Orthography‐sound vs. orthography‐meaning mapping in Chinese character learning: Evidence on typing and handwriting

Abstract As the global population of Chinese‐as‐a‐foreign‐language learners grows, the complexity of characters remains a major barrier and a frequent cause of attrition. This study compared handwriting and typing instruction in character learning through an experiment with 28 Burmese beginners randomly assigned to handwriting or typing groups ( n = 14 each) who received 40 h of instruction. The results showed that the typing group outperformed the handwriting group in character recognition and dictation, indicating that typing promotes orthography‐sound mapping and input efficiency. In contrast, the handwriting group scored higher in meaning recognition, suggesting that handwriting strengthens orthography‐meaning associations and supports deeper processing. No significant group differences emerged in meaning‐based output. Pedagogically, instructors can combine typing to support early form and sound learning, with targeted handwriting to strengthen form and meaning learning, which may ease the initial learning burden.