A Study of Common Errors in Chinese Character Writing Among Students of the Chinese Language Program, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kamphaeng Phet Rajabhat University

Abstract

Abstract

The present study, titled A Study of Common Errors in Chinese Character Writing Among Students of the Chinese Language Program, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kamphaeng Phet Rajabhat University, aims to examine the common errors in Chinese character writing made by third-year students majoring in Chinese at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kamphaeng Phet Rajabhat University. The participants were 18 students enrolled in Chinese Writing 1 and 2 during the 2024 academic year.

The study also seeks to provide recommendations that could help Chinese language instructors improve the effectiveness of their teaching methods. The research instrument employed in this study was a set of eight Chinese writing exercises. The analysis of the data revealed a total of 165 instances of writing errors. The most frequent errors involved incorrect stroke writing, followed by component errors, structural errors, and other character errors, respectively.

Based on these findings, the study proposes several recommendations for addressing the identified issues:
1. Teaching stroke order, character structure, and radicals from the beginning, along with consistent practice, helps reduce writing errors; 2. Grouping characters by structure and introducing them from simple to complex enhances understanding and retention; 3. Integrating technology supports continuous practice and suits learners at all levels; 4. Interactive activities increase motivation, reduce boredom, and improve character memorization; 5. Understanding character components fosters deeper comprehension of meaning and structure beyond rote memorization.