CLTA-GNY 2004 Conference Proposal

Panel Topic: Introducing an Innovative Method of Teaching Chinese Characters

Panel Description:

This panel will present newly designed and ready-to-be-adopted instructional material for your beginning-level language course next year. This material consists of a textbook, website instruction and exercises, and a workbook. Students not only will gain a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the Chinese writing system, they will also learn as many as 1,000 most frequently used Chinese characters, essential for gaining Chinese literacy, in traditional or simplified forms.

The material has been field-tested in three classes during the 2003-2004 academic year at Hunter College. Der-lin Chao will first give an introduction and a demonstration of the material. Fang Dai and Joyce Wang will then take turns to report their experiences using the material to teach beginning Chinese. Two students representing two different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, heritage and non-heritage, will talk about their learning experience using this course material.

Presenters:

Der-lin Chao, Hunter College

Presentation topic: A New Multimedia Course for learning the 1,000 Most Frequently Used Characters in Traditional and Simplified Forms

Fang Dai, Hunter College

Presentation topic: A practical and effective method in teaching Chinese characters to non-heritage students

Joyce Wang, Hunter College

Presentation topic: Reflections on methods of teaching Chinese characters

Xun Lian and X, Hunter College

The following is Prof. Fang Dai’s presentation description:

I have been using Professor Chao’s book in my first-year Chinese class for non-heritage students, and the effectiveness of her method can be summarized as follows:

A) Understanding the structuring principles of Chinese characters helps students grasp their meanings better and memorize them more easily;

B) A solid, etymological understanding of the components of a character enhances comprehension of components and characters;

C) Emphasis on writing characters and writing them the correct way gives students a visual association with sound and meaning.

D) A careful study of each character’s structure make students more aware that while they are learning a new character, they might be leaning two or more characters.

All these points will be supported by examples.