Volume 3, Issue 1

This study investigated the effects of single and dual coded instructional methods using computer-based multimedia on Chinese character learning. 42 college students with no prior knowledge of Chinese language were randomly assigned to a single coded group (text-only and animation-only) and a dual coded group (animation plus text and animation plus narration) to learn 12 concrete (pictograph) Chinese characters and 12 abstract (ideograph) Chinese characters. The results showed there was a significant difference between the single coded and the dual coded instructional methods and there was also a main effect in the character type. In addition, the findings indicated that within the single coded group, there was a significant difference between two character types and a significant difference between two single coded methods with the animation-only method leading to better achievement score than the text-only method. For the dual coded group, the results revealed a significant difference between two character types as well and a significant difference between two dual coded methods with the animation plus narration method outperforming the animation plus text method.

This study investigates the effects of linguistic difficulty and task type on the use of Chinese ba construction by second language learners. One hundred and ten adult learners completed four tasks orally (i.e., an oral production task prompted by video clips, an oral imitation task, a grammaticality judgement task and a correction task), as well as a background questionnaire and a one-on-one post-task interview. Twenty-two native speakers of Chinese served as baseline. Results demonstrate that the variable type of the Chinese ba construction which is subject to functional constraints is harder to learn than the obligatory type which is subject to obligatory syntactic constraints, and that the oral tasks were more challenging to perform than the metalinguistic tasks. The findings suggest that a series of factors including functional value and discourse context contribute to the linguistic difficulty of Chinese grammar features. The processing constraints of completing tasks and their interaction with linguistic characteristics explain the learning difficulty of the two types of the ba construction.

This explorative study reports how three types of comparative constructions in Mandarin Chinese, namely adjectival, adverbial and differential comparatives, are acquired by English learners in a college Chinese-language classroom. We start with a hypothesis that the syntactic structures of the adverbial comparative and the differential comparative will be a potential challenge to learners because these two constructions are neutralized in English comparatives. However, the results of the three in-class tests we conducted indicate that learners have more difficulty with the adjectival comparative and the adverbial comparative than the differential comparative. Based on these results, we discuss effects of L1 transfer, difficulties in acquiring structures that involve optional components, and differences between heritage and non-heritage learners in learning Chinese as a second language.

提要 本文通过对印尼八华学校477名初中生的问卷调查和访谈，在因子分析基础上利用结构方程模型 (EQS) 软件建构印尼初中生的汉语学习动机模型，探究非目标语环境下汉语学习动机的结构。模型显示，汉语二语学习动机同时受到学习者的内在因素和外在因素的影响，尽管两者高度相关，但是内在因素是影响动机行为的关键。本文在分析影响动机生成的内外在因素的主要构成因子的基础上试图揭示各动机变量对汉语二语学习动机影响的权重及其各因子之间的内在联系和相互关系，以期给予CFL教师对非目标语环境下激发和提高学习者汉语学习动机以一定的启示，最大限度地发挥动机在汉语二语学习中的功能。

提要 不同的语言会采用语音手段、词汇手段或句法手段来表达不同类型的焦点，而且同样一种表现手段在不同的语言中会有使用程度上的差异。本文讨论的是汉语中表达焦点的词汇手段—焦点标记词，主要采用否定测试的方法区分了两种非独立的焦点强迫形式：焦点标记和焦点算子，从而确定了汉语中焦点标记词的范围，希望此项研究能为汉语作为第二语言教学提供一定的参考。

提要 篇章宏观信息结构是负载不同功能的各种高层次信息单元之间建构起的一种功能关系网络。韩国留学生论证性语篇宏观信息结构的习得总体体现为一个由低到高逐渐向汉语母语者靠拢的系统化进阶的过程。这一习得过程的特点表现在：习得过程的有阶性与无界性；各构成参项演进方向的一致性、发展轨迹的变异性和发展水平的差异性；学习主体型例选用的偏好性；型例量变在标记阶差异中的主导性；演进过程的系统性。该过程受到篇章内、外部多种因素的制约。