oai:eurokd.com:article/1244 2025-12-15

Learning Chinese as a Second Language: Implications of the Character-Word Dual Function Model <p style="text-align: justify;">Learning new words is fundamental in both first and second-language reading. There are, however, divided opinions on the best instructional approaches. Two widely used approaches across languages are whole-word focus and word-constituent focus. The appropriateness of each approach has varied historically, even within a single language (e.g., the debate between whole-word instruction and phonics in English). In teaching Chinese, both approaches are applied but to different learner groups. Whole-word instruction predominates in teaching Chinese as a second language (L2), while instruction for Chinese children focuses more on character-level mappings. It may seem reasonable in L2 Chinese instructions to focus on direct mappings between Chinese words and their L1 equivalent words. However, this raises a question: Is whole-word instruction the most efficient approach in L2 Chinese instruction? Based on an analysis of the Chinese writing system, we proposed a Character-Word Dual Function model of Chinese and tested its application of a dual-focus approach on both characters and words in L2 Chinese classroom instruction. Empirical findings support the advantage of this new approach compared to conventional whole-word instruction. We discuss the alignment between our findings and the Unified Computational Model and its implications for word instruction across languages.</p> EuroKD Publishing 2024-09-28 Text https://api.eurokd.com/Uploads/Article/1244/ltrq.2024.44.11.pdf https://doi.org/10.32038/ltrq.2024.44.11 en Pages 115–128