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This study initially investigated the beliefs of beginner learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) about the difficulties of learning Chinese and how they can overcome the difficulties they encounter. Pupils (179) from two state secondary schools in England responded to a Likert scale questionnaire and shared their views in interviews. Surprisingly, pupils think that character recognition is more difficult than their production. They also showed their concern about homophones in Chinese and the lack of links between the sound and logography of characters. In order to make good progress in learning Chinese, students overwhelmingly agreed that they should put effort into it. Some of these findings relate to particular aspects of learning Chinese, such as characters and homophones. Other findings, however, are unrelated to the language demands of Chinese and suggest that the practices of learning Chinese have a particular impact on the views of learners about who can learn Chinese and what it takes to be successful. We suggest that these beliefs may be empowering for language learners in an English context.

This paper reports a study of the perceptions of English-speaking learners and teachers about the challenges and difficulties of Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) learning in England. The study involved a Likert-scale questionnaire and follow-up interviews with 37 university student learners, 443 school students and the 42 teachers of both groups. The questionnaires and interviews explored beliefs about language learning, about Chinese language learning and about language learning strategies. This paper focuses on the findings concerning the perceived challenges of speaking Chinese and of tones in learning Chinese. The findings of this study present a picture of teachers who are keen for their students to learn to speak and communicate in Chinese, and of students who are keen to take risks in speaking. However, in contrast to earlier findings about learners' views about learning Chinese, the learners in this study claimed to be very tone aware and reported that they found listening and understanding Chinese more difficult than production. This is explored in relation to the pupils' views about learning tones and pinyin and raises questions about the ways they address tones and pinyin learning in the context of their expressed aim of communicating and taking risks in speaking. The discussion raises issues about the possible effects of communicative teaching of languages in English schools. We ask whether an emphasis on communicative approaches may affect how learners address difficulties of the Chinese pronunciation system and the use of pinyin.

This study investigates teenage beginners’ perceptions of learning Chinese characters and their perceived effective strategies for learning in a British secondary school. A qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews is adopted in the case study. Sixteen beginners learning Chinese as a second language from 12 to 16 years old participated in the study. Results indicate that students are generally keen to learn and memorize characters. The challenge that students face is the large number of characters to be memorized in terms of pronunciation, orthographic forms, and meanings. Learners also express their dilemma of following the correct stroke order when practicing writing. Moreover, reviewing flashcards, writing practice, making use of radicals and orthographic clues, as well as interactive activities, are reported as effective ways of learning by students. It indicates that both memory and cognitive strategies were useful for character learning from learners’ perspectives. The key factor affecting students’ commitment to learning comes from their pleasant learning and instructional experience. Implications are drawn from the results regarding learning and teaching Chinese characters with young learners in secondary schools.