CD-ROM in Chinese Character Education: Streamlining Material Complication with Multi-level Features

This study introduced the “Character Difficulty–Research on Multi-features (CD-ROM)”, a pioneering tool developed to streamline the compilation of materials for Chinese literacy enhancement. By leveraging a comprehensive database of multi-level features of characters and empirical data on learner performance, CD-ROM provided a significant leap forward in material preparation. Specifically, the “Instructional Content Suggestion” functionality was designed to exemplify technology-enhanced language education by offering customized instructional content across the “radical-character-word” continuum, tailored to the input text. Moreover, employing a mixed-methods research design, the capacities of CD-ROM was assessed through an evaluation involving 68 educational practitioners in Chinese pedagogy, evidencing its superiority over conventional material compilation methods within the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model. Results highlighted CD-ROM’s effective and efficient role in providing explicit instruction, enabling dynamic pedagogical customization, and facilitating the creation of test items in reading materials. The findings not only underscored the utility of CD-ROM in educational technology integration but also set the stage for future advancements in Chinese character education.