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Chinese character recognition and literacy development via a techno-pedagogical pivot

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Abstract

This study investigates the effect of sequenced, time-delayed, multimodal Chinese language and communicative literacy supports on the ability of learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language [CFL] to recognize characters and acquire literacy via writing in Chinese. A multimodal web application was designed and developed as a writing platform and supplementary teaching tool—leveraging second language [L2] spoken Chinese understanding and pinyin spelling knowledge to overcome the well documented difficulties faced by CFL students when learning and communicating via Chinese characters. We observed and recorded a communicative writing task carried out on the platform by 14 CFL students and interviewed them upon task completion—also interviewing their instructors. Our findings suggest that designing from a perspective that is pedagogically unique for CFL classrooms afforded new types of interactions and literacy development patterns. Specifically, timed, sequenced, multimodal scaffolds anchored to students’ L2 spoken Chinese understanding and pinyin knowledge supported Chinese character recognition, production, and acquisition within communication and expression-centered tasks.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by feedback from members of the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s College of Education and Human Sciences Design Incubator. We also thank the Confucius Institute at the University of Nebraska Lincoln for their collaboration.

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  1. Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education, College of Education and Human Sciences, University of Nebraska Lincoln, 118 Henzlik Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68588-0355, USA

    Justin Olmanson, Xianquan Liu, Asha Srivastava & Nannan Wang

  2. Confucius Institute, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Lincoln, USA

    Christopher C. Heselton

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  1. Justin Olmanson
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  2. Xianquan Liu
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Correspondence to Justin Olmanson.

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Olmanson, J., Liu, X., Heselton, C.C. et al. Chinese character recognition and literacy development via a techno-pedagogical pivot. Education Tech Research Dev 69, 1299–1324 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-09976-5

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