Techquest Technology Research by Mary Ostrover

Admittedly, there really is not a lot of institutional research being done on how technology is being used in the Chinese classroom. However, I have tried to supplement this by using alternate methods. I have mostly done my searches using Google.com, Yahoo.com and Baidu.com (The Google of China). I have been various iterations of the terms "Chinese Language Instruction," "Chinese Language and Technology," and more generally (because there is not a lot out there), "Chinese Language Research" and "Chinese Language Education." Another hindrance is that I am not currently in that school system, I have made some educated guesses on parameters, such as budget and implementation.

What’s helped my research

Given my upcoming move to Hong Kong, I have kick started my own Chinese language learning. So this topic is really of great personal interest to me. The fact that I am still friends with teachers at my old school in Hong Kong has been invaluable in informing this techquest. I actually what is going on and what’s feasible at the moment. In particular, I have been speaking to:

-      Elementary school librarian

-      3^rd Grade teacher and team leader

-      Head of Technology, K-12

What’s hindered my research

A hindrance for me in this techquest is that neither my Chinese writing or reading is good enough to truly dig into Chinese educational research about these resources. If it is not written in English, I am not able to use it. I know that research on educational (and even more so research on technology in education) light years ahead in the US however. So, I actually do not thinking I will be missing critical information. Still, it would be better if I could say that for sure. I did find an interesting conference at Ohio State University focusing on integration of Chinese language instruction and technology. While its agenda does not help in my particular techquest, its existence gives me hope that this is a burgeoning field of educational study. There are also numerous resources affiliated with MSU, most notable being the journal of Language, Learning and Technology, specifically created to provide resources for second and foreign language learners and teachers. I have mostly found articles relating to review of programs and as a result, am looking into Scribbles. But, so far the closest pedagogy paper I have found discusses the need to place Chinese character learning in context. It may prove useful however.

Another hindrance is that I do not know if there is budget for any additional classroom equipment. I know there was a recent overhaul this past school year to make the school MAC-only. And, I know the school will find the money if the proposal is right. So, I am not limiting myself in terms of budget, I am just looking to propose the most effective and efficient solution.

So, much of my online search has been trying to filter out the numerous types of software out there, both for learning and inputting. My research is broken into reviewing 2 technologies for the MAC-based the Chinese International School in Hong Kong:

I.             What is the best Chinese character learning software for them (Review and research of Skritter and others)

II.           What is the best Chinese character input tool for them            

Part I: Chinese character learning software

Numerous Chinese software programs exist. Many enable you to customize lists. Among the most widely used include L – CEPS, Rosetta Stone and Skritter. However, it seems from my review of the first 2 programs, the curriculum content is geared towards conversational topics which help people to learn the language through its culture. Topics like “Greetings,” “At the Office,” or “How to order in a restaurant,” are not quite suited to the audience for this techquest – elementary students enrolled in a bilingual school living in Hong Kong. They need a program with content that is more tailored to native Chinese speakers. (Based on personal review of L-CEPS and Rosetta Stone websites) )

Additionally, both L-CEPS and Rosetta Stone ask for user input in Pinyin (phonetic spelling based on Roman alphabet). So, students would miss out on the chance to practice actually writing.  (Based on About.com review here)

I have also created an account at Skritter to begin pressure-testing this software. At first glance, I feel Skritter would help add pedagogical variety to the traditional Chinese classroom because it asks students questions in a variety of ways. It covers the same class material, but uses:

·      audio to help students learn tones

·      digital pen / tablet which lets students write characters directly into the computer

·      more traditional multiple choice questions to ask the meaning of words

·      pop up boxes which presents the origin of some words in a entertaining way.

·      feedback loop to ask students to rate the difficulty level of some questions.

After pressure testing L-CEPS and Rosetta Stone, I feel Skritter is still the best option to explore. What I am very much missing is some research on the use of Skritter. I have been in direct contact with Skritter’s founders directly to ask about research that’s been done on their tool. While they are keen to do some, they have not yet been evaluated this way. There is a potential to partner with them to do such research if the Chinese International school desired. This research opportunity will become part of my pitch to them in the Fall.

Part II. Chinese character input tools

There is a plethora of programs out there, none of which have truly dominated as a platform yet. I needed guidelines to narrow my research focus. As a starting point, I ruled out all PC-only systems since starting this school year, my school will be MAC-only. Secondly, I know that there are two kinds of systems: 1) Students actually write the Chinese character into the computer and 2) Students type the character into a QWERTY keyboard phonetically. I choose to concentrate on the former as the second does not let students practice actually writing the character. Once they learn it, it is ok to revert to phonetic inputting, but I want to find one that reinforces the writing. 

I first went to Apple.com, which touts some unique characteristics of their Chinese character input system: 

• You can use your fingers to write on a Multi-Touch trackpad in Mac laptops. As you write, suggested characters are shown in the same window, letting you choose the right one.
• This tool is integrated into MAC operating system so it can be used with any MAC that runs on a MAC. One button lets you change from inputting in English to Chinese in any program.

Secondly, I wanted to see what was prevalent in Hong Kong. So, I scoured the websites for the key universities in Hong Kong to see what system they were using. This proved fruitless as the information was not available. I then looked at the websites for any sister universities in the US, thinking that US sites might feel more of a need to spell out the tools they use. I finally found one helpful list of Chinese character inputting systems from Yale (which runs an esteemed East Asia studies center at Hong Kong University each summer). I plan to go through this list as a starting point for other technologies. I have looked at MSU's own Confucious Institute which provides a very general lis of resources, all of which appear pinyin-based as well. While none are geared towards elementary students, I will go through them all to see what could be usable.
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* An interesting side-note is that I have learned that the prevalence of pinyin imputting is of great concern to the Chinese government and culture-hawks. They are very concerned that the lack of a Chinese inputting system using characters is eroding the language. As more and more Chinese are inputting characters using pinyin, more English letters are entering their daily lexicon.