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The Challenge of Chinese Character Acquisition: Leveraging Multimodality in Overcoming a Centuries-Old Problem

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The Challenge of Chinese Character Acquisition: Leveraging Multimodality in Overcoming a Centuries-Old Problem The Emerging Learning Design Journal Volume 4 Issue 1 Article 1 February 2018 The Challenge of Chinese Character Acquisition: Leveraging Multimodality in Overcoming a Centuries-Old Problem Justin Olmanson University of Nebraska Lincoln Xianquan Liu University of Nebraska Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/eldj Part of the Instructional Media Design Commons Recommended Citation Olmanson, Justin and Liu, Xianquan (2018) "The Challenge of Chinese Character Acquisition: Leveraging Multimodality in Overcoming a Centuries-Old Problem," The Emerging Learning Design Journal: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/eldj/vol4/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Montclair State University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Emerging Learning Design Journal by an authorized editor of Montclair State University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Volume 4 (2017) pgs. 1-9 Emerging Learning http://eldj.montclair.edu eld.j ISSN 2474-8218 Design Journal The Challenge of Chinese Character Acquisition: Leveraging Multimodality in Overcoming a Centuries-Old Problem Justin Olmanson and Xianquan Liu University of Nebraska Lincoln 1400 R St, Lincoln, NE 68588 [email protected] May 23, 2017 ABSTRACT For learners unfamiliar with character-based or logosyllabic writing systems, the process of developing literacy in written Chinese poses significantly more obstacles than learning to read and write in a second language like Portuguese or Cherokee. In this article we describe the linguistic nature of Chinese characters; we outline traditional and new media approaches to Chinese character acquisition; we unpack how multimodal technologies combined with computational linguistics might be used to provide new types of support for Chinese character learning; and we offer a design that incorporates several of these concepts into a digital writing support tool that could work as a scaffold to enable Chinese language students to leverage their Chinese listening and speaking skills as well as their visual literacies in support of producing and learning Chinese characters. Keywords: Chinese characters, second language acquisition, design, writing, multimodality, technology people. Reading and writing in Chinese involves up to INTRODUCTION 20000 different characters with 7000 characters making China is historically, culturally, economically, and up a typical academic vocabulary and knowledge of the politically important. With a written history dating back 2500 most frequent characters allowing for newspaper to 2100 BCE, an 18.8% share of the total world reading and everyday written communication. Chinese population, and the world’s second largest economy as characters are primarily pictographic and ideographic-- measured by overall GDP, the profile of China and meaning they represent real objects and ideas in written Chinese cultural influence continues to grow (Starr, form. While some characters or character features offer 2009). For these and other reasons, interest in studying pronunciation clues there is no one-to-one script-to- the Chinese language has continued to increase in North sound correspondence. America and across Europe. Being considered literate in written Chinese means While learning any language involves a great deal of being able to successfully navigate abstracted visual effort, learning a character-based or logosyllabic representations, combined-character meanings, language like Chinese can prove especially challenging pronunciation cues, and character stroke order. What is for learners accustomed to syllabic writing systems such more, even for native Chinese speakers, the as English and German. In this article we unpack the pronunciation cues embedded in Chinese characters characteristics of Chinese characters; we describe a require character knowledge before they are useful. In range of contemporary approaches to Chinese character the 1950s a phonetic writing system for Chinese called acquisition; and we outline how different modal pinyin was developed to support foreign learners of channels could be used in unique ways to make new Chinese in the early stages of the language acquisition types of support for Chinese character development process. Pinyin was so useful that it was adopted for use possible. with Chinese elementary school students to support their path to literacy as well. Although the phonetic system of CHINESE CHARACTERS: A BRIEF pinyin uses nearly the same letters as English, spoken INTRODUCTION Chinese has additional features. Finals (vowels) are tonal Over the past 600 years, through 25 dynasties, and words have different spelling rules. Pinyin is Chinese characters have evolved to become the comprised of three components: initial consonant-like dominant form of written communication for 1.3 billion sounds, final vowel-like sounds, and tones that slightly The Challenge of Chinese Character Acquisition: Olmanson and Liu 1 Volume 4 (2017) pgs. 1-9 Emerging Learning http://eldj.montclair.edu eld.j ISSN 2474-8218 Design Journal change the pronunciation of the finals and completely In terms of phraseology, most characters are free change the meaning of the word (i.e., mā: mother, má: to morphemes, however the majority of them need to be bother, mǎ: horse, mà: to scold, ma: an interrogative combined to make words and phrases. The ability to use particle). Chinese teachers of learners unfamiliar with characters in concert with other characters to form words character-based writing systems often start their and phrases is central to communicating in written language students in pinyin as it allows their ability to Chinese. For example, months of the year are written express themselves via writing to keep up with their based on the characters for 1-12 and 月 (month). January spoken language acquisition. However, as students is 一月. February is 二月 and so on. In this way, writing develop their listening and speaking skills, the eventual the months of the year is based on a synthesis of and necessary transition from writing and reading via understanding how characters can be used together to pinyin to using characters becomes more difficult as express ideas via context and juxtaposition and the students struggle to memorize characters and learn the meaning of the individual characters. Additionally, there nuances of the writing system while also expanding their are no spaces in Chinese writing—making the spoken vocabulary. recognition of words and phrases more complex without Written Chinese has three structural tiers namely explicit signals for when a word ends and another stroke, radical, and character. Characters are the smallest begins. meaningful unit in the Chinese writing system, and are Due to the complexity of the writing system, made up of combinations of radicals which are made up character learning is a complicated and multi-layered of strokes (Wong et al., 2013). There are eight basic process that takes effort, explanation, and time to radicals (Lu, Meng & Tam, 2014) that are used to acquire. In the next section we discuss approaches to generate 44 additional radical shapes, which are used to learning to read and write in Chinese. build 7000 frequently used characters—based on relational writing principles, such as stroke order and APPROACHES TO CHINESE CHARACTER positioning of radicals (Chang, Xu, Perfetti, Zhang, & ACQUISITION Chen, 2014). There are three dimensions of Chinese character Strokes are the basic lines for the writing system. development. The first is the visual presentation of Radicals, or root characters, are created via combinations characters, which involves related orthographic of strokes based on set rules. Radicals give clues to knowledge of stroke order as well as phonetic and character meaning and pronunciation. Characters with semantic cues. The second is word formation, and it with only one radical are called simple characters, for refers to the ability to use the character in concert with example, “口 (mouth)”. Characters made up of more other characters to generate words and phrases to build than one radical are called compound characters, for written texts (Shen, 2013). The third is sound-graph- example, “吃 (eat, pronounced as “chī” )” consists of a meaning connections which deals with the relationships combination of the root characters “口 (mouth )” and between pronunciation, visual presentation, and semantics. “乞 ( beg ).” “口 (mouth )” is used as a radical on the Although there are different pedagogical approaches left of the character “吃 (eat)”—cluing the reader in on and learning strategies related to Chinese character the character being related to mouth. “乞 ( beg )” is instruction and acquisition, most of them rely on rote pronounced “qǐ” and is positioned to the right of the memorization and mechanical repetition. Thus, Chinese character “吃 (eat)” to provide a phonetic cue indicating character learning is experienced by students as tedious, that “吃 (eat) has the same final “i” as “乞 ( beg )” but time-consuming, and labor-intensive (Tse, Marton, Ki & different tones. Similar to inflectional affixes in English, Ka, 2007). Students are required to hand-copy characters radicals can provide meaning or pronunciation clues. For stroke by stroke while saying or thinking each example, the radical “氵” indicates having to do with character—repeating this process until they are able to “water”, which helps semantically
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