and gentle) with the same radical “氵,” are not directly related to the radicals. To fill these gaps, this study included 39 L2 Chinese learners at one American university. They completed one character-learning session, and five radical-related and character-related tasks. The results suggested that radical awareness did not positively affect the meaning retention for nontransparent characters when learners’ character knowledge was controlled. In addition, character knowledge was a moderator, which shaped the relationship between radical awareness and character retention. Pedagogical implications for the understanding of L2 Chinese compound character learning are discussed.

The Association of Phonological Awareness with Chinese Character Writing Among Mainland Chinese Primary School Students

Phonological awareness is related to multiple language skills. However, the effect of phonological awareness on Chinese character writing has not been fully addressed. This paper aims to discover the relationship of phonological awareness with Chinese character writing, and how such relation varies according to learners’ grade levels. 260 primary school students from Grades 2 to 5 were tested using an onset-rime test, a syllable awareness test and a character dictation test. Results indicated a moderate positive association between phonological awareness and character writing. Two levels of phonological awareness (onset-rime and syllable awareness) showed different and independent influences on character writing with a graded effect, which extend current understanding of the development of phonological awareness in relation to Chinese character learning.

Analyzing graphic structure of phono-semantic characters: A Vietnamese method of teaching and learning Chinese characters

From the perspective of graphological structure, this article examines Vietnamese methods of teaching and learning Chinese characters by analyzing their phonetic and semantic elements. The selected sample for the survey is taken from characters collected from Thiều Chửu’s Dictionary of Chinese Script with Sino-Vietnamese Reading—the most useful dictionary in Vietnam in nearly 100 years. The resulting statistics reveal that, out of the 14,950 characters in this dictionary, there are 931 phonetic elements in which 455 are strong ones, producing 10–20 phono-semantic characters. This article argues that analyzing the relationship between the characters and their phonetic elements read in Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation is a good method for Vietnamese people to teach and learn Chinese characters. The method of learning Chinese characters has been applied in teaching Chinese characters for more than 1000 monks and nuns at the Vietnam Buddhist Academy in Hanoi. The experimental results show that students were able to improve their vocabulary very quickly, and could apply this to learning and teaching Chinese characters.

Australian Students' Perceptions of the Challenges and Strategies for Learning Chinese Characters in Emergency Online Teaching

Australian Students' Perceptions of the Challenges and Strategies for Learning Chinese Characters in Emergency Online Teaching

An Augmented Paper Game With Socio-Cognitive Support

This paper presents an augmented reality-based Chinese character composition game (ARC) that employs augmented papers to engage lower primary school students in collaborative Chinese character learning. A design research approach was used to gain a holistic view of designing, enacting, and evaluating the ARC. The participants included four teachers and five classes of students from two primary schools. The school-based research findings suggested that: 1) the ARC was an effective system for improving beginning learners’ orthographic knowledge of Chinese characters, particularly for those students with low Chinese language proficiency; 2) the tangible paper interface engaged students in group work and increased the game playfulness; and 3) students’ language proficiency had a significant effect on their perceptions of ease of use and usefulness of the augmented paper game. This paper not only substantiated the potential of the augmented paper as a carrier of educational content, but also instantiated how to implement it to promote social and cognitive supports for interaction and collaboration.

An Experimental Study on Pictographic Character Teaching for Primary School Pupils in Thailand

Primary school pupils in Thailand may encounter tremendous difficulties in learning Chinese and Chinese character learning is one of them. This paper, starting from the characteristics of pictographs, selects 50 pictographic characters as the teaching content and takes the sixth-grade students of Nan Christian School in Thailand as the research object. The students are divided into two groups. One is the experimental group and the other is the control group. Different teaching tactics and methods are used in teaching. Through analysis of the results of the two tests, this paper will try to seek the answer to the question about which pictograph teaching method is more suitable for Thai students. The author hopes that the experimental results can provide some effective suggestions in the pictographic character teaching for Thai primary school students.

A comparative study on teaching and learning Chinese characters by primary non-native Chinese learners in South Africa and China

Given China’s fast-growing economy, more people have been motivated to learn Mandarin; however, many encounter challenges in learning the complex characters and consequently abandon it. In view of South Africa’s decision to introduce Mandarin as a second additional language in schools (by choice) and China having to cater for non-native Chinese learners in certain schools, the University of South Africa and the Zhejiang International Studies University agreed to embark on a collaborative research project with an emphasis on the teaching and learning of Chinese characters. Qualitative comparative case studies were employed and multiple data collection tools were used, including interviews, questionnaires, lesson observations, and volunteer participant learners and researchers involved in a Chinese characters exercise. A qualitative comparative case study was conducted in order to narrate a cross-unit comparison, comparing and contrasting the findings. Inductive qualitative content analysis of both sets of data (South Africa and China) was done, and three common themes emerged. The data from South Africa and China are discussed individually under the three themes. Common considerations or factors regarding the teaching and learning of Chinese characters are identified, which makes it possible to incorporate them in an eclectic approach (based on lessons learnt by both research parties) in South Africa and China. This comparative study also informs a facilitative process to implement the introduction of Mandarin as a second additional language in South African schools.

Revisiting variation affordance: applying variation theory in the design of educational software

ABSTRACT Variation theory, which is a theory of learning developed by Marton and others, has quickly become popular in education research. Our purpose of this paper is to articulate the application of variation theory in the form of a number of concrete design principles that offer prescriptive and practical guidelines for improving the designs of educational software programs. To achieve this, we analyzed a wide range of educational software programs produced over the years in our previous projects for learning Chinese characters. From this analysis, we identified four design principles, namely, (i) not aiming to test but to bring about learning, (ii) focusing on a specific object of learning, (iii) allowing learners to explore variation to be learned, and (iv) keeping all other aspects invariant. These design principles are specialized for designing how learners interact with educational software programs, which is the major practical contribution of this paper.

Use of an experimental language acquisition paradigm for standardized neuropsychological assessment of learning: A pilot study in young and older adults

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Despite the numerous episodic memory tasks used in neuropsychological assessment, relatively few learning tasks are available, with methods lacking the complexity and sophistication to capture very subtle changes in information acquisition.Method: We adapted a previously validated associative learning task for use within an online framework, utilizing real-world stimuli, in which learning of audio-visual pairs of Chinese characters and English words occurs over 5 days. The aim of this study was to validate our adaptation to the task, provide estimates of rates of learning in both young and older adults, as well as provide a methodological framework for further adaptation and development of the paradigm. A total of 30 young adults and 30 older adults completed 5 days of the Chinese Characters Learning Task (CCLT).Results: Results indicated that rates of learning on the adapted task were comparable to the original paradigm and consistent across variations to testing frequency and duration. Our results also indicate the presence of a significant age-related impairment in the rate and accuracy of learning, with young adults aged 18–45 years performing significantly better than older adults aged 65–85 years, that was not due to differences in reaction time.Conclusions: These findings suggest that daily measurement of cognition via an online platform can detect age-related impairments in learning and is therefore applicable for use within the context of age-related disorders of memory and learning.

South African Grade 5 non-native learners learning Mandarin as a second additional language with a focus on Chinese characters

The South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) listed Mandarin as a second additional language (SAL) (Grades 4–9) in the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 12 in 2015. We identified a gap in current research regarding the learning of Chinese characters by non-native learners of Mandarin as an SAL. The great number of characters, their complexity and the absence of grapheme–phoneme correspondences put a huge strain on learners’ memory. Rote learning and repetitive exercises lead to boredom and lack of motivation to learn Mandarin. A qualitative research design (case study) was employed in this study. Individual and focus group interviews, questionnaires, classroom observation and a Chinese characters exercise for researchers were used as data collection tools. The data were analysed manually using an inductive process and organised according to categories, themes and conclusions. The study highlights how South African Grade 5 learners learning Mandarin as a SAL learn the Chinese characters and the challenges they encounter. We consider the educational implications for learning Chinese characters and offer recommendations.

Effects of improving the interactive design of a Chinese character learning system on the learning performance of Chinese as foreign language students

This study explored interactive interface design for writing practice, feedback, and grading in Chinese character learning systems. In the experiment, 30 novice Chinese learners were invited to perform designated learning tasks on two different learning systems. Learning times and outcomes were measured. The results indicated that improvement of interactive design had positive effects on learning performance, and the participants preferred the interactive design of the newer system. Then, a total of 37 Chinese learners of different proficiencies were invited to complete a survey on their satisfaction toward the interactive design of the new system. The results revealed no significant differences in satisfaction levels across Chinese learners regardless of proficiency; moreover, all participants agreed that the interactive design of the new system benefited their learning. According to the results, improvements in interactive designs can increase learning performance when studying Chinese characters. The results can also serve as interactive design guidelines for future Chinese character learning systems.

Research on primary school Chinese character recommendation algorithm based on collaborative filtering

Collaborative filtering is to calculate the similarity between users by taking all the preferences of a user as a reference value. After finding adjacent users, the information mining of relevant recommendations can be realized through similar behavior history. This paper proposes a Chinese character recommendation algorithm based on user collaborative filtering technology by digging deeply into the recorded information of students’ Chinese character learning.

THE NATURE OF THE CHINESE SCRIPT

This paper introduces the nature of the Chinese script, with the focus on its origin and development, the main four kinds of creation methods, the basic strokes of Chinese characters and the significance of its radical structure. The author believes that Chinese characters are the carriers of the script, phoneme and meaning as well as of the grammatical structure of the Chinese language. Hence, the Latin alphabet for the Chinese phonetic system cannot replace Chinese character, and learning Chinese character is very important for foreign learners. Finally, the author gives a mnemonic of the basic rules for stroke order that facilitates learners' memory and helps them write characters correctly and quickly.

Using problem-based learning in a Chinese character class design: A case study of Korean learners of Chinese

This study attempted to try out Chinese-character education centering on experience and learners away from existing lecture-centered, teacher-centered education. For this purpose, problem-based learning (PBL) was proposed as one of the Chinese-language ability-enhancement measures for Korean learners of the Chinese language, and in order to examine the effect, we attempt to use the PBL tasks in the ‘Chinese-language reading’ class at a university for basic Chinese-language learners and analyze the results. PBL is a teaching-learning method in which learners focus on learning by using problems. In this study, we attempted to use PBL for the group work format. In this way, we can confirm that the class using the PBL has many advantages, such as improving learning ability and problem-solving ability, and strengthening cooperation. In addition, it was found that PBL is worthwhile to try because it is effective in inducing learning motivation, improving attention and interest in Chinese-character learning, improving learning attitudes of learners, and developing self-directed learning abilities.

Critical Review of Learning Chinese Characters for Education

Critical Review of Learning Chinese Characters for Education

汉字理据性在对外汉语教学中的运用

Chinese characters are not a simple, symbolic language system but a language with bases, which carries diverse cultural elements. Applying the cultural bases of Chinese characters to teaching Chinese as a second language can not only help students understand and memorize Chinese characters better, but also understand Chinese culture better. In this paper, we analyze Chinese characters, vocabulary and Chinese culture, based on our experiences of teaching Chinese as a second language. According to the learning habits of foreign students, we use different types of Chinese characters as examples to explore the characteristics between language symbols and their meanings. We aim to provide some ideas for Chinese language teaching from the perspectives of the emergence and development of Chinese characters. Chinese learners can read Chinese characters with the help of Chinese character bases, according to learners’ different Chinese levels. Besides reading characters, students can properly understand the linguistic meaning and grammar of Chinese characters. They can also expand vocabulary and spread Chinese culture, so that foreign students can understand and master the meanings of Chinese characters, improve their learning of Chinese characters, and increase their confidence in learning Chinese.

Character Recognition Through Wild Association: an alternative in Learning Chinese Script for Beginners

Learning Chinese characters can be a daunting experience for the non-native learners. This quantitative study aims to experiment the effectiveness of ‘Wild Association’ on learners’ ability to learn Chinese characters, and to determine whether these learners who use ‘Wild Association’ demonstrate higher achievement in character recognition and character writing compared to learners who study Chinese characters by drilling. Consisting of 98 learners from the elementary level of Mandarin proficiency course in UNIMAS, the learners used their own imagination to learn Chinese characters, and at the same time, relating their own experience in doing so. Learners’ performance was measured through the pre-test and post-test in the form of dictation and character-recognition worksheet. The results indicate that ‘Wild Association’ is effective in helping learners to recognise and write characters, and is especially more effective in helping learners to recognise characters. However, learners who underwent traditional drilling approach still outperformed those who employed ‘Wild Association’. It can be concluded that ‘Wild Association’ is a possible alternative for teaching characters in the initial stage, when characters are still foreign to learners. The result implies that ‘Wild Association’ suits the learning style of learners nowadays.