Teenage beginners’ perceptions of learning Chinese characters: A case study

Abstract

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.

Ghanaian Chinese Language Learners’ Perception of Chinese Characters

“…Students of the Chinese language find it difficult to recall the shape, sound, and meaning of the characters as they are not densely integrated. According to research by Yang (2022), one of the difficulties students have when learning Chinese is the sheer volume of characters that must be learned with their pronunciations, orthographic forms, and meanings.…”

“…It simply means being equipped with the value-added tools and skills needed to adapt to the job market and preparing to meet current and future trends. This fact is illustrated by increasing enrollments of non-native speakers in Chinese Foreign Language (CFL) courses and admission to the Chinese Proficiency Test: Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK), the national standardized test of Chinese language proficiency for non-native speakers (Qi & Lemmer, 2014;Kuo et al, 2015;Nel et al, 2019;Nkrumah & Darko, 2020;Mbugua & Iraki, 2022;Yang, 2022). The University of Ghana started teaching the Chinese language as a major, combination, and minor program in September 2009.…”