Applied Linguistics and Language Teacher Education by Nat Bartels

230 RAISING ORTHOGRAPHIC AWARENESSc. To correct this error, the teacher needs to work at the stroke level, compare the stroke order, and callstudents' attention to stroke differences.iii) Repeated writing 48 (22.64%)a. For graphemic errors, students have to repeat writing them. Practice makes perfect.b. Have the student write the character over and over again, maybe a few sentences with the right word.c. Just a matter of writing it correctly a bunch of times in order to fix it in mind.d. Repeat writing the character and have the hand know automatically how to write the character.e. To correct this error, have the student repeat writing for several times to reinforce memory. This is howChinese children learn characters.iv) Modeling 7 (3.30%)a. It is difficult for students to write characters with a large number of strokes, so we just write the correctcharacter on board, component by component, and have the students repeat writing.b. Write the correct character on board, analyze its structure, and explain the meaning of the radical.v) Putting target characters in context 46 (21.70%)a. Using the character in context is the key, because it makes connection between the graph and meaning.b. Characters are free elements, which must be assembled into words, so we need to put them in context.c. Have the student write the whole word or a few sentences over and over again so that he can see thevariation.vi) Reading aloud 1 (0.47%)a. When an error is caused by order switching, have students read the correct phrase aloud, or read aloud inorganized activity or sentences on the board.b. Have the students read aloud while repeat writing the characters to make the sound-graph-meaningconnections.vii) Peer evaluation 2 (0.95%)Have students read each other’s work, identify and analyze errors. This will help strengthen their memory.Total 212 (100%)Preventive Strategies Articulated in the Think-Aloud ProtocolsTo prevent errors in students’ future learning, the participants articulated a variety ofstrategies in the think-aloud protocols. These strategies include (i) raising learnerorthographic awareness (i.e., decomposing characters into radicals, phonetics, andanalyzable subcomponents), (ii) using explicit orthographic knowledge for explanation(i.e., explicitly teaching stroke rules, radical rules, phonetic rules, configuration rules,corrective/preventive strategies, etc.), (iii) providing new information with appropriatesequencing and visual aids or mnemonics, (iv) reinforcing information with review,practice, comparison, and contrast. (See Table 4.)Table 4. Participants’ qualitative comments on preventive strategies(i) Raising learners’ orthographic awareness 40 (37.74%)a. To prevent errors, we need to help students develop relevant orthographic knowledge and raise theirawareness as such.