Computer Aided Language Learning for Chinese:
A Survey and Annotated Bibliography*
Dana Scott Bourgerie
Brigham Young University
Computers, for good or bad, have become an integral part of nearly every
domain of modern life. Accordingly, computers and the Internet have
played an increasingly important role in language teaching. Since the early
1980’s when computer-aided instruction emerged for Chinese, the field has
expanded dramatically from a handful of programs to the hundreds available today. While many people embrace such innovations, others are frustrated with them or fail to see great benefits of emerging technologies, seeing them instead as false panaceas. Still others are overwhelmed by the
sheer quantity of technology related teaching materials or unimpressed by
the uneven quality of the offerings.
This article is meant to be a guide—however temporary—for seasoned users
and for relative newcomers to Chinese Computer Aided Language Learning
(CALL). This article includes an introduction to Chinese CALL and an extensive annotated bibliography of various sources for teaching and learning Chinese. As with all technology surveys, this one too has a limited shelf life. A dynamic online version of the annotated bibliography is planned for the Chinese
Language Teachers Association website in the near future (http://clta.deall.
ohio-state.edu/).
1. Introduction
Technology has become so all-pervasive in our lives that it is hard to remember when it was not so. The Apple II Computer was introduced in 1977, the
first IBM PC in 1981, and the first Macintosh in 1984 (http://wwwcsif.cs.
ucdavis.edu/~csclub/museum/timeline.html). Not much more than fifteen years
ago the Internet was the esoteric tool of industry and government researchers and
the domain of hackers. Few knew how to use it let alone program content for
on-line access.
*
I would like to thank Ted Yao, Xie Tianwei, Zhang Zhengsheng, and Marjorie Chan for their feedback and suggestions. I would especially like to thank Roin Fung for her help in compiling the bibliography. Errors and omissions are, of course, my own.
Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association
May 2003, Volume 38: 2, pp. 17-47
2003 The Chinese Language Teachers Association
18
Dana Scott Bourgerie
According to Yao (1996:255-56) the first Chinese CALL package was a
character teaching program developed in the 1970’s by Chin-chuan Cheng of the
University of Illinois, and was made to run in the PLATO mainframe environment.1 Yao attributes Kim Smith of Brigham Young University for creating the
first Chinese program for the personal computer (Apple II+) in 1981, which was
also used to teach characters.
Computer-based and Internet-based resources have burgeoned since earlier
surveys were published in JCLTA (Alber 1989, 1996; Dew 1988, 1989, 1996;
and Zhang 1998). Describing what was at the time the leading use of computers
for Chinese language teaching, Dew (1988:1) notes three functions of the computer as it served the Inter-University Program in Taipei at the time: “1) text
manipulation for vocabulary selection, 2) sorting of vocabulary for index listing,
and 3) Limited printing functions.” In his 1996 article, Alber (1996:235) refers to
the CD-ROM as the “electronic frontier,” as indeed it was when the article was
drafted.2 Yao’s 1996 survey looked at 24 programs and four on-going projects
(Yao 1996). Zhang’s 1998 CALL article reviews ten software packages (Zhang
1998).
Much has changed even in the last five years and these days we are sometimes overwhelmed with quantity and the need to sort through what is useful and
what is not. Many still are uncomfortable with technology, are frustrated and
unconvinced of its usefulness, or are justifiably unclear of its goals and purposes.
Technology assisted learning has remained the unfulfilled panacea of technology
boosters and the elusive dream of many administrators. Technology has not
made learning cheaper. Indeed, often it has raised the price of delivery—especially when one factors in hardware upgrades and support. The burden then is to
identify the technology that enhances the specific learning environment of each
teacher and learner.
2. The Range of Sources: From CALL to the Web
Beyond the numbers, computer-based materials are increasingly diverse and
difficult to categorize. Even the names used to refer to various technologies and
environments for language learning can lead to confusion about their purpose.
1
See Cheng (1973), Chen and Cheng (1976), and so forth.
Most of Alber’s comments refer to the state of the field in 1993 and before when the article was first
drafted.
2
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
19
The literature variously refers to CALL (Computer Aided Language Learning),
CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction), TALL (Technology Assisted Language
Learning), distance learning, on-line learning, and more. Moreover, traditional
technologies and media continue to play an important role in learning, from the
humble printed book to the video and audiotape. This survey reviews several
types of computer-related materials, including CD-ROM based courseware and
tools, Internet-based courses, on-line newspapers, and other text sources. Among
the many excellent sites with extensive links dedicated to aspects of the Chinese
language, I note some of those that are most dedicated to learning and teaching
Chinese.
2.1. The CD-ROM
The CD-ROM is, of course, a delivery medium, not a description of the content, although CD-ROM based materials tend to be associated with more fully
featured courseware. Because of its relatively large storage capacity (approximately 700 megabytes), it can more readily deliver sound and video content
along with text and graphics. Many CD-ROM based programs require or allow
the user to install core files on the local computer or network with larger files
such as sound and video accessed via the CD-ROM (e.g., Wenlin).3 Now that
learners generally have at least some access to personal computers, the CDROM’s limitation to the personal computer is no longer a major issue. Moreover,
duplication is inexpensive and convenient.
2.2. Internet-Based Courses, Tools, Distances Learning and Other Sources
Among computer-aided sources, those found on the Internet are probably the
most diverse and varied in quality—as is the case with almost anything found on
the Internet, where quality control is typically not present. These Internet sources
can be as simple as supplements for established texts (e.g., Yao’s (1997) Integrated Chinese) or comprehensive courses such as Beijing Language and Culture
University’s on-line degree program for Chinese. Other on-line sources consist
of independent modules to address a particular aspect of learning such as pronunciation and romanization (Hu 1997). Most on-line sources are free of charge,
3
Wenlin, for example, allows for full installation or basic installation with using sound files off of the
CD. A CD-ROM based Chinese Pronunciation and Romanization Diagnostics program under development at Brigham Young University allows for the users to do the diagnostic with their CD-ROM but
with test results automatically posted to the server via the Internet (Asay and Bourgerie 1988).
20
Dana Scott Bourgerie
but some—especially the credit-granting distance courses at such institutions as
Beijing Language and Culture University — have fees associated with use.
Other less conventional on-line sources for language learning include “Chat
Rooms” and “Usenet newsgroups.” Chat Rooms are increasingly popular Internet
environments where participants type messages back and forth in real-time, in contrast to email. There are nearly endless numbers of these “rooms,” each of which
typically has its own theme (see http:// tw.ezchat.yahoo.com, http://cn.chat.yahoo.com,
http://hk.chat.yahoo.com). Usenet newsgroups are interactive bulletin boards where
one can post and read messages on topics on almost any conceivable topic. Newsgroups can be found at a variety of locations on the net, including on the Chinese
language versions of yahoo.com, google.com, and MSN.com. Some Chat Rooms
and Usenet groups are moderated (edited by the owner), but many are not, and so
one needs to consider appropriateness of content to the target group.
Because these newsgroups and chat room sources constitute unsheltered content,
they are most appropriate for more advanced learners. However, some teachers have
reported success using these innovative sources for teaching vernacular language.
(Jian 2002) reports his experience with upper-level students at William and Mary
College and their participation in news groups. Under the guidance of the teacher,
students posted to a group of their choice throughout the course. These kind of direct,
authentic interactions were not possible before the proliferation of the Internet worldwide.
2.3. On-line Texts and Media
Another rich source for Chinese language learning are on-line news media
and other electronic texts. There are scores of news portal sites on the Internet
and nearly every Chinese newspaper, magazine, radio station, and television station now has its own web site. Moreover, one can use the search function of
these sites to find multiple stories on a certain thread. Additionally, Chinese versions of popular search sites such as Google can be used to access Chinese news
and just about anything else of interest.
Although not interactive or intended for teaching purposes, on-line news
sources provide a wealth of learning material, especially for advanced learners.
The on-line sources become especially powerful when combined with text aids
such as Wenlin, Clavis Sinica, and KEY (see annotated bibliography). Learners or
teachers can copy and paste any on-line text to a file in these programs and have
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
21
every character linked to dictionaries and sound files, thus saving countless hours
of preparation work and allowing them to focus more readily on content. Teachers
may also reasonably assign more extensive and more current materials without the
burden of preparing glossaries for each piece.
Beyond the news media sites, many Chinese literary texts are now easily obtained on-line as well. Academia Sinica in Taiwan provides on-line access to hundreds of Chinese texts (Academia Sinica Classics Database). Like the news texts,
electronic-based literary texts can be readily prepared for pedagogical use with
the software tools that are now available (e.g., Linguistic Data Consortium).
In addition to texts, learners now also have at their fingertips streaming video
from Chinese language television and radio stations, often neatly categorized and
even organized by thread to provide repetition and recycling of vocabulary and
topic. Moreover, there are numerous corpora intended mostly for linguistic analysis, but with potential for language teaching use as well, such as obtaining frequency lists, collocations, and so forth (Chan 2002).
2.4 Resource Sites
Once a rare find, sites linking learners to information on the Chinese language
and culture are now too numerous to list. In the spirit of Internet tradition, these sites
are typically maintained with great effort by professionals and other aficionados of
Chinese, without cost to the user. The problem is not in the finding but in filtering
through those sites of varying quality. In the accompanying annotated bibliography I
have listed a few of the most extensive and widely used link sites that relate most
specifically to the learning and teaching of Chinese.
2.5. Testing Software
Standardized language testing can be expensive and time-consuming. In the
past five years, we have seen efforts to address both of these issues with technology. Yao (1993) and Ke and Zhang (2002) have developed reading and listening proficiency tests respectfully. Both of these exams are based on ACTFL
proficiency guidelines. In addition, Brigham Young University’s Chinese program in conjunction with the Humanities Technology and Research Support
Center has recently begun work on a Computer-aided Oral Proficiency Interview
(COPI) for Chinese based on those done in Spanish and other languages.
22
Dana Scott Bourgerie
In addition to these more involved computer-aided testing efforts, many CDROM and Internet-based software provide more modest learner evaluation such
as listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and grammatical feedback.
3. Technologies and the User
Computer-aided instruction has come a long way in a very short time, but it
is still in its early stages. It is likely that ten years from now the picture will look
very different than today. The laser videodisk at one time seemed to be poised to
replace videotape, only to be supplanted by the CD-ROM. More recently DVD’s
are beginning to take up the space occupied by CD-ROM, audiotapes, and videotapes. DVD burners (or recorders) and accompanying software now come standard with high-end Macintosh computers and are being increasingly used with
the Wintel platform. DVD’s have nearly seven times the capacity of CD’s and
blanks are now inexpensive.4 With the price of production coming down to consumer levels, many smaller developers can enter the fray. More and more language faculties are able to take on sophisticated development projects for teaching Chinese.
Perhaps the most popular domain for development is the Internet. Using common web development software such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Adobe GoLive,
even amateur developers can put up functional web sites. The accompanying bibliography lists many such sites and much of what is found therein is useful. Although
Internet access now seems ubiquitous in education and most students appear comfortable with the interface, there is some evidence of resistance to web-based learning among students of Chinese. Ihde and Jian (2003:39) report reluctance of some
students to web materials. Many of the students they surveyed reported basic problems such as not being able to properly enter and display Chinese characters, others
complained about limited lab access (38-39). Ihde and Jian attribute some of the students’ negative attitudes to unenthusiastic teacher support and failure to integrate the
materials into a larger learning environment (38). Their findings suggest that teachers
and developers need to do more to prepare students for technology use, particularly
with languages like Chinese, which have special technical challenges. Furthermore,
teachers must first get comfortable themselves with the technology they want to employ.
4
At this time writable DVD’s can be readily purchased at less than U.S. 75 cents, just about three
times the price of a blank CD. Rewritable DVD’s are available for just over a dollar depending on
quantities bought.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
23
If the web’s strengths are ease of development and ease of use, its weakness
is speed, especially with respect to delivering video and audio. Video can now be
“streamed” over the Internet using downloadable software such as RealPlayer, QuickTime, and Windows MediaPlayer. For those with high-speed Internet connections
such as T1, cable Internet, or DSL, streaming video is viable, but for most with
dial-up connections the video can be choppy and of low quality. Furthermore,
not all institutions have the adequate lab facilities needed to properly make use of
the whole range of CALL offerings. Any technology plan needs to realistically
take into account available technology resources.
4. Final Remarks
Despite the frustration it causes many users, technology plays an ever-increasing role in learning Chinese as it does in other areas of our lives. Many seek
appropriate ways of integrating it into curriculums. As many have argued (Yao
1996; Bai this issue) the most successful technology projects arise from specific
pedagogical need. A still too common problem is the reversing of that principle,
where technologically or ascetically interesting software is delivered to the teacher
or learner with inadequate consideration for pedagogical need. If it is thought
that students use an inordinate amount of time looking up words in a dictionary,
then can the process be expedited by technology (e.g., with Wenlin or Clavis
Sinica)? If students are using too much time rewinding tapes, can a more efficient way be found (e.g., a menu of digital recordings on a CD or DVD)?
Technology has so far provided us with quick and convenient navigation of
resources, easily managed video and audio, the ability to access and manipulate
texts for pedagogical purposes, and increasingly sophisticated efficient testing.
Much more will come but there already exists an impressive body of material
from which to choose. The accompanying bibliography provides an annotated
list of computer-aided instruction materials with the hope of giving teachers and
learners an update on the range of sources available and a starting point for locating resources useful to them.
References
Academia Sinica Classics Database. Computer software. Academia Sinica Computer Centre.
24
Dana Scott Bourgerie
Alber, Charles J. 1996. Citizens of a global village: Information technology and
Chinese language instruction—A search for standards. In McGinnis, ed.
(1996), pages 229-53.
Alber, Charles J. 1989. Technology in language teaching. Journal of the Chinese
Language Teachers Association 24.2: 85-108.
Asay, Devin and Dana Bourgerie. 1988. Chinese Pronunciation and Romanization Diagnostics. Version 1.0. Computer software. The Ohio State University
Center for Teaching Excellence, Mac CD-ROM.
Bai, Jianhua. (this issue). Making multimedia an integral part of curricular innovation. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 38.2.
Bishop, Tom. 2003. Wenlin. Version 3.1. Computer software. Wenlin Institute,
Inc., (Mac OS) 7,8,9 or X; Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT4, 2000, ME, or
XP CD-ROM.
Bourgerie, Dana Scott and Ronald R. Robel. 2000. Critical Languages Series—
Beginning Chinese. Computer software. University of Arizona Press, Windows 95/98 or NT 3.51/4.0 CD-ROM.
Chan, Marjorie K.M. 2001. Databases and Corpora for Chinese Linguistic Research (on-line syllabus and bibliography). http://deall.ohio-state.edu/chan.9/
c889.htm.
Chan, Marjorie K.M. 2002. Concordancers and concordances: Tools for Chinese
language teaching and research. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers
Association 37.2: 1-58. (An online version is at http://deall.ohio-state.edu/
chan.9/articles/Chan_JCLTA-2002.pdf.)
Chan, Marjorie K.M. (this issue). The digital age and speech technology for Chinese language teaching and learning. Journal of the Chinese Language
Teachers Association 38.2.
Chan, Thomas A. (this issue). Character sets and characters: The basis of Chinese language computing. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 38.2.
Chen, Ching-hsiang and Chin-chuan Cheng. 1976. Computer-assisted instruction
in Chinese: An interim report. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 4.2/3: 278-293.
Cheng, Chin-chuan. 1973. Computer-based Chinese teaching program at Illinois.
Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 8.2: 75-79.
Dew, James E. 1996. Advances in computerization of Chinese. Journal of the
Chinese Language Teachers Association 31.3: 15-32.
Dew, James E. 1988. Computer assisted teaching materials preparation in the Inter-University Program. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 23.1: 1-20.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
25
Dew, James E. 1989. Typeable National Phonetic Letters—Computerize Juhin
Fwuhaw for teaching materials. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers
Association 24.3: 91-100.
Ihde, Thomas W. and Ming Jian. 2003. Language learning and the on-line environment: The views of the learners. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 38.1: 25-50.
Jian, Xiaobin. 2002. Communicating in Chinese through the Internet: Contextualization in Advanced Chinese. Presentation at the 2002 Annual Meeting of
Chinese Language Teachers Association. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ke, Chuanren and Zizi Zhang. 2002. Chinese Computerized Adaptive Listening
Comprehension Test (CCALT). Computer Software. Columbus, Ohio: National East Asian Language Resource Center at the Ohio State University.
Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC). University of Pennsylvania. http://www.ldc.
upenn.edu.
McGinnis, Scott (Editor). 1996. Chinese Pedagogy: An Emerging Field. Chinese
Language Teachers Association Monograph Series. Columbus, Ohio: National
Foreign Language Resource Center at the Ohio State University.
Mou, Sherry J. (this issue). Integrating writing into Elementary Chinese. Journal
of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 38.2.
Smith, Kim. 1981. Chinese Lessons I for Apple Microcomputer. Provo, Utah:
Apple Basic Computer Translation Incorporated/Brigham Young University.
2 Disks.
Stevens, Vance. ESL Home: A Web Resource for Call Lab Managers and for
Teachers and Learners of Languages Online. http://www.geocities.com/
vance_stevens/esl_home.htm
Tao, Hongyin. 2002. Seminar in Corpus Linguistics (on-line syllabus and bibliography). http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~ht37/teach/222/222_info.html.
Yao, Tao-Chung. 1996. A review of some Computer-Assisted Language Learning
(CALL) software for Chinese. In McGinnis, ed. (1996), pages 255-84.
Yao, Tao-Chung (with Yuehua Liu). 1997. Integrated Chinese. Boston: Cheng &
Tsui.
Yao, Ted Tao-chung (with Richard Chi and Cyndy Ning). 1993. A Computer-Adaptive Test for Reading Chinese (CATRC). University of Hawaii.
Zhang, Zheng-Sheng. 1998. CALL for Chinese—Issues and Practice. Journal of
the Chinese Language Teachers Association 33.1: 51-82.
26
Dana Scott Bourgerie
Annotated Bibliography of
Computer Assisted Chinese Language Learning
As always is the case with any bibliographic attempt, there are the inevitable
gaps in this one. The problem of omissions is especially acute with technology
delivered in myriad ways and with more or less publicity. A version of this list
will be put on to the Chinese Language Teachers Association web site (the most
fitting place for fluid information) and updated periodically. I invite readers to
help fill in the gaps by contacting me at <bourgerie@byu.edu>.
For the sake of space and focus, there are many types of sources that I do not
include in this annotated bibliography: dedicated audio CDs, word-processing programs, non-interactive video sources, natural spoken corpora, character sets, and
word processing programs, among others. Some of these sources are examined
elsewhere in this issue (Jianhua Bai, Marjorie K.M. Chan, Thomas A. Chan, and
Sherry J. Mou). Data consortiums now provide rich resources for spoken
language. See, for example, the extensive holdings and resources of Linguistic
Data Consortium (http://www.ldc.upenn.edu/). Several scholars working on
Chinese corpus linguistics (see Marjorie Chan <http://deall.ohio-state.edu/chan.9/
c889.htm>, and Tao Hongyin <http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~ht37/teach/222/222_info.
html>) maintain excellent course sites with many useful links on using texts for
linguistic study and also with reference to language teaching.
1. CD-ROM Based and Other Courseware
ABC Interactive Chinese. Vers. Deluxe Edition. Walnut, CA: Amtrade Products
Inc. US $99 (Basic US $25). http://www.amtrade.com/abc.html.
ABC Interactive Chinese is a self-study course intended for use by children
of overseas Chinese. Lessons are based on Huayu Keben published by the
Overseas Education Bureau of Taiwan (book 1 through book 9), but with
Pinyin and simplified characters added. Features include games, karaoke
read along, and animated display of speech production and character demonstration, recording, and printing and English-Chinese dictionary. Voice-over
explanations, pronunciation and dictation exercises, along with student performance monitoring.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
27
Chinese (Mandarin) Level 1. Vers. Personal Edition. Harrisonburg, VA: Fairfield
Language Technologies. US $195. http://www.rosettastone.com/home.
Chinese Level I, Personal Edition provides up to 250 hours of instruction in
listening comprehension, reading, Pinyin romanization, and speaking. Previews, exercises and tests accompany every lesson with automated tutorials
throughout the program. Level I, Personal Edition provides instruction in
such categories as: professions, family relationships, people, and directions.
Chinese Express. Volume 1. San Fe Springs, CA: Perfect Media Inc. US $24.95.
http://www.perfectmedia.com/.
Components of this program include bilingual, cultural, and business information about China, a list of words and phrases, dialogs on travel-related
topics, and a mini English-Chinese Talking Dictionary. Chinese Express also
provides a recording option, digitized images, and QuickTime movie clips.
Chinese LearnWare. Philadelphia: Learnware Inc. US $79.95. http://www.china–
guide.com.
Chinese LearnWare includes a 1000 character database and lessons intended
as the equivalent of a year of college-level instruction. The program displays
waveforms and animations of the mouth to aid pronunciation as well as animations for character writing. Other features include: exercises, games,
grammar notes, flash cards, vocabulary builder, and an electronic English to
Chinese dictionary.
Chinese Now! 2002. Vers. V9 Deluxe. Merrimack: Transparent Language. US
$39.95. http://www.transparent.com/.
Chinese Now! is aimed at non-native business professionals and individuals
wanting to learn to speak practical, conversational Mandarin (Putonghua).
This interactive program includes basic, intermediate, and native-level learning. It contains four large learning sections covering a range of practical topics, with over 7,500 words (e.g., “The Most Common Words in Chinese”),
and hundreds of everyday phrases and sentences.
CyberChinese. La Palma, CA: Liwin Inc. US $149.00. http://liwin.com/
cyberchinese/.
CyberChinese includes 12 lessons that teach tones, sounds, Chinese characters, and grammatical structures, and idioms. Each lesson has five tutorials
Dana Scott Bourgerie
28
and exercise drills. At the end of each lesson, the learner receives a grade,
based on responses to drills.
Dr Do Chinese Multimedia Language Trainer. Vers. 3.03. Greensburg PA:
Think Red. US $39.95. http://www.thinkred.com/register.htm.
DrDo features built-in display of more than 7000 Chinese characters and
supports for UNICODE and Microsoft’s Global Input Method Editor IME.
This software assists with the fours skills of speaking, listening, reading, and
writing for Chinese. The program allows users to define their own vocabulary lists, along with included pre-defined lists. The program includes elements of traditional language instruction (drill, flash cards, and listening
comprehension) with multimedia activities (games). DrDo keeps track of the
learners’ performance to restrict their exercises to words that need further
training.
EZ Language Vocabulary/Pronunciation Tutor. Vers. 17—language edition. International Microcomputer Software, Inc. http://www.imsisoft.com/.
EZ Language Vocabulary/Pronunciation Tutor includes 25,000 Words &
2,250 phrases. EZ has a record/playback/compare along with on-line multimedia dictionary.
Follow Me Chinese. El Sobrante, CA: Laser Publishing Group. US $38.00.
http://lp-group.com/store/fmc-main.html.
The publishers claim Follow Me Chinese can be used for children, adults,
students, native speakers and non-native speakers. The program is a tri- language, multidirectional, interactive, learning software that teaches Chinese,
English and Spanish. The program contains 500 basic characters and 1,200
phrases. It has activities for teaching how to count strokes in Chinese characters and how to use Chinese radicals and stroke orders. In addition, the
program has a search function that allows the user to input English, Spanish,
or Chinese (Pinyin or Unicode) for translation purposes.
Hanzi Conversational. US $110.00.
Hanzi Conversational includes 2,500 Chinese characters, both traditional and
simplified characters. The program displays the stroke order and English
translation of each character, but without compounds. Hanzi also allows
learners to hear the pronunciation of each character recorded a male and a
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
29
female native speaker. Other features include character search and on-line
help functions. Students can use this program as “electronic flash cards” by
hiding the English equivalent(s).
Instant Immersion Mandarin Chinese. 2001. Renton: Topics Entertainment. US
$9.99. http://www.topics-ent.com/.
Instant Immersion Mandarin Chinese allows users to hear and practice everyday speech through a recording feature that allows users to compare their
pronunciation with that of a native speaker. The program also features quizzes, games, and stories.
Language Learning Beginner and Everyday Series: Chinese. El Sobrante, CA:
Laser Publishing Group. US $24.99. http://lp-group.com/store/chinese.html.
Beginner and Everyday Chinese consists of two programs beginning from
basic and including everyday conversations in Mandarin. The beginner program is designed to cover the fundamentals, including sounds and tones,
phonics, and basic vocabularies used in basic conversations. The Everyday
CD-ROM program is designed to mimic a naturalistic, immersion type approach, while exposing to everyday vocabularies reflecting a variety of different situations. These programs are equipped with a record/playback technology.
Learn Mandarin Chinese. Herefordshire: Jade Multimedia Ltd. US $47.60.
http://www.jademultimedia.co.uk/learn-mandarin/INDEX.HTM.
Mandarin Chinese CD-ROMs for parents and children.
Learn Mandarin Chinese, Talk Now! London: EuroTalk Interactive. ~US $19.99.
http://www.eurotalk.co.uk/.
Talk Now! is intended for beginners and covers such topics as phrases, first
words, food, shopping, countries, colors, telling time, numbers, and body
parts. The program also allows users to compare their pronunciation with
that of a native speaker using the record function. It provides quizzes with
varying levels of difficulty and also allows users to monitor their progress by
keeping track of your total score. An on-line help feature is provided in over
75 different languages. Talk Now! includes a printable picture dictionary
along with printable award for high quiz scores.
30
Dana Scott Bourgerie
Ni Hao 1 A supplement to the CD-ROM supplement. US $195.00 (2 sets).
http://www.chinasoft.com.au/.
Software to teach stroke order to supplement Ni Hao series.
Standard Chinese Course. Ningxia: Ningxia CDT Auto-control Technology Ltd.
$398.00 Chinese dollar (~US $50.00). http://www.cdt.com.cn/scc.htm.
Standard Chinese Course consists of a Level 1 and Level 2. Volume includes a Chinese phonetics system (all initials, finals, more than 300 common syllables) and 130 important grammatical items about 700 commonly
used Chinese characters. Volume 2 features 100 grammatical items and 2000
word vocabulary. In addition to language, Standard Chinese Course teaches
about current Chinese society (including family, marriage, population, health,
geography, history, culture, science and technology). Main features of the
program include: Multilanguage support, media integration, HSK sample
tests, a large number of supplementary exercises, a quick check glossary, a
phonetic and Romanized teaching component, animated stroke order for
characters, and traditional Chinese characters attached to vocabulary lists.
Users can also record and compare their voices with a native voice on the
computer.
Step into China. Vers. Dialog 2.4. Milpitas, CA: Resources United International
Company. US $34.95. http://www.ruicus.com/step/d2_4.htm.
Step into China is a self-study course targeting those planning to travel to
China. The course includes simulated conversations on travel-related topics,
as well as guides to pronunciation and character writing. Features of the program include matching games, tests, voice recording, animated character
writing, an on-line dictionary, printing, audio/video effects and a choice between simplified and original characters.
Sungate Chinese Level 1 & 2. Queensland: Sungate Technology Pty. Ltd.
On-line US $19.95. http://www.sungatetechnology.com.au/product.php.
This program uses games to help English speaking children learn Mandarin
and Cantonese. Features include character recognition, simple listening and
reading skills, Pinyin, and sentence patterns and structures.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
31
Tell Me More. Vers. 4.0. Tempe, AZ: Auralog. US $149.95. http://www. auraloginc.com/us/tellmemore_chinese.html.
Tell Me More is designed to help learners with character recognition, simple
listening and reading skills, Pinyin, and sentence patterns and structures. Includes interactive dialogues, 3,000 word glossary, over 1,000 exercises, lesson reports, advanced speech recognition, and spoken error tracking.
Type & Learn Chinese. El Sobrante, CA: Laser Publishing Group. US $23.88.
http://lp-group.com/store/tl_chinese.html.
Type & Learn Chinese is a step-by-step, self-paced training course. Users
can choose either the simplified or traditional characters, while the
“Text-to-Talk” technology allows the users to learn to speak while typing.
The program has two modes. In “Learning Mode,” the user learns Chinese
by listening to the pronunciation of words and syllables while typing. In
“Typing Mode,” the program serves as a Unicode text editor and basic word
processor that allows users to copy and paste Chinese text into MS Office
2000 and Office 97 applications.
Bourgerie, Dana and Ronald R. Robel. 2000. Critical Languages Series—
Beginning Chinese. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Individual copy: US
$69.95. http://clp.arizona.edu/cls/chn/.
This course includes 20 lessons with text, videos, audio hyperlinks extensive
footnotes, and exercises. Activities such as fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice
and flashcards are featured in this program. Each lesson also includes grammar rules, culture notes, and self-checks.
Chang, Edward C. 2001. Easy Chinese Tutor (Mandarin) Level 1. Fort Worth:
Emnes Systems. US $34.95. http://www.emnes.com/EZtutor.htm.
Easy Chinese Tutor is designed to help the user learn the basics of Mandarin
and then build upon them. The course offers 10 lessons plus a course
dictionary, listening exercises, and more. Easy Chinese Tutor allows you to
learn both Pinyin and Zhuyin Fuhao for each character learn how to read and
write both simplified and traditional characters as well as view the correct
way to write Chinese characters with animated brush strokes.
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Dana Scott Bourgerie
Fleming, Stephen , David Hiple, and Cyndy Ning. 1999. Chinese Language
Video Clips. Manoa: University of Hawaii Press. US $50.00. http://nflrc.hawaii.
edu/publication_home.cfm.
This CD-ROM includes fifty video segments from footage shot on location
in and around Beijing, including an interview with a girl about her favorite
toys self-introductions by college students and off-the-cuff introduction to
taxis and buses. Filmed on location in Beijing, mostly at Beijing University,
these naturalistic video clips, ranging from less than one minute to eight
minutes in length and consisting chiefly of unrehearsed interviews of ordinary folk, offer valuable source material for Chinese language teachers at all
levels. Six topic areas are represented: personal information, commercial
transactions, travel and leisure, health and sports, food, and school.
Humanities Technology and Research Support Center (Humanities Technology
and Computer. 1993. Zao Chun Erye [Early Spring] Tutorial (Courseware).
Provo: Brigham Young University. http://www.byu.edu.
Kan, Qian. 1998. Colloquial Chinese. New York: Routledge. US $80.00.
http://www.colloquials.routledge.com/colloquials/cdrom.html.
This CD-ROM expands on material from the “Colloquial Series,” incorporating multimedia learning. Colloquial Chinese is intended for beginners, but
can also be used as a refresher course for those with a basic knowledge of the
language. Topics such as travel, business and leisure are covered in 14 lessons. Each lesson includes dialogues from native speakers, interactive exercises, reference material on grammar and pronunciation, transcripts of new
words and dialogues, vocabulary lists in both Pinyin and characters, and a
recording feature to test pronunciation.
Li, Hua-yuan Mowry. 1991. Hanzi Assistant. Hanover: Panda Software (Distributor). US $100 (individual), US $300 (institutional). http://schiller.dartmouth.edu/
~panda/hanzi/.
Hanzi Assistant (HA) on CD ROM, a tool for learning Chinese, is a database
of the 2500 Chinese characters, which make up the Chinese basic literacy set
and which constitute the focus of the first two years of instruction in the
Chinese language. Features include character animation, sound links with
Pinyin, and the ability to write on screen with an animated brush or pencil.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
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HA is an product of Dartmouth faculty and staff, with funding from the
Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning.
Mowry, Hua-yuan Li. 1992. Authentic Reading Materials for Advanced Students
of Chinese. Hanover: Panda Software (Distributor). US $45 (individual), US
$180 (site license). http://schiller.dartmouth.edu/~panda/mmcr/.
A Multimedia Chinese Reader For Advanced Students, Part One is an integrated set of HyperCard stacks designed as a self-study, multimedia text for
use on a Macintosh computer by advanced students learning Chinese. Using
both traditional, non-simplified characters and simplified characters, the
reader provides facsimile, authentic, everyday Chinese reading materials of
the kinds that literate Chinese in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Chinese
communities in the USA might see daily.
Li, San-pao and Jeff Winters. Pinyin Master. Vers. 2.0. La Palma: Liwin Ltd. US
$89.00. http://liwin.com/Pinyinmaster/.
A Pinyin and pronunciation tutor with recording, testing, score-keeping and
error-logging functions. The program is intended for beginners as well as
dialectal speakers. Features include a complete syllable chart, movie clips of
lip movements, on-line audio/visual help, inclusion of characters and userselection of sounds for practice.
Ma, Jingheng and Robert Smitheram. 1993. HyperChinese. Vers. 1.1. Boston:
Cheng and Tsui Company. US $49.95. http://www.cheng-tsui.com.
HyperChinese is a multi-media language learning tool, which utilizes graphics, animation, guided interaction and digitized audio to teach and practice
basic Chinese grammar covered in a first-year, university level course. Each
of its 14 modules represents a different topic. The program is not designed to
be an exhaustive account of Chinese grammar, but rather to emphasize fundamental concepts and patters in order to improve basic skills. Each module
is prefaced by an introductory unit and is followed by additional sections,
each dealing with a specific aspect of the main topic; there are 96 units in total. The material is intended for any student of basic Chinese, including the
intermediate learner who would like a review. The CD permits the students
to work at their own pace, select specific sections to review, and record and
compare voice patterns.
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Dana Scott Bourgerie
McEvilly, Carlos. 1993. Bamboo Helper. Shareware program. http://www.lingualearn.
co.uk/cmaterials.htm.
Bamboo Helper is a shareware program that helps make the Chinese language more accessible to students and others. It helps students read Chinese
text files on their PC-compatible computers by showing the correct pronunciation, the location of word breaks, and other useful information. The program can remember a student’s reading level and uses this knowledge to
generate helpful output files, including vocabulary lists and flash cards that
can be printed out for later use.
Qi, Betsy Peixian, and Gary Smith. 1993. Chinese Newspaper Reading. Provo,
UT: Language Software Consultants. http://www.byu.edu.
Sciban, Chu-ning and X. Jie Yang. 2002. Mandarin Pronunciation-Fayin. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press. US $39.95. http://www.uofcpress.com/
1-55238/1-55238-057-2.html.
Fayin: Mandarin Pronunciation is the first of a three-part Chinese multimedia language resource series on CD-ROM. The series is intended to enhance
the teaching and learning of modern Chinese standard language (Putonghua)
at beginning and intermediate levels. The program includes an introduction
to Mandarin Chinese and lessons in aspects of Mandarin phonetics. Drills
reinforce knowledge of Mandarin phonetics, while tests give learners the
opportunity to evaluate their understanding of Mandarin pronunciation. Users of this CD-ROM can explore various aspects of the language with the
audio dictionary of Mandarin pronunciation, spelling and pronunciation techniques, and tongue twisters. Drills and self-tests are also included.
Tzeng, Chin-Hung. 1992. Chinese Radical. Shorewood, WI: Lighthouse Computer Consultants. US $29. http://www.lightcc.com/ChinRad.html.
Chinese Radical automatic slide shows give users exposure to characters and
their pronunciation before working with included flash cards. The program
teaches and tests using either simplified or traditional characters. Users can
select either Pinyin or Practical Tone Spelling input methods. Tests cover
meanings only or meanings and pronunciation, at the user’s choice. The program also includes pop quizzes, drag and drop games, mini-tests, etc.
Xu, De-bao and Hong Gang Jin. Chinese Primer CD-ROMs. Clinton, NY: Hamilton College. http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/eal/Software.html#CP.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
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Chinese Primer CD-ROMs is an interactive, multimedia package of texts,
video, audio, along with graphics and animations. Package includes vocabulary and grammar treatments, paced-reading (entire text, individual sentence),
various video presentations, cultural notes, and exercises. The package also
includes dictations, listening comprehension, character writing exercises,
on-line instructions, as well as traditional character and Pinyin texts.
Stand-alone with two CD-ROMs (Forthcoming), Princeton University Press.
The software is designed to work with Chinese Primer written by Da-Duan
Chen et al, Princeton University Press or as a stand-alone. Demo available at
web site.
Yao, Dajuin and Jerlian Tsao. 1995. HyperChina. Vers. 1.0.3. Berkeley: SinoLogic Software. US $150.00. http://www.sinologic.com/hyperchina/.
HyperChina covers standard Mandarin pronunciation, grammar, and the
reading and writing of 1,000 Chinese characters. Users can hear the recordings of native speaker voices (male and female) and can record their
own voices for comparison with the teacher’s. The program also includes
culture lessons on topics such as Chinese etiquette, restaurant menus, geography, currencies, and the Chinese opera. There is on on-line help, dictionary, and user manual. Designed as an equivalent to one year of college-level
Chinese.
Yeh, Teh-ming. Chinese Pronunciation. Taipei: The Far East Book. Co. Ltd.
~US $ 48.00. http://www.fareast.com.tw/eng/vp4.php?sn=42.
Chinese Pronunciation is intended to help learn the basics of Mandarin
pronunciation. It teaches both Hanyu Pinyin and Mandarin Phonetic Symbols
(Zhuyin Fuhao). It also includes drills from the basic to advanced level. The
record and playback function helps reinforce standard pronunciation.
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Dana Scott Bourgerie
Yeh, Teh-ming. Practical Everyday Chinese. Taipei: The Far East Book Co., Ltd.
~US $38.00. http://www.fareast.com.tw/eng/vp4.php?sn=68.
Practical Everyday Chinese contains over 200 conversation dialogues to help
learners with basic Chinese. The program features modules for Mandarin
pronunciation, English, Pinyin, as well as traditional Chinese and simplified
Chinese characters. The program also includes a Grammar Analysis with
dialogues broken down to reveal sentence structure. There are 28 dialogues
with topics that include telephone conversations, ordering food, renting an
apartment, etc. Conversations are accompanied by live video.
Yu, Clara. 1990. Chinese Survival Manual. Knoxville: HyperGlot Software
Company.
Chinese Survival Manual is a basic pronunciation review with lessons on
“survival” topics such as requesting information, food and drink, travel,
greetings and introductions. The program allows users to record their own
voice with the MacRecorder and compare it with a digitally-recorded native
speaker.
Yu, Clara. 1991. Chinese Writing Tutor. Knoxville: HyperGlot Software Company. US $59.95.
Chinese Writing Tutor is a tutorial with lessons on “Character Basics,” fifty
Radicals,” and forty “Common Signs” photographed in China and Taiwan.
Uses Pinyin for pronunciation lessons.
Yu, Catherine Jie Mei and X. Jie Yang. 2002. Tingli—Chinese Listening
Comprehension. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press. US $49.95 CA 2
CD-ROMS. http://www.uofcpress.com/1-55238/1-55238-059-9.html.
Tingli, a series of multimedia CD-ROMs, helps students develop and practice listening comprehension in a simulated immersion environment. This series guides students in recognizing and practicing speech patterns that are
frequently used in China. Chinese idioms, proverbs, songs, poems, geographical terms, and other cross-cultural content are included in fifty lessons,
which teach about Chinese culture. Grammatical explanations and examples
are provided to help students understand grammar patterns before they start
doing the listening drills.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
37
Zhang, Ming and Xiaoping Li. Chinese Character Tutor. Vers. 6.0. US $59.00
(Add-on packages US $19.00 each). http://www.bridgetochina.com/process.
asp?sroom=3.
Chinese Character Tutor allows users to organize groups of words in meaningful ways. The program allows the users to drag-drop words into user defined folders. It has a comprehensive testing facility available with 19 different testing methods. Users can extend the testing routine to include their
own vocabulary and their own dictionaries with lessons. Users can add, copy,
move or edit any word in any dictionary. Includes Audio Pack, Sentences
Pack, HSK Proficiency Test, and Vocabulary Pack.
Zhang, Zhengsheng. Chinese Word and Character Tutor.
Chinese Word and Character Tutor features animated writing displays for
writing characters. The program allows the testing of sounds, meaning,
stroke number and stroke orders of characters and words. It also includes
extensive links between related entries and it is an open-ended template that
allows easy addition of entries by teachers.
2. Tools for Chinese Learning
Active Chinese. Winvue Software. US $19.95. http://winvue.com/.
Active Chinese covers 4,000 Chinese traditional and simplified characters.
The user can enter the Pinyin and get the pronunciation of the characters
shown in the display area along with English translation as well.
Chinese Character Flashcards. http://www.mandarintools.com/flashcards.html.
Bishop, Tom. 2003. Wenlin. Vers. 3.1. Mountain View: Wenlin Institute, Inc.
Single User $199 US (educational price). http://www.wenlin.com.
An all-format (GB, Big5, Unicode, HZ, ASCII) text reader/editor linked to a
large database of words and characters, with information on their collocation,
composition, related items, frequency of occurrence and etymology. It has an
instant bi-directional lookup along with details word and character information. Multimedia features include digitized audio, pictures of oracle bone and
bronze inscription style characters, animated demonstration of character writing, character-recognition for input and testing. Other features include ability
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Dana Scott Bourgerie
to add entries, user-assembled flashcards with testing facility, local and
global file searching, inclusion of advanced level texts (Essays and stories of
Lu Xun, Hua Xia Wen Zhai downloaded from the Internet).
Cheng, Jianming and David Porter. 2002. Clavis Sinica. Vers. 3.1. Chapel Hill.
US $55.00. http://www.clavisinica.com/index.html.
Clavis Sinica combines a Chinese text reader with a comprehensive and
cross-referenced Chinese dictionary. Clavis Sinica is designed to help users
make their way through any digitized Chinese document, without the need
for a dictionary. The software allows uses to click on an unknown character
to view its English definition, Pinyin pronunciation, and the meaning of the
compound in which it is used. One can also access information about the
word’s underlying structure and its relationship to other words.
KEY 2003. Ottawa: Asia Communication Québec Inc. http://www.cjkware.com/
prod_desc.htm. $195-$395.
KEY software is a suite of Chinese tools with versions for all Mac and Windows operating systems. KEY Pro version functions as a Chinese word
processor (with Japanese and Korean) and also an aid to reading and pronouncing any text, including on-line texts. Pointing the mouse at Chinese
words makes provides the Pinyin with tones along with the English gloss and
standard Mandarin publication.
As a word processor, KEY works in stand-alone mode, or in conjunction
with other Windows applications (WORD 97/2000, Corel WP 8/9, Outlook
Express, Access 2000, PowerPoint 2000, etc.).
Li, Y.C. and Shang-hsien Ho. 1991. ChiNews. Honolulu: University of Hawaii.
http://chinews.hawaii.edu/.
This is a self-study and self-evaluation program to assist students in their
development of intermediate and advanced Chinese language listening and
reading comprehension skills. The program is based on audio and video
segments of actual Chinese language news broadcasts. The course was originally written for use on SUN workstations; it has since been rewritten into
JAVA for use on the Web.
Peterson, Erik E. 1996. On-line Chinese Tools. http://www.mandarintools.com.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
39
Chinese-English Dictionary. http://www.chinaw.com/chinese/c-edict.htm.
This on-line dictionary allows the user to search in all directions Pinyin/
characters (simplified or full)/English. The dictionary allows searching at the
beginning, end, or anywhere in the dictionary field.
CquickTrans. US $25 (shareware). http://coolest.com/cquicktrans/.
This program provides an interface to a dictionary, study list builder, flashcards, translation aid, advanced character lookup and radical breakdowns.
English-Chinese Dictionary On-line. ok88 company. http://www.ok88.com/go/
svc/ecdict.html.
Warmington, Richard. Chinese-English Lookup (CEL). Vers. 2.0. http://home.
iprimus.com.au/richwarm/cel/cel.htm.
Chinese-English Lookup (CEL) is a Chinese-English dictionary search utility
that is designed to help Chinese language learners to read Chinese electronic
texts in other applications such as Web browsers and word processors. CEL
allows the user to select dictionary entries and save them to a file for later
study or reference and displays in Pinyin or Gwoyeu Romatzyh.
3. On-Line Texts
Archive of Chinese Teaching Materials. http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~clp/China/
teach1.htm.
Archive of Chinese Teaching Materials contains drama, essays, novels, and
prose. This project is partially sponsored by the Consortium for Language
Teaching and Learning and by The Chinese Language Department of East
Asian Languages and Civilization.
Black Dragon Curls Around China’s Heart. Wake Forest University. http://www.
wfu.edu/~moran/Black_Dragon_TOC.html.
A serial novel for beginning readers of Chinese. The web site gives you a
definition when you click on a specific character.
Dana Scott Bourgerie
40
Chinese history. http://sokamon-line.com/indexPage/index.cfm.
This web site covers events in Chinese history such as the different dynasties,
the Chinese and Japanese War, and the Nanjing Massacre. It also features
Chinese literature, classic poems, and classic novels.
Chinese Reading World. http://faculty.virgsinia.edu/cll/chinese_reading/.
Contains beginning and intermediate level readings, along with accompanying audio.
Guoxue. http://www.guoxue.com.
Provides articles on Chinese National Classics.
New Taiwan Weekly Magazine. http://www.newtaiwan.com.tw/.
Provides articles on Chinese National Classics.
On-line Reading (Mypcera). http://www.mypcera.com.
Magazine-style format, including topics of current interest, such as literature,
political, history, technology, etc.
On-line Reading (Quxiang). http://www.guxiang.com.
Magazine-style format, including topics of current interest, such as literature,
people, history, arts, etc.
On-line Readings—literature. http://wenxue.lycos.com.cn/.
Contains articles on Modern Literature, Foreign Literature, Classic Literature,
and more. It also contains news on finance, technology, health, etc.
Onling Reading (Zuopai). http://www.zuopai.com/.
Contains articles and journals on politics, economics, history, and other current China issues.
Yi Fan Public Library. http://www.shuku.net:8080/novels/cnovel.html.
This site contains electronic books in categories such as of Literature, Computer Technology, Social Science, etc.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
41
Bishop, Tom. 2003. Wenlin. Vers. 3.1. Mountain View: Wenlin Institute, Inc.
Single User US $199 (educational price). http://www.wenlin.com.
An all-format (GB, Big5, Unicode, HZ, ASCII) text reader/editor linked to a
large database of words and characters, with information on their collocation,
composition, related items, frequency of occurrence and etymology. It has an
instant bi-directional lookup along with details word and character information. Multimedia features include digitized audio, pictures of oracle bone and
bronze inscription style characters, animated demonstration of character
writing, character-recognition for input and testing. Other features include
ability to add entries, user-assembled flashcards with testing facility, local
and global file searching, inclusion of advanced level texts (Essays and stories of Lu Xun, Hua Xia Wen Zhai downloaded from the Internet).
Hsu, Kylie. Chinese Love Poetry and Folklore. California State University, Los
Angeles. http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/khsu2/poetrygallery.html.
This is a site for Chinese poetry and folklore related to love. It contains two
Chinese love poems with English translations, along with information about
the poets. Also featured is a folktale about Chinese Valentine’s Day. The
Chinese text is in traditional characters. An audio player such as Windows
Media Player is needed to listen to the music and poem recitation in Chinese
and English. The site also contains various other Chinese readings such as
novels, classics, poems, and etc.
4. On-Line Newspapers, Magazines, and Other News Media
BBC News (Chinese version). http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/chinese/news/
default1.stm.
CCTV.com--On-line News. http://www.cctv.com/.
China Beijing Daily Newspaper. http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/.
China Guangdong Guangzhou weekly newspaper. http://www.dayoo.com/.
China Jiangsu Nanjing Daily Newspaper. http://www.yangtse.com/gb/node/
2003-04/22/default.htm.
Dana Scott Bourgerie
42
China News. http://www.chinanews.com.cn,.
China News Digest Web site. http://www.cnd.org.
It contains Chinese readings such as novels, classics, poems, and others.
China Shandong JiNan daily newspaper. http://www.jinantimes.com.cn/main/.
China Shandong Qingdao daily newspaper. http://www.qingdaonews.com/.
China Times News web site. http://news.chinatimes.com/.
This web site contains news on political, finance, stock market, society, international, Mainland China technology, living, sport, travel, etc.
Cson-line.com.cn—On-line News. http://www.cson-line.com.cn/gb/node/ 2003-04/17/.
Daynews.com.cn—On-line News. http://www.sxrb.com/mag6/index.htm.
Deutsche Welle News Web site. http://www.dw-world.de/chinese.
Enorth.com.cn—On-line News. http://www.enorth.com.cn.
Huash.com—On-line News. http://www.huash.com.
A list of Chinese magazines (Cathay.net). http://www.cathay.net/chn-mag.shtml.
A list of Chinese magazines (Creader.net). http://www.creaders.net/navigator/
magazine.html.
A list of Chinese magazines.
A list of Chinese News and Media. http://www.creaders.net/navigator/newspaper.html.
It contains Chinese News and Media Web sites.
A list of Newspapers and Magazines (Xys.com). http://www.xys.org/links/
newspapers.html.
The site contains Chinese News and Media Web sites.
Lycos (Chinese version). http://www.lycos.com.cn.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
43
Mail-list News. http://www.maillist.com.tw/maillist/home.htm.
This list is comprised of different sites in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Beijing, and
Shanghai. It contains news on the categories of Art Culture, Computer Internet, News Medias, Knowledge Science, Social Organization, and etc.
Net Ease. http://163.com/.
Links Chinese news sites
On-line Chinese News. http://www.mlcool.com.
Provides national and international current news.
Qianlong.com—On-line News. http://www.qianlong.com.
Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library at UCLA—Chinese Studies Internet Resources. http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/eastasian/china.htm#COM.
Chinese Studies Internet Resources contains Business, Economy, Electronic
Journals, History, Medicine, News and others web sites.
Shou—One News. http://www.sohu.com.
Tom.com—On-line News. http://tom.com/.
United News. http://udn.com/NEWS/mainpage.shtml.
The “latest news” tab in the “United News” site contains latest news on local,
Taiwan and Mainland, Finance, Stock Market, Information Technology, and
etc. Other news is stored in their categories respectively.
The Voice of America News Web site. http://www.voanews.com/chinese/.
Daily Categorized news stories in Chinese.
Xinhuanet.com—On-line News. http://www.xinhuanet.com.
Li, Y.C. and Shang-hsien Ho. 1991. ChiNews. Honolulu: University of Hawaii.
http://chinews.hawaii.edu/.
This is a self-study and self-evaluation program to assist students in their
development of intermediate and advanced Chinese language listening and
44
Dana Scott Bourgerie
reading comprehension skills. The program is based on audio and video segments of actual Chinese language news broadcasts. The course was originally written for use on SUN workstations; it has since been rewritten into
JAVA for use on the Web.
5. Links for Teaching and Learning Chinese
Chinese Language Resources at USC. University of Southern California.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/ealc/chinese/newweb/recourse_page.htm.
This site includes various resources and links for Chinese pronunciation, calligraphy sheets, online tools, idioms, humor stories, myths, progressive readings, and more.
The e-Government Entry Point of Taiwan. http://www.gov.tw.
It contains news on Political, Society, International, Culture, Stock Market,
Sports, Mainland, etc. in the category of Immediate News. Links for other
categories are located in “site index.”
Multimedia Chinese Courses at Rutgers University. Rutgers University. http://chinese.
rutgers.edu/content_c.htm.
Features three levels of Chinese courses. Learners can hear the dialogue
when clicking on the dialogue button. Vocabulary, grammar notes, and
speech patterns are also provided.
Practical Chinese Reader: Learning Aids Online. http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/pcr.htm.
Video clips of survival Chinese. http://www2.keyon.edu/people/bai/vcsc.htm.
These clips are intended for students of low intermediate level who want to
improve their listening skills and to learn to function in various real-life situations in China. The materials make use of video clips, Chinese texts with
pop up annotations, various types of listening comprehension exercises and
suggestions for how the video clips be integrated with the training of other
skills such as speaking and writing.
Bai, Jianhua. Teaching and Learning Chinese. Kenyon College. http://www2.kenyon.edu/
depts/mll/chinese/.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
45
This site, the Chinese Language Program at Kenyon College in Gambier,
Ohio, includes resources for on-line characters learning, materials for beginners, intermediate, and advanced Chinese. There is also a “Teachers Corner”
and an “Other Chinese Resource” section. The exercises show strokes,
pronunciations, and definitions.
Chinese Language Resources at USC. University of Southern California.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/ealc/chinese/newweb/recourse_page.htm.
This site includes various resources and links for Chinese pronunciation, calligraphy sheets, on-line tools, and more.
Practical Chinese Reader: Learning Aids On-line. http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/
pcr.htm.
This web site contains other links that have Chinese audio and video, vocabulary, characters, grammar and reading, study guides, exercises and
homework for student to practice.
Xie, Tianwei. Learning Chinese On-line. The California State University, Long
Beach, 1997. http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/on-line.htm.
A Chinese instruction web site that contains an extensive list of links related to
Chinese pronunciation, conversation, characters, grammar, reading, listening,
dictionaries, translation, testing, learning material, programs, search database,
bookstores, learners’ experiences, CD title review, study abroad, and other resources.
Chan, Marjorie. Chinese Language and Linguistics (ChinaLinks). http://deall.
ohio-state. edu/chan.9/c-links3.htm#lang.
This is a sub-section of Marjorie Chan’s ChinaLinks, a web site created in
spring 1996 that remains one of most extensive links for Chinese available
on-line.
Zhang, Zhengsheng. Chinese Word and Character Tutor.
Chinese Word and Character Tutor features animated writing displays for
writing characters. The program allows the testing of sounds, meaning,
stroke number and stroke orders of characters and words. It also includes extensive links between related entries and it is an open-ended template that
allows easy addition of entries by teachers.
46
Dana Scott Bourgerie
ChinaSite.com. http://chinasite.com/.
The Complete Reference to China/Chinese-Related Web Sites.
Languages Online-Chinese. 1998. Easton, Eva L. http://eleaston.com/chinese.html.
This site is a collection of links to Chinese language and culture topics, including pronunciation, grammar, reading/writing, distance education, mail
lists, and more.
UCLA Language Teaching Materials Database. The Language Materials Project-UCLA. http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/.
This web site provides information about teaching materials for the less
commonly taught languages, institutions where instruction in these languages can be obtained, and profiles which provide socio-linguistic and geographical information
McEvilly, Carlos. Chinese Language Information Page. Carlos McEvilly.
http://www.webcom.com/~bamboo/chinese/chinese.html.
Chinese Language Information Page includes extensive links to news media
sources. The site is a part of a larger web site that links to other subjects of
interest to learners and teachers of Chinese.
This link will download an extensive, but un-annotated list of web sites for
teaching and learning Chinese. First created in 1997, it continues to be updated but some links are inactive. Contents include learning pronunciation,
discussion and chat, learning characters, learning grammar, listening, on-line
dictionaries, CD-ROM titles, and much more.
Yeung, Bick-har. 1996. East Asian Collection Chinese Studies WWW Virtual Library. Melbourne: The University of Melbourne. http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/
collections/asian/chihp.html.
The University of Melbourne’s East Asian Collection Virtual Chinese Library. The site has links to scores of resources on Chinese language and culture including geography, maps, history, language & linguistics, literature,
news/newspapers, etc.
Computer Assisted Language Learning for Chinese
47
6. Testing Software
Asay, Devin and Dana Scott Bourgerie. 1988. Chinese Pronunciation and Romanization Diagnostics. Vers. 1.0. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University
Center for Teaching Excellence.
Chinese Pronunciation and Romanization Diagnostics is a six-part diagnostic based on a paper and audiotape US Inter-agency Roundtable diagnostics
and accompanying tutorial. The diagnostics begin with tone perception and
progress to multi-syllabic words. Currently under revision to include cross
platforms (Mac/Windows/HTML) and tutorials.
Ke, Chuanren and Zizi Zhang. 2002. Chinese Computerized Adaptive Listening
Comprehension Test (CCALCT). Columbus, OH: National East Asian Language
Resource Center at the Ohio State University. http://flc.ohio-state.edu.
CCALCT is a standardized Chinese Listening Test based on ACTFL type
proficiency principles
Yao, Ted Tao-chung with Richard Chi and Cyndy Ning. 1993. A Computer-Adaptive Test for Reading Chinese (CATRC). Honolulu, HI. http://eastasia.
hawaii.edu/yao/catrc/default.htm.
CATRC is a proficiency exam for reading Chinese based on ACTFL principles.
New from
Columbia
A Primer for Advanced Beginners of Chinese
Duanduan Li, Irene Liu, Lening Liu, Hailong Wang,
Zhirong Wang, and Yanping Xie
This first-of-its-kind, two-volume primer meets the needs of the rapidly growing number of Chinese language students who were raised in the United States in Chinesespeaking homes and can speak the language but who cannot read or write it.
“In their attention to helping Chinese heritage students acquire strategies
for the development of reading and writing skills, as well as enabling them
to build on the significant oral-aural competencies that they bring to the
college classroom, the authors have created . . . a significant contribution
to the Chinese language teaching profession.” —Scott McGinnis, executive
director, National Council of Organizations of Less Commonly Taught Languages
208 pages • 2 volumes, $30.00 each in paper
Learn Chinese from Modern Writers
An Interactive Multimedia Language Program
Compiled by C.W. Shih
This cutting-edge interactive program teaches intermediate and advanced
Chinese language skills through exposure to Chinese literature and culture. The
CD introduces students to five leading modern Chinese writers—Ba Jin, Mao
Dun, Ding Ling, Cao Yu, and Ai Qing—through video interview footage. The
companion workbook, sold separately, is a guide to the CD that provides additional
writing practice for each activity, along with Chinese-Pinyin-English vocabulary lists
and glossary, and transcripts of CD text in both English and Chinese.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: PENTIUM-BASED PC OR COMPATIBLE; WINDOWS 95, 98, NT 4.0, 2000, OR XP; QUICK TIME 3.0
OR HIGHER; 32 MB RAM; 640 X 480 256 COLOR-DISPLAY; CD-ROM DRIVE; SOUND CARD AND SPEAKERS; MICROPHONE;
(NO NEED TO INSTALL A CHINESE LANGUAGE SYSTEM).
208 pages • $25.00 paper • CD-ROM $100.00
NEW FROM THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Chinese Language and Culture
An Intermediate Reader
Weijia Huang and Qun Ao
Written especially for learners of intermediate level Chinese and above, this reader contains forty articles on topics such as Chinese language, culture, history,
society, folklore, holidays, geography.
500 pages • $28.00 paper • 4-disc CD-ROM: $28.00 for individual ./ $150.00 for institution
Concise Chinese-English Dictionary
Revised with over 20,000 new entries/interpretations among the 4,500 single
characters and over 70,000 linguistic entries.
1200 pages • $39.00 paper
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
columbia.edu/cu/cup
800-944-8648