An Error Analysis of Chinese Characters of German Chinese Learners Who Underwent the Transition Period from Traditional Chinese Characters to Simplified Chinese Characters

The Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Gottingen in Germany stipulates that students learn traditional Chinese characters in their first year. In the spring semester of the second year, students may choose to continue writing traditional Chinese characters or convert traditional Chinese characters into simplified Chinese characters. Students who chose simplified characters have experienced the transition period from traditional Chinese characters to simplified Chinese characters, and also had unique errors of Chinese characters. For example, due to the influence of traditional Chinese characters, the "旅游" of simplified characters was written as "旅遊"; based on traditional Chinese characters that have been learned before students have created their own simplified Chinese characters, for example, "亲眼" was written as "亲见眼". We found that the errors of Chinese characters produced during this transition period are sort of different from the Chinese learners who haven’t been through this period, and that is also the research motivation. Therefore, this study mainly illustrates the errors of Chinese characters produced by German Chinese learners who converted traditional Chinese characters into simplified Chinese characters. Below are the research questions: in this transition period, what is the phenomenon of Chinese characters errors? What are the teaching suggestions for learners who first have learned traditional Chinese characters and then learn simplified Chinese characters? The data of this research are the students' compositions, a total of 42 articles. The research steps are to collect the articles written by the students who have undergone the transition period within one month, and then analyze the errors of the Chinese characters appearing in the article, and finally propose the teaching and learning suggestions. The research results show that the types of Chinese character errors include stroke errors, component errors, homonyms/sounds replacement, traditional characters replacement, multiple errors, and others. We hope through this research, the errors of Chinese characters in this transition period will be reduced. Key words : Chinese characters errors analysis, The transition period from traditional Chinese characters to simplified Chinese characters, German Chinese learners   德國哥廷根大學東亞研究所漢學系規定學生在第一年學習繁體字, 第二年下學期可選擇繼續書寫繁體字或轉換成簡體字｡ 選擇簡體字的學生此時經歷書寫上的繁簡轉換時期, 也產生特有的漢字偏誤, 例如, 受之前學習繁體字的影響, 把簡體字的 ｢旅游｣寫成繁體字的 ｢旅遊｣, 或是根據學過的繁體字類推簡體字, 產生特有的簡體字偏誤, 例如, 把 ｢亲眼｣寫成 ｢亲见眼｣等｡ 筆者發現這段轉換時期所產生的漢字偏誤和一般外籍學習者的漢字偏誤不同, 也產生了研究動機｡ 故本研究主要探討繁體字轉換成簡體字的過渡時期德籍漢語學習者所產出的漢字偏誤｡ 研究對象為德國哥廷根大學東亞研究所漢學系的學生｡ 研究資料來源為學習者一週完成一篇的文章, 共42篇｡ 研究問題為這個過渡時期, 漢字偏誤現象如何﹖針對先學繁體字再學簡體字的學習者有何漢字教學建議﹖研究步驟為收集經歷繁簡轉換的學生一個月內之文章, 進而分析歸納文章中出現的漢字偏誤, 最後提出教學建議｡ 研究結果發現：漢字偏誤類型有筆畫偏誤、部件偏誤、同音字/音近字誤代、繁體字誤代、多重偏誤和其他｡ 希望透過本研究所分析出的漢字偏誤以及教學建議, 減少經歷繁簡轉換時期學習者的漢字偏誤, 並進而提供給教學現場的教師參考｡ 關鍵字 : 漢字偏誤分析, 繁簡體字轉換, 德籍漢語學習者