The graphabet and bujian approach at acquiring Hanzi (Chinese character) writing skill

Abstract

Learning how to write orthographically correct Hanzi (otherwise known as the Chinese character) is a major hurdle facing students studying Chinese. The difficulty arises from the visual complexity of Hanzi, the opaqueness, i.e. diminished correspondence of sound to orthography, and the traditional method of learning Hanzi, which is monopolized by rote repetitive copying, excessive demand on memory, and lacking of any means of creating an auditory memory of the structural organization of individual Hanzi. As a result, the novice student has to invest a great deal of time and effort trying to master Hanzi, and is often deterred from continuing study. Yet, despite the seriousness of the problem, very little research has been carried out on its solution. This paper proposes a new approach at improving the ability to write Hanzi, through understanding Hanzi as strings of subunits stacked in two-dimensional space, and composed from 21 high frequency recurring shapes herein called graphabets. The combined use of graphabets and bujian can provide a means of creating an auditory memory of the structural organization and significantly decrease the memory load through chunking, as well as facilitating the use of computer feedback for learning purpose.