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How Chinese Characters Are Taught: An Analysis of Three Popular Textbooks Used in Macao

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Abstract

In language arts programs in the Greater China Region, textbooks are the primary materials used to teach children to read and write. Learning to read and write in Chinese is particularly challenging because elementary grade students are expected to learn, recognize, and write thousands of characters (the basic linguistic unit in Chinese). Recognizing Chinese characters or words made from a combination of characters provides access to word meanings, which in turn leads to comprehension of text. Likewise, production of Chinese characters and words are essential to writing a meaningful message or text for oneself or to share with others. The current study examined three language arts textbook series approved by the Hong Kong Education Bureau which are used by teachers in elementary schools in Macao, focusing on how character recognition and production (i.e., handwriting) are taught. Across the three textbooks, new characters are first presented in text and characters are taught as words along with their spelling in Pinyin. The total number of characters taught during the elementary grades, however, is less than the number commonly recommended. The number of instructional activities in student textbooks for promoting character recognition, handwriting, and the use of these skills in reading and writing, including reading comprehension, varied considerable across the three series as did the number of instructional recommendations provided to teachers for promoting these same outcomes. Recommendations for instruction and future research are provided.

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Funding

This research was funded by the Research Committee of the University of Macau (MYRG2018-00127-FED). We especially wish to thank Edward Louis Gustin for his comments on linguistics issues, as well as Qiaoting Zhang, In Teng Lai, Sio Mui Cheong, Cheng I Cho, and Weng Pou Xu for their contributions to the data collection, and Tong Yin, Roujie Li, and Mei Ieng Lao who helped with the data analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Macau, Macau, China

    Tien Ping Hsiang, Zhisheng Wang & Yang Gong

  2. Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, Arizona State University, 434 Farmer Building, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Steve Graham

  3. Institute for Learning Sciences & Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University Brisbane Campus, Level 4, 229 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane CBD, QLD, 4000, Australia

    Steve Graham

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  1. Tien Ping Hsiang
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  2. Steve Graham
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Correspondence to Steve Graham.

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Hsiang, T.P., Graham, S., Wang, Z. et al. How Chinese Characters Are Taught: An Analysis of Three Popular Textbooks Used in Macao. Tech Know Learn 26, 355–381 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-021-09492-8

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