Design and user evaluation of a mobile application to teach Chinese characters

摘要

This paper presents both the pedago gical design principles and the challenges faced dur- ing the development of a mobile app, Chinese Characters First Steps, to support recognising, learning and practising writing Chinese char- acters at beginners' level, including the diffi- cult balance between pedagogy and technical affordances. We also present the results of a research study which collected quantitative data from over 130 users of the app as well as qualitative data from interviews with four users. The results offer a profile of language learning app users and very positive attitudes towards learning with apps. They also reveal users' reasons for learning Chinese, patterns of learning, expectations of the app, and evalu- ation of the different features for their own personal learning. Finally, the paper concludes that the chosen design principles for the app were appropriate for its purpose.