Common Errors in Chinese Character ( 汉 字 ) Writing by HUFLIT

Students Learning Chinese as a Second Language (L2)

I. Introduction
1.1 Background information
Chinese is one of the most widely widespread languages in the world
after English, with a number of users reaching more than 1.1 billion
people (Ethnologue, 2024). In Vietnam, the Ministry of Education and
Training has chosen to introduce Chinese into teaching in elementary
schools to high schools. This might be viewed as a decision in keeping
with global trends and advancements, as the need for Chinese language
skills in the labor market is always rising, especially in the travel and
tourist industry.
Learning how to pronounce Chinese correctly, remembering their
meanings and characters, and eventually being able to write Chinese
word or characters are three most important skills for learning Chinese
vocabulary.
However, writing Chinese characters is the most difficult goal (Ren &
Xu, 2000) and is often overlooked by learners due to the development of
modern technology or lack of time to practice.
Therefore, non-majors have a higher frequency of making mistakes in
writing Chinese characters, for longer periods of time, and tend to make
more mistakes as they continue to study compared to groups of students
studying other majors.
This study will help students identify common errors, allowing them
to self-correct and improve. It will also provide suggestions and solutions
to enhance students' writing skills.
1.2 Objectives
This article describes a case study involving non-Chinese major at
HUFLIT, with the goal of identifying and categorizing common errors.

The method employs observation, research, and data collecting, followed

by error classification and root cause analysis.

Nonmajors frequently make mistakes regarding their awareness and

investment of time and effort in the subject (Fareed, 1995; Coleman,
1997).

The paper also makes recommendations for proper teaching strategies to

reduce errors and improve teaching and learning effectiveness.
References
1. Ethnologue. (2024). Ethnologue 200. Retrieved October 9, 2024, from
https://www.ethnologue.com/insights/ethnologue200/
2. Coleman, J. (1997). Residence abroad within language study,
Language Teaching, 30, 1-20.
3. Freed, B. F. (1995). What makes us think that students who study
abroad become fluent? In B. F. Freed (Ed.), Second language acquisition
in a study abroad context (pp. 123-148). Philadelphia: John Benjamin’s.
II. BODY
2.1 Definition of Chinese characters
Chinese characters, or "hanzi" ( 汉字), are the logographic writing system
used in the Chinese language (Arthur Henderson. "Chinese
Characteristics." Houghton Mifflin, 1894). Unlike letters in the alphabet,
which reflect the sounds of speech, Chinese characters often represent
morphemes, units of meaning in a language
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characters). Writing the entire
vocabulary of a language requires thousands of different characters, this
system uses thousands of characters—there are more than 50,000
characters, but only about 3,000 are commonly used in language. normal
communication. Characters are created according to a number of different
principles, where aspects of both shape and pronunciation can be used to
represent the meaning of the character (DeFrancis, John. "The Chinese
Language: Fact and Fantasy." University of Hawaii Press, 1984). So the
correct arrangement of strokes is essential to ensure readability and
ensure accuracy of meaning. It takes a lot of time and effort to be able to
read and write fluently because these characters are very difficult for
learners to learn.
2.2. Review
2.2.1. Norlida Razali (2015) Foreign Students’ Common Problems In
Writing Chinese Characters.
Chinese characters are pictographs, their meaning directly represents
ideas or concepts, not sounds, and it is very different from phonetic
writing. Chinese characters belong to a system of characters that are
difficult to remember, difficult to write and difficult to recognize. The
complexity and unique structure of Chinese characters have become a
major barrier in learning Chinese for foreign students. In this article, the
author has researched and discussed the common problems that beginners
encounter when learning to write Chinese. Through that, the author
identifies common problems that foreign students encounter when writing
Chinese characters. Especially focusing on problems related to shape,
meaning and sound. At the same time, analyzing the reasons for these
errors, then proposing effective learning strategies to help foreign
students overcome those barriers and improve their Chinese writing
skills. Finally, the goal is to enhance students' experience, promote their
interest in Chinese language and culture to facilitate more effective
learning.
2.2.2. Tong Thuy Van (2024) A Study on Errors in Writing Chinese
Characters of Non-Major Students at a University in Vietnam
Chinese is one of the most widely used languages in the world after
English, with a number of users reaching 1,120,000,000 people. In
Vietnam, the Ministry of Education and Training has identified Chinese
as one of the five main foreign languages taught from primary school due
to the global development trend, and the increasing demand for Chinese
skills in the job market, especially in tourism. In addition, the author also
mentioned the influence of social backgrounds on the motivation to learn
Chinese. Through this article, the author mentioned specific problems of
Chinese writing errors of non-Chinese major students at Thuy Loi
University. The author found that non-Chinese major students are more
likely to make errors and are more persistent than Chinese major students.
The main objective of this article is to identify common errors in Chinese
writing by non-Chinese major students and analyze the root causes of
these errors. The author has conducted research and conducted surveys,
investigations, observations and analyses of data collected from Chinese
characters written by students. Then from these analyzed data, errors and
the basic causes of errors can be classified, including: incorrect stroke
placement, incorrect radical identification, incorrect stroke name
identification. Most of these errors come from the perception of learning
Chinese and writing Chinese characters, and the investment of effort and
time in learning Chinese. Thereby, proposing solutions to the challenges
that non-major students face by recommending improvements in teaching
methods, introducing correct learning methods to minimize errors and
improve learning and teaching results.
2.2.3.
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2.2.5.
2.2.6.
2.2.7.
2.2.8.
2.2.9.
2.2.10.
III. Conclusion
Chinese is one of the most widely spread languages in the world, with
a number of users reaching more than 1.1 billion people. In Vietnam, the
Ministry of Education and Training has chosen to introduce Chinese into
teaching in elementary schools to high schools, aligning with global
trends and advancements, as the demand for Chinese language skills in
the labor market, particularly in the travel and tourist industry, is
increasing. Learning Chinese vocabulary involves correct pronunciation,
memory of meanings and characters, and writing Chinese characters.
However, writing Chinese characters is often overlooked by learners.
Therefore, non-majors have a higher frequency of making mistakes in
writing Chinese characters, for longer periods of time, and tend to make
more mistakes as they continue to study compared to groups of students
studying other majors. This study will help students identify common
errors, allowing them to self-correct and improve. It will also provide
suggestions and solutions to enhance students' writing skills. The method
employs observation, research, and data collecting, followed by error
classification and root cause analysis. The paper also makes
recommendations for proper teaching strategies to reduce errors and
improve teaching and learning effectiveness.
Based on previous researches, the authors have solved many problems
of non-Chinese majors making common errors in writing skills. Nguyen
Dinh Hien (2017) proposed a solution to the problem of cognition:
learners need to clearly recognize the importance of writing Chinese
characters as well as being aware that Chinese characters are one of the
biggest difficulties when learning Chinese. At the same time, it is
necessary to be proactive in writing and remembering characters. In
addition, the author also proposed a way to learn to write Chinese
characters, specifically: Learners need to attend classes regularly and pay
attention to lectures. After each lesson, each character needs to be written
many times with a pencil on squared paper. Before writing, it is necessary
to carefully observe the strokes, the length of the strokes, the radicals, the
structure of the characters... After writing, it is necessary to compare and
check your handwriting with the writing in the book to see if it is correct
or beautiful. It is necessary to set a requirement for beautiful writing, not
just stopping at remembering and writing the correct characters. In
addition, Tran Thi Kim Trang (2024) has solved the problem and
proposed methods for memorizing and writing Chinese characters. First,
it is necessary to master the basic strokes of Chinese characters, which is
also one of the mistakes that learners often make. Second, remember the
smooth writing rule, which not only greatly affects whether learners can
write Chinese characters correctly, but also affects the effectiveness of
memorizing and writing Chinese characters. In fact, following the writing
rules will help learners remember Chinese characters more easily in the
long run, write faster, and we will realize that Chinese characters are
formed according to a rule. However, most of the research articles still
have a problem that has not been solved until now, which is the problem
of practice time. Most of the current learners, especially non-Chinese
majors, do not have much time to practice Chinese because they have to
spend time on many other subjects or for many other reasons. There are
also some suggestions on improving the ability to make errors in writing
skills of non-majors by change the teaching curriculum appropriately,
arrange the teaching program reasonably according to the students' level.
In addition, teachers should focus on teaching carefully the principles of
writing Chinese characters and encourage students to participate in
learning activities, practice writing Chinese and correcting their work in
class because most students will be shy and will not ask teachers to help
correct their errors, and students who study by themselves without
guidance will not recognize and correct their errors.