DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILDREN QUESTIONNAIRE FOR MEASURING CHINESE CHARACTER LITERACY LEARNING SATISFACTION

There are limited reports about development of questionnaire to measure learning satisfaction among young children. In this research, guidelines were listed for developing a questionnaire that gauges Chinese Character Literacy Learning Satisfaction (CCLLS) among 8-year-old children. The research was undertaken based on the responses of 232 children from 11 Chinese national type primary schools (SJKC) of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The CCLLS questionnaire consists of 12 items developed through three dimensions of satisfaction, which are (1) Satisfaction towards Chinese characters writing, (2) Satisfaction towards Chinese characters recognizing, (3) Satisfaction towards the learning in classroom. Rasch analysis was used to examine the item polarity. The result showed point measure correlation was within 0.47 – 0.60. The items were also detected with the outfit mean square in the range of 0.76 – 1.24, indicating CCLLS was fit to measure the children’s learning satisfaction. The raw variance explained by measures (33.3%), the unexplained variance in first contrast (9.1%), with the eigenvalue (1.6%) from the principal component analysis, suggested that CCLLS could be unidimensional. The internal consistency was considered very high with 0.81 in Cronbach’s alpha (KR-20). The result also showed CCLLS has very good item reliability (0.91) with good item separation index (3.23). The person reliability (0.77) was in satisfactory range with moderately good person separation index (1.81). The findings indicated that CCLLS questionnaire could be a valid and reliable tool in measuring Chinese character literacy learning satisfaction among 8-year-old primary school children of SJKC. Keywords: children questionnaire, Chinese Characters Literacy Learning Satisfaction, Rasch analysis, validity and reliability

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A Distance Learning System for Teaching the Writing of Chinese Characters Over the Internet

Advances in Distance Education Technologies - Future Directions in Distance Learning and Communication Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-376-0.ch014 ◽

2007 ◽

pp. 254-272

Author(s):

K. T. Sun ◽

D. S. Feng

Keyword(s):

Primary Schools ◽

Chinese Character ◽

Intelligent Tutoring ◽

Intelligent Tutoring System ◽

The Internet ◽

Chinese Characters ◽

School Students ◽

Animated Cartoon ◽

Rule Bases ◽

Writing Chinese

This chapter proposes an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) for teaching students to write Chinese characters over the Internet. Since each Chinese character is like a picture, knowing the correct stroke orders can enable a person to write characters more easily. Accordingly, primary schools in Taiwan teach the correct orders in which strokes should be made when writing Chinese characters. In the proposed system, students can use a pen (or drag the mouse) to write Chinese characters on a digital board through a browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. For realizing the situation of student’s writing behavior, a neuron-based student model was designed to learn the writing style of each student. When a wrong stroke order is used, a short animated cartoon is displayed to show the error to the student, and the reason for the error will be explained. An intelligent tutoring module selects a Chinese character that is similar to the character written with the wrong stroke order, to teach the student again. Several databases and rule-bases are used to store important information such as the correct stroke orders and the structure of each Chinese character, the screen positions of each stroke, the writing behavior of each student, the rules of inference by which training characters are selected, and the error codes (types). This system has been in development since 1996, and includes 2734 Chinese characters (taught in primary schools). It has been used in elementary schools, and by thousands of students. Educational research reveals that over 82% of primary school students had some problems in using the correct stroke orders when writing Chinese characters, and the improvement exhibited by the experimental group was significant (F = 25.331, p < .005). The proposed system has been verified as being of high value in teaching students to write Chinese characters.

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ISU DAN MASALAH PEMBELAJARAN DAN PEMUDAHCARAAN MENGENALI AKSARA CINA DI SEKOLAH RENDAH JENIS KEBANGSAAN CINA KUCHING [ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN LEARNING AND TEACHING CHINESE CHARACTERS AT CHINESE VERNACULAR PRIMARY SCHOOLS KUCHING]

Muallim Journal of Social Science and Humanities ◽

10.33306/mjssh/95 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 40-52

Author(s):

CHIN HUAT YAP ◽

GUAT PENG NGOI

Keyword(s):

Character Recognition ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Chinese Character ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Chinese Characters ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Chinese Character Recognition ◽

Chinese Language Teachers ◽

Teaching Chinese

This report is part of a study on the development of Chinese character recognition modules. This report focus in the issues and problems in the learning and teaching of Chinese characters among Chinese students and teachers in Chinese vernacular primary schools, Kuching. The purposive sampling is conducted in the selection of seven first-level Chinese language teachers. Data collected using a semi-structured interview and analyzed using keyword thematic techniques. Some of the identified issues in relation to student’s learning are: (1) Unable to recognize the form of characters and meaning of Chinese characters effectively, and (2) Unable to write Chinese characters correctly. While the issues generated in relation to teacher’s teaching are: (1) No emphasis in recognizing and acquisition of the Chinese characters during learning and teaching, and (2) Lack of awareness of the teaching approaches according to the characteristics of Chinese characters. The findings indicated that further studies related to the development of Chinese character recognition modules, reviews of Chinese characters learning in textbooks, the use of appropriate and effective methods to aquire Chinese characters are greatly needed to ensure the quality of the learning and teaching Chinese.

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A comparison of the changes in the patterns of the usage and categorization of the classifier ‘ben 本’ in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese

Journal of Chinese Writing Systems ◽

10.1177/2513850221981772 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 43-51

Author(s):

Jeong-A Jo

Keyword(s):

Cultural Differences ◽

Chinese Character ◽

Chinese Characters ◽

Common Features ◽

The World ◽

The Common ◽

Korean Chinese ◽

The Relationship

This study aims to examine the common features and differences in how the Chinese-character classifier ‘ ben 本’ is used in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, and will explore the factors that have affected the categorization processes and patterns of the classifier ‘ ben 本.’ Consideration of the differences in the patterns of usage and categorization of the same Chinese classifier in different languages enables us to look into the perception of the world and the socio cultural differences inherent in each language, the differences in the perception of Chinese characters, and the relationship between classifiers.

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Association between the school physical activity environment, measured and self-reported student physical activity and active transport behaviours in Victoria, Australia

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity ◽

10.1186/s12966-021-01151-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas Crooks ◽

Laura Alston ◽

Melanie Nichols ◽

Kristy A. Bolton ◽

Steven Allender ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Active Transport ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Weight Status ◽

School Principal ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Physically Active ◽

Physical Activity Environment ◽

Policy Practice ◽

Socioeconomic Composition

Abstract Background Environments within schools including the physical, social-cultural and policy/practice environments have the potential to influence children’s physical activity (PA) behaviours and weight status. This Australian first study comprehensively examined the association(s) of physical, social-cultural and policy/practice environments with PA, active transport (AT) and weight status among regional primary school children. Methods Data were from two childhood obesity monitoring systems in regional Victoria, Australia. Measured height and weight were collected from students in Year 2 (aged approx. 7–8 years), Year 4 (9–10 years), and Year 6 (11–12 years). Self–reported PA behaviour, including AT were collected from students in Year 4 and 6 and a sub-sample wore an ActiGraph (wGT3X-BT) accelerometer for 7-days. A school physical activity environment audit was completed by the school principal and responses were used to calculate school physical activity environment scores (PAES) and active transport environment scores (ATES). Mixed effects logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between the proportion of students meeting the PA guidelines (≥60mins/day of moderate-to-vigorous PA) and PAES tertiles (low, medium, high) and those using AT and school ATES tertiles, controlling for gender, school size/type and socioeconomic composition. Results The analysed sample included 54/146 (37%) schools and 3360/5376 (64%) students. In stratified analysis, girls in schools with a medium PAES score were more likely to meet the objectively measured PA guideline compared to low PAES score (OR 2.3, 95%CI 1.27, 4.16). Similarly, students in schools with a medium or high ATES score had higher odds of self-reported AT (medium OR 3.15, 95%CI 1.67, 5.94; high OR 3.71, 95%CI: 1.80, 7.64). No association between PAES or ATES and weight status were observed. Self-reported AT among boys (OR 1.59, 95%CI 1.19, 2.13) and girls (OR 1.56, 95%CI 1.08, 2.27) was associated with higher odds of meeting self-reported PA guidelines on all 7-days than those who did not report using AT. Conclusions In this study of regional Victorian primary schools, PA environments were only associated with girls’ adherence to PA guidelines. School AT environments were strongly associated with students’ AT behaviours and with increased likelihood of students being physically active.

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A comparative study of children’s Chinese character textbooks in Korea and China, with a focus on Yu Hap

Journal of Chinese Writing Systems ◽

10.1177/2513850221970281 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 145-153

Author(s):

Jeong Yeon Sil ◽

Jang Eun Young ◽

Park Heung Soo

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Chinese Character ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Written Language ◽

Chinese Characters ◽

Children's Books ◽

High Learning ◽

Modern Chinese ◽

Ancient Times

This study examines why and how Chinese characters spread into Korea. It subsequently conducts a comparative analysis of Korean and Chinese children’s textbooks with a focus on Yu Hap from the perspective of the acceptance and acculturation of Chinese characters. It also explores how commonly used the characters in Yu Hap are, and the text’s learning value as one of Korea’s children’s textbooks. Yu Hap is very significant as the first written language textbook published in Korea. A comparative analysis of the characters used in four children’s books published in Korea found that the characters in Yu Hap are very common, and the text has a high learning value. Approximately 50% of the characters in San Bai Qian and Yu Hap are the same, showing that both China and Korea had similar perceptions of the characters in common use. A very significant proportion of characters overlap in Basic Chinese Character for Educational Use, List of Common Words in Modern Chinese, and Yu Hap; this supports the idea that the same characters have continued to be used from ancient times to the present day.

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Chinese Character Image Completion Using a Generative Latent Variable Model

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11020624 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 624

Author(s):

In-su Jo ◽

Dong-bin Choi ◽

Young B. Park

Keyword(s):

Latent Variable ◽

Chinese Character ◽

Image Inpainting ◽

Latent Variable Model ◽

Chinese Characters ◽

Image Completion ◽

Variable Model ◽

Variational Autoencoder ◽

Convolution Model ◽

Detection Technologies

Chinese characters in ancient books have many corrupted characters, and there are cases in which objects are mixed in the process of extracting the characters into images. To use this incomplete image as accurate data, we use image completion technology, which removes unnecessary objects and restores corrupted images. In this paper, we propose a variational autoencoder with classification (VAE-C) model. This model is characterized by using classification areas and a class activation map (CAM). Through the classification area, the data distribution is disentangled, and then the node to be adjusted is tracked using CAM. Through the latent variable, with which the determined node value is reduced, an image from which unnecessary objects have been removed is created. The VAE-C model can be utilized not only to eliminate unnecessary objects but also to restore corrupted images. By comparing the performance of removing unnecessary objects with mask regions with convolutional neural networks (Mask R-CNN), one of the prevalent object detection technologies, and also comparing the image restoration performance with the partial convolution model (PConv) and the gated convolution model (GConv), which are image inpainting technologies, our model is proven to perform excellently in terms of removing objects and restoring corrupted areas.

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A research on an intelligent recognition tool for bronze inscriptions of the Shang and Zhou dynasties

Journal of Chinese Writing Systems ◽

10.1177/2513850220967756 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 271-279

Author(s):

Rui Guo

Keyword(s):

Computer Technology ◽

Character Recognition ◽

Chinese Character ◽

Research Process ◽

Chinese Characters ◽

Chinese Character Recognition ◽

The World ◽

Bronze Inscriptions ◽

Intelligent Recognition ◽

Functional Components

The intelligent recognition tool for bronze inscriptions of the Shang and Zhou dynasties—the “Shang Zhou Bronze Inscriptions Intelligent Mirror”—was successfully invented in Shanghai. This mirror, based on the computer technology of artificial intelligence (AI) image recognition and image retrieval, succeeds in automagical recognition of bronze inscriptions, both single letters and full texts. This research leads the trend of the AI recognition of Ancient Chinese characters and accumulates valuable experience for the development of inter-disciplinary research on Chinese character recognition. This essay emphasizes the importance of the bronze inscriptions of the Shang and Zhou dynasty database in the AI recognition of bronze inscriptions, introduces the functional components of this tool, and shares the whole research process in order to offer experience for the related research on AI recognition of other types of Ancient Chinese characters as well as ideographs in the world scope. “Shang Zhou Bronze Inscriptions Intelligent Mirror” as a tool for bronze inscription recognition also has room for improvement and support, and guidance from experts in similar areas is greatly welcomed.

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A comparison of the changes in the patterns of the usage and categorization of the classifier ‘ben 本’ in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese

Journal of Chinese Writing Systems ◽

10.1177/2513850220981772 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 251385022098177

Author(s):

Jeong-A Jo

Keyword(s):

Cultural Differences ◽

Chinese Character ◽

Chinese Characters ◽

Common Features ◽

The World ◽

The Common ◽

Korean Chinese ◽

The Relationship

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A Combined Impact-Process Evaluation of a Program Promoting Active Transport to School: Understanding the Factors That Shaped Program Effectiveness

Journal of Environmental and Public Health ◽

10.1155/2013/816961 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

S. Crawford ◽

J. Garrard

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Process Evaluation ◽

Active Transport ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Quantitative Data ◽

Program Effectiveness ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Second Phase ◽

Program Staff ◽

Impact Process

This mixed methods study was a comprehensive impact-process evaluation of the Ride2School program in metropolitan and regional areas in Victoria, Australia. The program aimed to promote transport to school for primary school children. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected at baseline and followup from two primary schools involved in the pilot phase of the program and two matched comparison schools, and a further 13 primary schools that participated in the implementation phase of the program. Classroom surveys, structured and unstructured observations, and interviews with Ride2School program staff were used to evaluate the pilot program. For the 13 schools in the second phase of the program, parents and students completed questionnaires at baseline (N= 889) and followup (N= 761). Based on the quantitative data, there was little evidence of an overall increase in active transport to school across participating schools, although impacts varied among individual schools. Qualitative data in the form of observations, interviews, and focus group discussions with students, school staff, and program staff provided insight into the reasons for variable program impacts. This paper highlights the benefits of undertaking a mixed methods approach to evaluating active transport to school programs that enables both measurement and understanding of program impacts.

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