How Chinese Character Recognition Taught Through Character Formation Theory in Preschool? A Systematic Review

Abstract

Since the revision of the curriculum in 2017, the social demand for Chinese Character Recognition (CCR) in preschool has continued to grow. However, the status quo of CCR in preschools has not changed. The introduction of the Character Formation Theory in Chinese teaching is in accordance with today’s needs and is also widely used in current CCR teaching. The paper aims to investigate the general situation of Character Formation Theory and teaching materials currently used by the education departments of various cities and to discuss the problems existing in Character Formation Theory in preschools. This review was predicated on the steps indicated in the PRISMA criteria and new research that combined different research designs. The publications for this study were identified using three renowned databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS). This review’s three major themes were derived from a thematic analysis, which includes (1) research area, (2) language, and (3) timeline. The teaching issues and challenges, type of teaching methods and configuration of each activity from the overall situation had been discussed. This paper expected the implementation of Character Formation Theory from the preschool context. This implementation is not reflected in preschools but teaching competence in Early reading areas as the topics of CCR pursued by the revised curriculum in 2017 had been discussed. Finally, this paper suggests: that we should call for the establishment of preschool CCR guidelines before teaching materials are developed.