The Acquisition of Chinese Characters Innovative Teaching Approaches
for a Real Learning Challenge

Tommaso Rossi1 , Lidilem Grenoble2

(1. Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’Foscari University, Italy; 2. Alpes University, France)

Abstract: The considerable increase of Chinese language programmes in Europe has led to a reflection on the conventional teaching approaches, especially on the methodologies oriented to writing skill acquisition. Although Chinese characters represent a real challenge for students of all ages, the leading approach adopted in various textbooks — unipolar methodology — apparently does not give them the importance they deserve. In this article we explore three alternative approaches based on the disjunction between oral and writing abilities, whose common intent is to pay the right attention to Chinese characters and set priorities in the teaching-learning process. They include: a) the threshold of characters (Bellassen, 1985), a table of useful characters selected according to their frequency of use; b) the pedagogical applications of phonograms (Hoa, 1999), in particular the opportunity to plan writing skill acquisition according to the structural complexity of target characters; c) the national Chinese L2 syllabus, which defines a database of words and characters selected in function of their natural progression and communicative relevance.

Keywords: Chinese L2, oral-writing disjunction, acquisition of Chinese characters, teaching approach, unipolar methodology