20200924_Linguistics_Chinese_Character_Learning

Location

Room 4.04 RRST
Room 4.04, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Date

Sep 24 2020

Time

3:30 pm

Labels

Department of Linguistics

Department of Linguistics

Chinese Character Learning: Interactions among Working Memory, L1, and L2 Proficiency

 

Dr. Sun-A Kim
Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

CRT 4.04 3:30 pm, 24 September 2020 (Thu)

 

Abstract
This talk reports the results of two experiments on adult L1 and L2 Chinese speakers’ character learning. The findings show the dissimilar patterns of L1 and L2 speakers in using working memory resources when learning simple characters. For L2 learners, depending on the target character types (i.e., simple or phonetic compound characters), the effects of individual differences in working memory and Chinese proficiency varied. The results suggest that more proficient L2 learners are able to perceive critical components in a given character more efficiently and thus learn the target characters better and faster. The effective and systemic uses of phonetic consistency in teaching phonetic compound characters will be introduced in the context of learning and teaching Chinese as a foreign language.

Bio:
Dr. Sun-A Kim is an associate professor in the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests include Chinese character learning and teaching, working memory and cross-linguistic influences in language acquisition, and effective learning and teaching of Chinese and Korean as foreign languages.

Go to Top