The pedagogical and theoretical questions addressed in this study relate to the extent to which native Japanese readers with little or no knowledge of Chinese characters recognize Chinese characters that are viewed as abbreviations of the kanji they already know. Three graphic similarity functions (i.e., an orthographically acceptable similarity,…

Purpose: Learning Chinese is unquestionably very important and popular worldwide with the fast economic growth of China. To most foreigners and also local students, one of the major challenges in learning Chinese is to write Chinese characters in correct stroke sequences that are considered as significant in the Chinese culture. However, due to…

This paper reports on a study that investigates how different learning methods might affect the learning process of character handwriting among beginning college learners of Chinese, as measured by tests of recognition, approximate production, precise production, and awareness of conventional stroke sequence. Two methodologies were examined during…

This paper reports an exploratory study on Singapore secondary and primary school students' perceptions and behaviors on using a variety of Chinese input methods for Chinese composition writing. Significant behavioral patterns were uncovered and mapped into a cognitive process, which are potentially critical to the training of students in…

Learning to write Chinese characters is often thought to be a very challenging and laborious task. However, new learning tools are being designed that might reduce learners' tedium. This study explores one such tool, an online program in which learners can learn Chinese characters through vision-based motion games. The learner's gestures are…

The present study is based on the theoretical assumptions that frequency of characters and their structural components, as well as the frequency types of structural components, are important to enable learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) to discover the underlying structure of Chinese characters. In the CFL context, since reliable…

Minimal research has been conducted in reading Chinese as a second/ foreign language (CSI/CFL). In an effort to further the understanding of the reading process, this study, utilizing think aloud and retelling procedures, focuses on the identification of strategies that American university students applied to read Chinese texts (narrative and…

Reviews four sets of computer-mediated materials for Chinese character learning. These include the following: Write Chinese, Chinese Characters Primer, Animated Chinese Characters, and USC Chinese Character Page. (Author/VWL)

Examines the role of sound in reading Japanese Script and evaluates arguments for semantic versus phonological identification to determine the relative importance of phonological processes in reading "kanji" and "kana." Implications for the teaching of kanji to learners of Japanese as a second language are explored. (Author/JL)

This set of flash cards is designed to accompany the Defense Language Institute's instructional programs in Cantonese Chinese. Each card displays six Chinese characters, for a total of 1500 characters. Each character is printed two inches tall. Above each character are transcriptions of the Chinese words represented by the character (marked for…

The Japanese character set is used to describe electronic mail utilization in sending and receiving foreign character sets. Because electronic mail is fast, inexpensive, storable, and printable, it can accelerate the traditional letter writing process as well as act as a medium of instruction in correspondence courses and sending other…

It is recommended that students of Chinese as a second language be introduced to characters corresponding to new vocabulary, rather than be taught to recognize characters after the words themselves are learned. An approach that breaks each character into its smallest meaningful units, then reassembles them into proper position to form characters,…

This Chinese-English glossary provides a ready-reference to all lexical items introduced in the 180 lessons of the Chinese-Mandarin Basic Course. The contents are arranged alphabetically from Chinese to English. Each entry has a reference number that corresponds to the lesson number of the basic course in which the item was introduced. (NCR)

This bilingual text by Zhou Youguang (in Chinese) with English translation by Zhang Liqing makes it easier for English speakers to gain advanced level skills in East Asian languages. It also exposes learners at or above intermediate skill levels to the vocabulary and discourses of academic disciplines and provides entries into discussions with…

This study compared six adults' learning of English names for Chinese visual characters, through prototype instruction (in which participants were taught the meaning of the distinctive feature of multicomponent characters) and rote instruction (in which participants traced the character and wrote its translation). Participants learned more rapidly…