Abstract
(1) This is a programme level project to facilitate foreign learners of Putonghua (Mandarin) and/or Cantonese in learning basic simplified and/or traditional Chinese characters with online animated videos and exercises.
(2) 200 Chinese characters will be introduced in this project. The characters are drawn from high-frequency words based on (i) the framework stipulated by Chinese Proficiency Test or Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK), i.e. HSK Level 1 to Level 2; (ii) Putonghua (Mandarin) and Cantonese textbooks currently used by Yale-China Chinese Language Centre, CUHK.
(3) Two major components (both with simplified and traditional character versions):
(i) Animated videos to be uploaded to social media platform (i.e. YouTube channel, Facebook, MeWe, etc.) of Yale-China Chinese Language Centre, CUHK. Each video will introduce one character, showing its stroke order, composition and origin, and several words containing that character, followed by a few examples in monologue or dialogue forms likely to occur at different proficiency levels (novice, intermediate, advanced, superior) based on American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) language proficiency guidelines.
(ii) Complementary online exercises also to be uploaded to social media platform. The exercises will be in various forms, to cater for different learning needs, and to evaluate learners’ understanding and application of the characters. Both the single characters and the words containing those characters will be covered in the exercises. These exercises will be graded instantly by the system and tracked by teachers.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
This project is to produce online animations and related exercises to facilitate international learners of Putonghua (Mandarin) and/or Cantonese to acquire 200 high-frequency Chinese characters.
Activities, process and outcomes
The following preparation has been carried out for creating the learning materials: (i) 200 Chinese characters were selected from HSK syllabus and the Yale-China Chinese Language Centre (CLC) textbooks; (ii) data collection for the selected Chinese characters was conducted. Based on this groundwork, the online Putonghua and Cantonese learning packages comprising PowerPoint slides, videos and related exercises are created.
Deliverables and evaluation
By the end of April 2022, the production of all the 10 PowerPoint slides and 8 out of 10 videos of Putonghua and Cantonese will be completed respectively. Also, 10 sets of Putonghua complementary exercises, which contain 6 types of questions with 40 questions each, will be produced by then. For Cantonese, all the worksheets and tests, as well as the complementary exercises based on newspaper reading and other reading materials will be created too. This project is in line with the strategic plan of the University which plays a part in providing a new learning experience for international learners of Putonghua and/or Cantonese in a unique online setting.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
All the online learning materials are/will be posted on Google Classroom. The 10 respective videos of Putonghua and Cantonese will be uploaded on CLC’s YouTube channel after the completion of production.
Impact on teaching and learning
Students’ feedback was positive. They particularly liked the videos and online exercises, which they found very useful for learning Chinese characters.
