Factors of forgetting hieroglyphs in teaching Chinese as a foreign language

The study focuses on the problem of forgetting Chinese hieroglyphs that arises in the process of learning the Chinese language. The problem is relevant with regard to the modern methods in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. The author sets the following tasks: 1) by the example of students specializing in linguistics at Perm State University, to analyze experimentally the process of forgetting the lexical minimum; 2) to study the cognitive characteristics and patterns of forgetting hieroglyphics. The experiment results were analyzed based on the reactions ‘Reading’ and ‘Translation’. It was found that for students it is easier to remember translation rather than reading of a hieroglyph: the coefficient of correct answers for the ‘Translation’ reaction is on average higher than that for the ‘Reading’ reaction. Comparative tables were compiled showing the average value of the forgetting coefficient among students learning vocabulary HSK 1 and HSK 2 at three control time points. The experiment showed that at all levels and for both reactions one tendency is observed: the degree of forgetting hieroglyphics increases by the beginning of the academic period following the previously completed period but decreases by the end of the educational period to the initial or lower level. There were identified factors that can increase recognition of hieroglyphs, for example, the presence of analogues in the Russian language (terms of kinship, numerals, pronouns). The process of forgetting was analyzed; analysis showed that hieroglyphs are forgotten only at the initial stage of training, with subsequent increase in the memorizing degree exceeding the initial indicators. The data obtained can serve as an important empirical basis in developing approaches to the methodology of teaching the Chinese language, and can also be useful for research concerning the problems of forgetting lexical units when studying foreign languages and, in particular, the memorization of hieroglyphs.