Pedagogic Perspectives on Chinese Characters Teaching for Latin American Students

Chinese characters are one of the most representative components of Chinese language. However, due to its complexity, the teaching of the language has become an important research topic. With the expansion of this language, it is important to analyze and reconsider approaches to inspire and guide students with different cultural backgrounds, languages and learning habits, and highlight their advantages and disadvantages. Based on two beginner level groups of Chinese in Mexico, this report analyzes teaching strategies, pedagogical activities and students’ attitudes towards two professors, a local Mexican teacher and a Chinese teacher. After observing both classes we found significant differences on their approaches to teach Chinese characters. The Chinese teacher emphasized the importance of characters as a communication tool and therefore tried to develop accuracy and efficiency, while the Mexican teacher focused on knowledge about characters, the association with students’ own experiences and self-directed learning techniques. We conclude with making remarks about which of these teaching approaches are more suitable for the teaching context of Chinese language in Latin American countries like Mexico.