The impact of visual pedagogy on students' learning of Hanyu : a case study of a Western Sydney public school

Abstract

The learning of Chinese characters is considered to be one of the most challenging problems faced by learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL). The visual nature of characters is not fully used in CFL classes in Australia. This study aims at contributing to an understanding of the significance of Chinese character learning and exploring the effectiveness of visual pedagogy on non-background Australian students' learning CFL. It is also expected to find out the existing problems in Chinese character teaching. A variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods are adopted in this study. Classroom observations, interviews, documents and students' quiz results are the four main data sources. Nine Stage 2 students from a primary school in Western Sydney Region and two volunteer teacher-researchers were interviewed for their CFL learning and teaching experience. Data collected shows that visual pedagogy in Chinese character teaching can improve students' understanding and retention of Chinese script, and promote their learning interest, creativity and visual literacy. However, its negative influences on students' writing sequence and written form of Chinese characters are also found in this study.

Date of Award	2012
Original language	English