Applying the Concept of Print to Learning and Teaching
Chinese Characters
Chen Shuyuan
(陳淑媛)
New
The
Chinese writing system is exotic to beginners. This presentation focuses on how
to make this become an attraction and encourage them to embrace the new culture
instead of terrifying them.
Research has shown that the perceived difficulty of Chinese
characters is one of the factors makes learners feel Chinese is challenging.
This pre-existing opinion is likely to hinder their learning. How to use varied
teaching approaches to eliminate students’ fear and increase teaching and
learning efficiency should be a critical concern from the first day our
students walk into our classroom. In my presentation, I will illustrate how to
develop students’ readiness for Chinese characters, how to lower their anxiety
and expand their understanding of the Chinese writing system, what in-class and
after-class activities help students to strengthen their Chinese character
understanding and how computers can improve learning outcomes through
PowerPoint and online games.
The information will be presented on
PowerPoint with various examples of course design, activities, and assessments
to show how to increase learners’ understanding of Chinese characters. I
contrast students’ pre-existing attitudes toward Chinese characters with their
attitudes after these learning activities, and give evidence of learning
outcomes.
The audience will activate more ideas about how to
lower student anxiety and increase motivation for learning Chinese characters.
The audience will get new ideas about how to design Chinese characters
activities. The audience will learn how to use Internet resources to make
Chinese character learning more efficient and fun.