| Abstract |
Learning Mandarin as a third language (MTL) is generally
accepted as tough, particularly for the beginners of non-
heritage MTL learners. Among many tasks contented in typical
MTL course syllabus, learning the Chinese characters is one
of the most challenging tasks. Learners are expected to be
able to recognize, comprehend, write, and pronounce the
Chinese characters. Typical teaching-learning strategies used
include the traditional writing and oral drills, and the mundane
rote learning of Chinese characters, which kill the interest of
learners. Hence, past researchers have stipulated the need to
incorporate group activities where learners are engaged in
communication using Mandarin, utilizing various teaching aids
as manipulatives to get the learners interested, engaged, and
thus learned. Nevertheless, there is a lack of such tools
designed mainly for the first level of MTL course offered by
UiTM (TMC401). Consequently, M-card is innovated to fill the
gap, principally to be used as a manipulative for the teaching
methodologies of language enrichment activities and games
as detailed in the syllabus. It is an educational game
comprises 60 Chinese character cards, innovated to aid the
teaching-learning process for the beginners of an MTL course.
It aims to enhance the learning experience of learners in
identifying the Chinese characters, practicing the Chinese
phonetic system (Hanyu-Pinyin), and comprehending the
Chinese characters by collocating them to form meaningful
words and phrases. A preliminary evaluation of the
effectiveness of M-Card is conducted through observations,
unstructured interviews, and a pre-post test. It is believed that
with this pack of M-card, educators, parents and fellow
learners of basic MTL are able to create a fun, playful, non-
threatening and yet meaningful way of learning. M-card is thus
highly recommended as a teaching-learning aid not only for
the reinforcement activities in the classroom but also for a |