Component Analysis of Chinese Characters: Implications for the Teaching and Learning of Chinese in the Context of Hong Kong Primary Schools

Abstract

Relevant national context Character recognition and writing is considered as the primary task in the initial learning stage in Chinese language learning. One of the approaches to learning Chinese characters is analyzing characters into its components as components could provide important information on sound and meaning, which is beneficial to students' awareness of orthographic structure of the characters. However, there are discrepancies in the component analysis of characters by different researchers, and principles of analyzing the components remain unclear. The research intends to look into characters to be learned at primary level in Hong Kong, to identify principles of analyzing the characters into components, and to investigate how the principles could be applied to enhance the teaching and learning of characters.

Research question(s) The research questions include: a. What are the discrepancies between different approaches of component analysis of Chinese characters to be learned at primary level in Hong Kong? b. What are the principles of component analysis of Chinese characters and its implications to character teaching and learning?

Method A total of 3,171 characters, which are expected to be learned in primary education and listed in 'Chinese Lexical Items for Student Learning at Primary Level' published by the Hong Kong Education Bureau, will be studied. The research will compare five approaches of component analysis of these characters by different researchers in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Investigation into the discrepancies among different component analysis will be conducted.

Results a. A group of characters with a concordant component analysis and another group of characters with discrepant approaches for component analysis will be identified; b. Principles of component analysis in terms of components, hierarchical level and orthographic structure will be explored.

Discussion Implications of applying the principles on teaching and learning characters will be discussed.