Using Minority Script Materials to Improve Chinese Character Teaching
This article argues that materials from minority scripts—used both as comparative data in Chinese character research and as contrastive material in teaching Chinese characters to foreign learners—can significantly improve instruction. Drawing on teaching practice in a Yunnan University Sino-Thai program and a teaching internship at a Bangkok secondary school, the authors show that introducing minority writing systems, particularly Dongba pictographs, alongside oracle bone and bronze inscriptions, helps foreign students better grasp the origins, structure, and evolution of Chinese characters. Such vivid, image-based comparisons increase students' interest and learning efficiency while simultaneously showcasing China's cultural and ethnic diversity. The authors conclude that properly incorporating minority character materials into character teaching not only conveys knowledge of Chinese script but also serves as an effective vehicle for disseminating multicultural aspects of Chinese civilization, offering a promising, underutilized approach for advancing teaching Chinese characters as a foreign language.
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