Educational Game:

Character Connections Puzzle Game 

Report by Mu-Mei, Hsueh

Overview

Chinese characters are very complicated compared to the simple letters found in the English alphabet. Each character has its special meaning and story, in some ways, like a picture with a single character consisting of up to eight (or more) strokes. Moreover, instead of learning 26 letters, Chinese learners will eventually have to learn up to 3000 in order to become fluent. Accordingly, learning to recognize characters is a huge and challenging part of learning Chinese.

The game design for the students between the ages of 7 and 17 (Grade 1 to 12), and described in this report is called Character Connections Puzzle Game which is best described as a matching game. The game aims to provide learners with the opportunity to better recognize Chinese characters and sentences between 300 - 2500 essential vocabularies from the TOCFL (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language). In addition, using basic vocabulary in a sentence with a task is generally done through rote memorization exercises. It is simple in its design, though this makes it suitable for the target students, and also flexible enough so that it can be adapted to meet various learner needs.

Instructional Objective

Specific:

The primary learning objective of the game is to understand and recognize Chinese characters through both listening and reading. The secondary objective is to understand the syntactic value of these characters by recognizing how they are used as part of phrases and sentences.

Learning Chinese characters is a long and arduous process. It is generally done through rote memorization exercises (e.g. copying multiple times into a notebook), so repetition is a key part of the game. Therefore, the game is designed to be played fast, so that multiple iterations of the game can be played.

The language to be studied is aligned to the TOCFL (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language)’s list which consists of 300 to 2500 words and their characters. The table below sets out the indicative number of course hours spent learning Chinese, and the size of the vocabulary base of words learnt appropriate for each test band and each level from TOCFL.

Measurable:

The game will also provide the teacher with valuable information. Firstly, it should help to identify which characters the class as a whole is struggling with. Secondly, it allows the teacher to see if any particular student is struggling. Therefore, playing this game is an important evaluative tool in preparing for future instruction.

Achievable:

The game has 4 levels and can be adapted in order to differentiate between learner abilities. The game itself is designed to be quick and easy to set up. It should not require any complicated resources, nor does it need a large space.

Relevant:

The target language chosen for the game is selected according to the TOCFL (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language), so it is relevant to the students’ needs. The game can be designed using language that is most suitable for the learners. Moreover, a lot of time needs to be spent on learning to recognize characters, giving justification for this game.

Time-bound:

The game time is flexible, depending on the stage of a lesson it is used. For example, if used as a change of pace, then it could last for a short time (e.g. 5 minutes), whereas if it is a larger focus of the lesson (e.g. reviewing recently taught language) then it would be longer (15-20 minutes). The game itself is made up of short rounds, which I expect to last up to one minute.

Learners

The learners are young learners, between the ages of 7 and 15. This is a mixed ability class, with students studying in grades 1-12. However it can be played by any age as soon as they start to learn Chinese characters. The learners are studying Mandarin Chinese as a second/additional language. The learners are all able-bodied and do not have any physical or emotional learning differences that could affect their ability to play the game.

The game can be adapted in order to differentiate between learner abilities.

• Students with special needs/ ELL: The official romanization system Pinyin and pictures can be used to associate the pronunciation and image with the characters.

For example: The text from Let’s Learn Chinese K2- L7: Let’s Draw a Snowman,

“What do you want to draw? I want to draw head and eyes.”

• Low level learners: This step would be to group characters in chunks or phrases, so that multiple ideas are expressed in a single card, for example: “我家” (Ｍy home) and “家人” (Family member).

• Higher level learners: This level would be for each character to be separated on its own card, for example: “我”(I), “家”(home), and “人 ”(person).

• Gifted and Talented Students: It is also possible to adapt for even higher levels by splitting single characters into radical and other pieces, for example: the character of home 家= 宀 + 豕 .

Motivation

The game is designed in response to my own experience of learning Chinese characters at school. This was done using rote memorization, with expectations of learning (memorizing) a large number of characters every week. Admittedly, for a child this was a very dull and demotivating process. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid memorizing characters due to the way in which the Chinese writing system works. I am also aware that the Vietnamese education system is somewhat similar to my own in Taiwan, with large class sizes and teacher centered learning. Students are rarely offered the chance to play or enjoy themselves. From my experience of teaching this age group, they really love any opportunity to play and compete, and engage in more kinesthetic activities. Moreover, I also know that these students already have a busy schedule, with a lot of academic pressure, and extracurricular activities. When my students come to my class, I don’t want them to think of it as just another lesson, but one where they can feel like they can enjoy themselves and feel more relaxed.

Context of Use

The main purpose of the game is to develop recognition of characters and structure of sentences . Therefore, it is mostly a supplemental activity, acting as a reward, a warm-up or change of pace activity. At the same time, it forms an important part of the review process, which is necessary for achieving subject mastery. I wouldn’t say that this game alone will provide mastery, though combined with other more traditional activities, it will certainly help.

Scope

The game is small in scope. This makes it suitable for various stages within a lesson. However, the simplicity of the game design also allows for adaptability. For example, it can be more teacher centered, with target language coming from the teacher, or it can be student centered, with students taking the role of both the competitors and the host. The game is expected to last for between 5 minutes and 20 minutes. Preparation and setting up the game can take around 3-5 minutes.

Object of the Game

The game can be competitive. Students race against each other, either individually or in teams, to complete the activity as quickly as possible. However, depending on the circumstances (e.g. complexity of language, level of learners) it can also be played more like a puzzle, where the aim is simply to finish the game with a correct or completed answer. It must be stressed that accuracy of the language is the most important goal, and that winning the race is an extra, motivational aspect.

Design Details- Instruction

Preparation

1. The game begins with a text, this could be a sentence, or simply a series of characters that should be taught as per the syllabus needs. The teacher can use the text to present the characters to be learned or reviewed.
2. Next, according to different levels, students or teams are instructed to cut up their text, so that each character is separated from the rest on its own card. This stage involves the students in the process of setting up the game and gives them further opportunities to review the characters.
3. Each person or team chooses one color of the turtle, and sees who can reach the end first (10 points in total).

Playing the game

1. To play the game, the cut-up characters are spread across the table, floor or the room.
2. First, the teacher will call out a phrase or sentence. The students' race to find the appropriate characters, put them together, and recreate the structure. The fastest student or team can get 1 point on the racing board.
3. Afterward, the teacher's role is passed on to the winning student or team, who then create their own sentence for the class to find. This allows for the activity to become more student-centered.
4. Once the teacher’s role has been freed, they can become a facilitator, making sure that the game is played according to the rules. However, their most important role is to monitor the students and the learning process.
5. The teacher should monitor effectively and note down difficulties that students have as a whole and individually. This would normally be difficulty recognizing specific characters, which would then inform future review.

Design Process

My process for designing this game was based on practicality. In teaching my subject area, I have found the learning of characters to be the most challenging aspect from a motivational point of view, so I was drawn to this area for my game design as a way of addressing this area. Moreover, I have played a number of web-based games that offer similar functionality (e.g. Kahoot) and although they are fun to play, they  focus more on reading. I was more interested in getting students to play in the live environment and practice more listening and speaking rather than a virtual one. Designing the game offline also meant that it was easier  to set up and adapt, as the game is text-based, so it could be prepared quickly. After playing the game, I found that adaptations could be made to make the game more suitable for the level of the students. These changes were based on the needs for differentiation. For example, with some weaker learners, I would cut out phrases rather than individual characters, and with stronger learners, I would cut individual characters into pieces, making the puzzle element of the game a bigger focus.

References

5 STEPS TO SET SMART OBJECTIVES (EXAMPLES)https://ghcc.org/en/5-steps-to-set-smart-objectives-examples/

Learn To Read Chinese In Eight Minuteshttps://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2013/04/25/learn-to-read-chinese-in-eight-minutes/?sh=46113a291795

Flow Learning in the Academic Classroom By Carol Malnor https://www.sharingnature.com/flow-learning-in-academic-classroom.html