By Guo Yanqi in Beijing and Yang Cheng in Tianjin

A new study has confirmed that stroke order significantly enhances foreign learners’ ability to write, recognize and retain Chinese characters.

Published in the top-tier linguistics journals System and Computer Assisted Language Learning, the research proved the essence of structured handwriting instruction in Chinese language education.

The landmark study was a collaboration between researchers at Tianjin Normal University and the University at Albany, State University of New York.

The research revealed that immediate and delayed tests showed that participants who followed the correct stroke order performed significantly better in Chinese characters writing accuracy, speed, recognition, and long-term retention, according to Yu Miao, lead researcher of the research and a professor of the Department of Psychology at TNU.

The study also indicated that recognition accuracy increased by 20 percent, while writing accuracy improved by 30 percent. Participants using correct stroke order also recognized and wrote 15 percent faster and retained characters significantly longer compared to those with random or no stroke order.

“Stroke order is more than a writing convention—it helps to create cognitive scaffolding for the decomposition and reconstruction of Chinese characters,” explained Yu Miao, lead researcher of the research and a professor of the Department of Psychology at TNU.

The study provides strong empirical support for stroke order instruction and offers insights into the development of intelligent Chinese learning tools.

The research tracked 43 Chinese-as-a-second-language learners from 15 countries using a proprietary computer-assisted learning system.

Participants were divided into three conditions: one practicing correct stroke order, another following random stroke order, and a third receiving no stroke order.

The team’s dynamic stroke visualization system, which breaks down Chinese characters into animated stroke sequences, allows learners to visualize and replicate the correct writing process.

It also records behavioral data, tracking improved writing accuracy, speed, and memory retention.

The research highlights the challenges CSL learners face when writing Chinese characters, which are logographic and structurally complex.

Many students struggle with rote copying methods, which fail to provide meaningful learning connections.

“Rote copying leads to fragmented Chinese characters representations and weakens long-term retention,” explained co-author Sun Hui at TNU.

"By contrast, structured stroke practice builds durable mental schemata for Hanzi production and recognition,” Sun said.

Foreign students who participated in the study reported noticeable improvements after learning stroke order systematically.

“Before learning stroke order, my writing was inconsistent and difficult to remember,” said Otieno Innocent Omondi, a student from Kenya, a graduate from TNU.

“Stroke order makes my writing easier. It’s like a roadmap—it tells me where to start and how to complete each Hanzi properly,” Omondi said.

For Supakchanad Chookan, a Thai student at TNU, structured handwriting practice made a difference in learning attitude and strategies.

“Since practicing structured handwriting, I have made fewer mistakes in my homework and felt more confident in writing. It has become a habit that further supports my learning.”

Based on these findings, researchers advocate for integrating stroke order instruction into CSL curricula, incorporating dynamic learning tools with real-time feedback, and designing handwriting practices tailored to different proficiency levels.

“Many believe typing alone is sufficient for learning Chinese, but our research proves otherwise,” Yu said.

“Typing activates different cognitive processes than handwriting. Proper stroke order builds procedural memory, reinforcing long-term retention and comprehension.”

To further verify the findings, Yu and his team plan to use functional magnetic resonance imaging, a way to visualize brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow to explore how stroke order training activates language processing areas in the brain.

Moving forward, the research team aims to combine handwriting practices with digital learning science to optimize Chinese character learning.

They also plan to expand their study by conducting a longitudinal study involving more CSL learners in parallel groups to measure how structured writing practice influences long-term learning.

一项新研究证实，笔顺显著提高了外国学习者书写、识别和记忆汉字的能力。这项研究发表在国际顶尖语言学期刊《系统》和《计算机辅助语言学习》上，证明了结构化手写教学在汉语教育中的重要性。

这两项研究由天津师范大学和美国纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校的研究人员合作完成。该研究负责人，天津师范大学心理学部于秒教授表示，即时和延迟测试均表明，学习了正确笔顺后，参与者在汉字书写的准确性、速度、识别和长期记忆方面表现明显更好。

具体来说，与学习随机笔顺或无笔顺相比，参与者学习正确笔顺后，其识别准确率提高了20%，书写准确率提高了30%；识别和书写速度也提高了15%，并且记忆汉字的时间明显更长。

对于结果，于秒解释道：“笔顺不仅仅是一种书写规范，它也有助于为汉字的分解和重构创造认知框架。”这项研究为笔顺教学提供了强有力的实证支持，并为开发智能汉语学习工具提供了见解。

研究使用自主设计的计算机辅助笔顺学习系统，跟踪了来自15个国家的43名汉语作为第二语言的学习者。参与者被分为三种条件：一种练习正确的笔顺，另一种遵循随机笔顺，第三种不遵循笔顺。该团队的动态笔顺可视化系统将汉字分解为动画笔顺序列，使学习者能够可视化和复制正确的书写过程。

研究强调了外国学习者在书写汉字时面临的挑战。汉字作为表意文字，结构复杂，许多学生都在死记硬背的抄写方法中苦苦挣扎，这种方法无法提供有意义的学习联系。

两项研究的主要作者、天津师范大学博士生孙会解释说：“死记硬背的抄写会导致汉字的碎片化记忆，从而削弱长期记忆。相比之下，结构化的笔顺练习为汉字的产生和识别建立了持久的心理图式。”

参与研究的外国学生表示，在系统地学习笔顺后，他们的汉字书写有了明显的进步。天津师范大学毕业生，来自肯尼亚的Otieno Innocent Omondi说：“在学习笔顺之前，我的书写不一致且难以记住。笔顺使我的书写更容易。它就像一张路线图——告诉我从哪里开始以及如何正确地完成每个汉字。”

对于天津师范大学的泰国学生Supakchanad Chookan来说，结构化的手写练习改变了她的学习态度和策略。“练习笔顺后，我在作业中犯的错误更少，书写时也更有信心。这已经成为一种习惯，进一步支持了我的学习。”

基于这些发现，研究人员主张将笔顺教学纳入汉语课程，结合具有实时反馈的动态学习工具，并设计适合不同水平学习者的手写练习。

于秒表示：“许多人认为仅靠打字就足以学习汉语，但我们的研究证明并非如此。打字激活的认知过程与手写不同。正确的笔顺有助于建立程序性记忆，增强长期记忆和理解。”

为了进一步验证这些发现，于秒和他的团队计划使用功能性磁共振成像（一种通过检测血流变化来可视化大脑活动的方法）来探索笔顺训练如何激活大脑中的语言加工区域。

接下来，研究团队的目标是将手写练习与数字学习科学相结合，以优化汉字学习。他们还计划通过开展涉及更多外国学习者的纵向研究，以衡量结构化书写练习如何影响长期学习效果。

来源：2025年3月4日 CHINA DAILY 第7版

链接：http://epaper.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202503/04/WS67c6305fa310f4a5fb061ecb.html