Exploring the Present and Future of Teaching Chinese Characters Online

This seminar series will explore the handling of teaching Chinese characters in the CFL (Chinese as a foreign language) university classroom during the current era of remote teaching worldwide whereby teaching characters becomes more complicated. While interventions to CFL classrooms during Covid-19 were previously made rapidly, distance learning is now becoming more commonplace in the current digital era.

Dr Caitríona Osborne (University College Dublin) is currently leading a project with Dr Danping Wang (University of Auckland) and Dr Qi Zhang (Dublin City University) to examine curriculum and assessment adaptations in six English-speaking countries, specifically in relation to teaching and learning characters. The seminar series allows for findings to be shared while also providing a platform for other specialised researchers in the area.

The first session will be a hybrid session, hosted in the Irish Institute for Chinese Studies in University College Dublin, while all other sessions will be held online via the Zoom link provided. A complimentary lunch will be hosted after the in-person opening session, with complimentary tea and coffee served from 11am.

This seminar series is kindly supported by University College Dublin's Global Engagement Seed Fund and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Ireland.

Friday 16th September 2022, 12:00 (IST)/ 19:00 (Beijing time)

Professor George Xinsheng Zhang, Richmond American University London.

Learning and teaching of Chinese characters from the perspective of history and technology in Europe in the times of Covid and after.

While the importance of and approaches to the learning and teaching of Chinese characters are still being discussed and researched on, the experience in the use of technology in Chinese learning and teaching since the start of COVID has prompted us to reflect on the limitations of the traditional perception of the “Three ‘Teach’ related Key Issues” (三教问题：teaching methodology, teaching materials and teachers) in the teaching of Chinese, and to explore innovative ways in the learning and teaching of Chinese characters, an aspect still very often regarded as most difficult and challenging, if not as an impossible obstacle, for many Europeans learning the Chinese language.

This presentation will start with such a reflection and a brief review from the historical perspective of how early British missionaries such as Robert Morrison perceived Chinese characters and advised on their learning and teaching. It will then examine the European context in which Chinese language learning and teaching take place now and the role of technology with the intention to put forward some personal predictions and suggestions with regards to how learning and teaching of Chinese characters online may develop to best assist and facilitate the European learners of Chinese characters in the times of Covid and after.

This talk will be delivered in English.

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Friday 23rd September 2022, 09:00 (IST)/ 16:00 (Beijing time)

Dr Caitríona Osborne, University College Dublin.

The student perspective on the present and future of teaching Chinese characters online.

While advances in online learning tools meant that students could still virtually attend classes after the Covid-19 pandemic came to a head in early 2020, students studying CFL (Chinese as a foreign language) are faced with specific challenges in this move to at-distance learning, namely in acquiring Chinese characters. Due to the vast number of Chinese characters and the widely reported difficulty in learning them, students generally spend much time focusing on the written aspect of the language, which is necessary for developing both reading and writing skills of Chinese. Apart from missing an instructor’s real-time guidance and feedback on handwriting practice, typing somewhat replaced handwriting in the classroom, with mixed reviews from students. This presentation examines the present and future of teaching Chinese characters online from the student perspective, and presents data collected in the form of questionnaires and interviews from English-speaking countries worldwide.

This talk will be delivered in English.

Teacher questionnaire: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S5N6JG6

Student questionnaire: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S5PBPDW

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Thursday 29th September 2022, 09:00 (IST)/ 16:00 (Beijing time)

Professor Li Quan, Renmin University.

信息化时代汉字教学新理念新方法

世界已经来到了网络信息化时代。网络改变世界，也应改变我们的中文教学观念和教法。当今时代中文语言文字生活的常态是：（输入）拼音+（提取）汉字。拼音与汉字成了“连体文字”“捆绑文字”，并且拼音成了“首选文字”，汉字成了“被提取的文字”。这是手机电脑“语文”生活的常态，并且这种语文生活方式不可逆转。换言之，写汉字的机会将越来越少，“打字”在很大程度上替代了“写字”。国际中文教育与时俱进，更新观念，适应中文语文生活的主流化和常态化方式，确立汉字教学的新理念和新方法。

This talk will be delivered in Chinese.

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Alternative Zoom access:

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/rec/share/Qmc4cBKwNh0V6PvrDg7H6a5VQSYf4sww6owF3fR7WocuONM2-6wlncOsSTvjmtAo.3Imj3mp0tVBJN0KM

Passcode: $Ly+41Lv

Friday 7th October 2022, 20:00 (IST)/ 03:00 (Beijing time)

Professor Helen Shen, The University of Iowa.

数字化时代汉语二语字词教学

The digital age has brought new challenges to the Chinese as a second language instruction especially to the Chinese character/word teaching and learning. In this presentation the speaker will point out the challenges we are facing and identify the characteristics of leaners in the digital age; then, provide viewpoints and suggestions on transforming Chinese character/word instruction to meet today’s challenges from the aspects of teaching philosophy, instructional goals, and teaching methodology.

This talk will be delivered in Chinese.

Links to resources:

https://chinesereadingworld.sites.uiowa.edu/

http://chaziwang.com/

https://www.littlechinesereaders.com/

https://laits.utexas.edu/ppp/

http://xh.5156edu.com/

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Alternative Zoom access:

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/rec/share/SKvh1TdJUrBTWfrGkD-Kzlex5_Jkx4T-HKL-7Ka8u9c-1JT6dn9RJskowQgwAYDM.wWMEXCwId9T1B0mE?startTime=1665168209000

Passcode: c3M!w813

Friday 14th October 2022, 15:00 (IST)/ 22:00 (Beijing time)

Mr Matt Coss, Michigan State University.

E-writing, typing, writing, copying, and handwriting: Towards conceptual and pedagogical clarity for L2 teachers and learners in the 21st century.

Contrary to the general belief that Chinese character teaching is inseparable from teaching the hand-writing of characters, this presentation will argue that “teaching and learning Chinese characters” is different from “teaching and learning to hand-write characters” and will offer a long-overdue clarification to the concept of "writing" in L2 Chinese instruction. Based on recent projects including empirical studies and a recent course-based iteration of systematically teaching Chinese characters, the presentation will elucidate that learning Chinese characters and acquiring Chinese literacy in the digital age rarely if ever requires L2 users to hand-write Chinese characters from memory, but that this shift in writing modality retains and even expands the possibilities for L2 汉字 learning. That is, the proposed shift in methodology retains all of all the inherent cultural knowledge, systematic patterns, and field-tested character decomposition (i.e., using common components in Hanzi instruction) possibilities of teaching Chinese characters without the overwhelming and discouraging burden of a primacy on hand-writing hundreds of Hanzi from memory.

This talk will be delivered in Chinese.

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Alternative Zoom access:

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/rec/share/uK3LOIRY0SOXf3Uz0ZqbM546AzE-acHQVa9UqOfaIe0FCCoG_brRhv3BABzIOiq5.yQXmOdu-0uvCWxbQ?startTime=1665754854000

Passcode: SuF@0^sU

Friday 21st October 2022, 09:00 (IST)/ 16:00 (Beijing time)

Dr Qi Zhang, Dublin City University.

A think-aloud method of investigating translanguaging strategies in learning Chinese characters.

Since the first use of the term ‘translanguaging’ in Welsh bilingual schools, the concept has been developed from the pedagogical practice - such as an integrated bi/multilingual process in language learning - to a mechanism for meaning making and understanding mediation. On the other hand, while memorising Chinese characters is thought to be one of the main challenges for CFL (Chinese as a foreign language) beginner learners, there seems to be a paucity of research into the strategies adult students use to learn this logographic script. Situated in the translanguaging framework, the current study employs the think-aloud method to investigate strategies utilised by a group of CFL beginner adult learners when memorising characters. Drawing on the results of five think-aloud exercises with CFL learners over five weeks, as well as the follow-up tests of their long-term memorisation of Chinese characters, this study focuses on a) what translanguaging strategies were used, and b) what impact of translanguaging strategies there is on the long-term memory of Chinese character. The proposed typology of learning strategies using translanguaging as a parameter may contribute to the further development of translanguaging theory and learning strategy research.

This talk will be delivered in Chinese.

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Alternative Zoom access:

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/rec/share/U9OFhTeMefd9lHXdYHa1wslKPVkyIfC1AFdreaIqCV_t19xzd7lvwpZEtjBiOdlp.-dJvgm9jlqBT0y_z

Passcode: Q9Xng=$A

Friday 28th October 2022, 14:00 (IST)/ 21:00 (Beijing time)

Professor Joel Bellassen.

Teaching Chinese characters, what's the problem?

Teaching Chinese characters, what is the problem and where is it? There are in fact multiple answers of a fundamentally different nature to this question, which have generated a state of schism within the teaching of Chinese in the world for a long time. Finally, with regard to Chinese characters, is it simply a particular form of notation of the spoken language or is it a minimal pedagogical unit specific to Chinese, distinct from the word, and which invites us to reshuffle the cards of the pedagogical transmission of a language, in all areas, including that of online teaching?

This talk will be delivered in Chinese.

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Friday 4th November 2022, 14:00 (IST)/ 22:00 (Beijing time)

Dr Yi Xu, University of Pittsburgh.

Instructors’ perceptions of Chinese character instruction in the new context.

The talk will draw on findings from several projects conducted after 2020 on K-16 teachers’ perceptions of Chinese character instruction and its role in Chinese pedagogy. I will address (a) if and how college-level instructors modified the handwriting requirement in remote teaching, (b) how they incorporated technology-enhanced ways of character instruction since remote teaching (c) college-level instructors’ willingness to adopt online technologies in character teaching in the future and what factors affect such willingness. It was found that college-level instructors in the U.S., showed a moderately favorable attitude towards using online technologies in character teaching in the future, and their perceived values of technologies, their use of technologies in remote teaching, and their perceptions of students’ readiness directly affect their intention. I will also report on K-12 Chinese instructors’ perception of character writing in the U.S. and discuss the role of character instruction in the context of K-16 articulation.

This talk will be delivered in English.

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Zoom access:

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/rec/share/YdGeYp52kotZ1z2JCiTJKm9HQbtoxcQQbELreDY7gnjFeBiWEE1QZjEJDJirKqAJ.h3HeOKFjn1GIm7FV?startTime=1667570792000

Passcode: ctb7e=aW

Friday 11th November 2022, 09:00 (IST)/ 17:00 (Beijing time)

Mr Andrew Scrimgeour, University of South Australia.

What are we trying to teach young learners about Chinese characters? How might digital learning objects enhance learner engagement and conceptual understanding of the character system?

This presentation explores the development of literacy skills in Chinese as an additional language and identifies key challenges both teachers and learners face in building young, novice learner’s skills in reading and writing meaningfully in Chinese.

It explores key questions including:

• What are the issues with the ways Chinese characters and the processes for learning these characters are represented in textbooks?

• What specific features of the character system are important and could be taught via digital learning objects?

• What types of online learning activity may be most beneficial to developing initial literacy skills in young learners?

Key recommendations for incorporating literacy development more coherently into the Chinese program are proposed and key strategies designed to enhance basic literacy skills in Chinese that may be developed as online ‘learning objects’ are identified.

This talk will be delivered in English.

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Zoom access:

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/rec/share/Ez2ixXlcjzRw2hzvnmfcOHGicMMa8oV7zdHba5Bh7xICEXTj3EalbIggYJlgSVcB.hL8l6XSQUno8l_Pq

Passcode: 07l^r!Qs

Friday 18th November, 12:00 (IST)/ 20:00 (Beijing time)

Professor Nathan Hill, Trinity College Dublin.

The phonetic information contained in the Chinese script.

Even today many Chinese characters sharing a phonetic component are pronounced similarly (e.g. 跛 bǒ and 簸 bǒ). This was even more the case at the time of the script’s invention. But how similar did the pronunciation of two characters have to be in order to use one as the phonetic component for the other one? Different scholars have offered different answers to this question. This paper will review three of these hypotheses, namely those of Duan Yucai (1974-5), Li Fang-Kuei (1974-5), and Baxter & Sagart (2014). In addition, I will present my own attempt to transliterate characters, by rendering into roman letters the phonetic and semantic information encoded by a character.

This talk will be delivered in English.

*Unauthorised sharing of the recording is not permitted

© Dr Caitríona Osborne, 2022

Zoom access:

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/rec/share/28kYTzCzAN6Y56hRgIXcrfe25S5XigDecs-vdbOMZfMEN5sJ1mJKYNsvgNImV49O.c1LU4iMzIl0Mtoq9

Passcode: 2+Z@@c+P