Using Chinese for Tomorrow : Student Perceptions and Language Gain

1. Using Chinese for Tomorrow: Student Perceptions and Language Gain Dr. Jeff R. Watson Dr. Wayne He (何文潮)

2. Design of Chinese for Tomorrow Series 《走向未来》系列的设计. • Textbook / workbook • Grammar book • Teacher’s manual • Free online audio & flashcards

3. Five Language Skills 五种语言技能. • Reading, writing, listening, speaking + computing • Handwriting is introduced gradually • Keyboarding allows students to recognize more vocabulary

4. Computer Chinese as a study tool 电脑中文作为学习工具 Not just typing—students need to know pinyin, tone, and character

5. How to incorporate CC into the classroom 在教学中应用中文电脑. • Practice exercises • Listening & speaking exercises • Composition • Lab and homework Using examples from Chinese for Tomorrow, Volumes 1 and 2 第一、二册的例子

6. Unique keyboarding practice独特的打电脑练习 • Exercises for computing and learning characters in each chapter (e.g. V.1, L.3, p. 114) • Type the following passage: 王小年請他的中國朋友去看電影，可是她的中國朋友不喜歡看電影。他問王小年去不去打球，… • Type the following pinyin sentences and select the correct characters • Circle the correct character to fill in the blanks. (不、吓、下、丁、才) 課以後我們才去吃中國飯。

7. Lab & Homework 电脑室练习和课外作业 Example from the Chinese for Tomorrow Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1:

8. Developing speaking proficiency发展听说能力 • Varied listening & speaking exercises to reinforce learned vocabulary (e.g. Volume 1, p. 148)

9. Composition 作文 • Vol. 1 – simple sentences and short compositions starting in Lesson 1 (e.g. p.58) • Vol. 2 – more in-depth compositions(e.g. p.241)

10. Reading & Culture 阅读与文化.

11. Research Design • Two groups: Experimental & Control • Qualitative & quantitative research methods • 1st-year College Chinese – 160 contact hours • Treatment spanned AY 2009-2010 (2 semesters)

12. Research Design

13. Participant Profiles: Experimental Group • N=24 sophomores • 22 male; 2 female • No prior formal experience with Chinese • 23 native speakers of English; 1 Korean • Textbook: Chinese for Tomorrow • Software: NJSTAR

14. Participant Profiles: Control Group • N=23 sophomores • 18 male; 5 female • No prior formal experience with Chinese • 23 native speakers of English • Textbook: Integrated Chinese • Software: KEY

15. Research Instruments: Character-learning strategies

16. Research Instruments: General learning strategies

17. Research Instruments: Motivation, confidence, attitude

18. Motivation, Attitude & Confidence Experiment al 11.86 15.79 6.54 Control 11.33 13.77 7.3 Experiment al 10.82 15.91 6.75 Control 11.47 15.76 6.39

19. Attitude toward writing characters & vocabulary learning by typing Experimental 2.75 3.85 Control 3.02 2.81 Experimental 2.27 4.46 Control 2.93 3.44

20. Speaking Confidence Experimental 3.16 Control 3.54 Experimental 3.36 Control 2.86

21. Anecdotal Data: Group Discussion • Experimental Group • Communicative, conversational focus • Integrated grammar • Delayed character-writing • Functional organization with recycled vocabulary • Computer program: NJSTAR • Typing ability allows for earlier writing of paragraphs • Dependence on Pinyin which is later phased out • Definitions sometimes associated with Pinyin instead of Hanzi • Some concern about handwriting requirements in advanced courses

22. Anecdotal Data: Group Discussion • Control Group • Functional dialogs with storyline • Handwriting flashcards • Decent conversation activities • Computer program: KEY • Handwriting exercises led to memorization of stroke order – not meaning association • Limited focus on pronunciation • Some concern about handwriting requirements in advanced courses

23. Character-learning Strategies: Remembering the meanings of characters

24. Character-learning Strategies: Remembering the pronunciation of characters

25. Character-learning Strategies: Remembering how characters are written

26. Use of General Learning Strategies

27. Prochievement Test • Developed & validated by ACTFL • Geared toward students with lower-level proficiency • 40 multiple-choice items • 18 novice-level; 22 intermediate-level items • 10 vocabulary • 10 grammar • 20 reading proficiency

28. Prochievement Test Results

29. Prochievement Test: Descriptive Statistics & t-test results

30. Conclusions & Implications • Both groups demonstrated similar yet unique learning strategy development. • Experimental group reported using reading as a memorization technique. • Control group reported using writing as a memorization technique. • Both groups demonstrated similar performance on the prochievement test while the Experimental group demonstrated a slight non-statistically significant edge. But 36% of the Experimental group reached the Intermediate level of ACTFL rating in the test while the Control group only 13%.

31. Conclusions & Implications • Both groups generally showed similar patterns in motivation, attitude and confidence. • The experimental group held favorable attitude toward typing on the computer for learning vocabulary • The control group was generally more favorable to writing characters than the experimental group. However, on the second survey (post-treatment), BOTH the Experimental group AND Control group reported a more positive attitude toward typing than writing. • On the first survey (mid-term), the Control group reported more confidence in their speaking. On the second survey (post-treatment), the Experimental group reported more confidence in speaking.

32. Questions?