The Application Of Origin-Interpreting Of Chinese Character In The Teaching Of Ancient Poetry And Prose In Middle School: A Pratical Study

Chinese character is the oldest ideographic writing that is still in use. Ideograph is its most essential characteristic, which determines the evidence for the combination of shape, pronunciation and meaning of a Chinese character. And this kind of evidence or origin appears in a visual way, which makes it easy for people to learn the characters nowadays. Although the shape of a Chinese character has changed a lot, it is still the writing full of evidence and origin and we can still seek its meaning by observing its shape. For middle school students, misunderstanding of the meanings of Chinese characters becomes their main obstacle of reading ancient poems or prose. Therefore the formational origins of Chinese characters are very helpful in the teaching of ancient poetry and passages.For the reason above, this essay provides a study on how to apply the formations and origins of Chinese characters to the teaching of ancient poetry and passages in middle school. It argues, as well as provides methods and principles for analyzing the formation and origins of Chinese characters.The essay consists of five chapters. Chapter One gives a historical review of using the formations and origins of Chinese characters in Chinese teaching and analyzing its present situations, believing that it is a traditional method for teaching the language of Chinese, which plays an important role in teaching Chinese to primary students and non-Chinese speakers. And it should have room for improvement in Chinese teaching in middle schools. Chapter Two is about theoretical foundation, believing that teaching Chinese characters with the help of the formations and origins of their own conform to many principles in psychology that one can achieve higher memorizing efficiency by symbolizing, imagining, and comprehending, and that interest is the motivation of learning. This also follows the principle of visual teaching in pedagogy. We can find adequate theoretical support in philology and critical interpretation of ancient texts: Traditional"Liushu shuo"and the formation theory of characters in critical interpretation of ancient texts are the foundation of analysis of formations and origins of Chinese characters. And current Chinese characters are still rich in origins, which makes it possible seek their formations and origins. Chapter Three reveals the importance of teaching ancient poetry and prose with the help of formation and origins of Chinese characters. This can help students master the original meaning and extended meaning of the words in ancient poetry and prose and help master characters of interchangeability in classical Chinese writings. This method is valuable because it help students reduce wrongly written characters and help build aesthetic judgment and pass on traditional culture in language teaching. Chapter Four initially proposes some methods and principles for interpreting the origins of Chinese characters. We can do this either by tracing the origin the words or through systematic comparison and cognate words giving mutual evidence, as well as directly interpret the origin and formation of current Chinese characters. But whatever method we take, we should follow the principles of scientific, creative and liveliness. In Chapter Five, the author personally puts forward a few suggestions on how to extend the application of teaching ancient poetry and prose with the help of the origins and formations of Chinese characters in middle school level.