1、 Chinese Characters and Motivation for Learning Chinese

Explored the impact of Chinese characters on motivation for learning Chinese. Bai Lesang shared his motivation for learning Chinese, including the mystery of Chinese characters, the pursuit of long-distance attraction, and curiosity about the unknown. He believes that Chinese characters have stimulated his imagination, and learning Chinese is seen as an "abnormal" choice, which actually enhances his learning motivation. Bai Lesang also discussed the relationship between Chinese characters and the brain, as well as the deep connections between language and culture. He emphasized that learning motivation is closely related to individual differences, which Chinese society often overlooks. Educators should focus on how to reduce learning difficulty through effective teaching methods, rather than assuming that Chinese is difficult to learn.

2、 The Poetic Function of Chinese Characters and Calligraphy Art

Explored the "poetic function" of Chinese characters and their expression in calligraphy art. Roman Jacobson's linguistic theory holds that language has six functions, among which the "poetic function" emphasizes language form rather than content. The poetic function of Chinese characters is not only reflected in poetry, but also in calligraphy art, while the poetic function of other languages such as Latin alphabet is relatively peripheral. Chinese calligraphy is regarded as a true art form, on par with music and painting. Chinese characters are not only symbols for recording language, but also unique units in Chinese language teaching, and their uniqueness generates poetic functions. However, there is an asymmetric phenomenon in the dissemination of Chinese calligraphy in the West, which requires the acceptance and processing of experts and audiences. Wang Demai emphasizes the aesthetic dimension of Chinese characters as ideograms, which is consistent with the author's viewpoint. The author believes that the issue of Chinese characters has been overlooked in the academic community of China, moving towards a "word centric" direction and neglecting the uniqueness of Chinese characters.

3、 Character based approach and "Enlightenment of Chinese Language and Writing"

Discussed the "character based" teaching method and its application in the textbook "Chinese Language and Character Enlightenment". Professor Bai pointed out that although the mainstream of teaching Chinese as a foreign language in China adopts "word based" textbooks, his textbook "Enlightenment of Chinese Language and Writing" is based on the principle of "word based". He mentioned that the Defangke series of Chinese textbooks was one of the early "character based" textbooks, which had an impact on international Chinese language education. Professor Bai emphasized that scientific thinking should start from studying the essence of Chinese characters, rather than directly focusing on their applications. He believes that Chinese characters are ideographic characters with different phonetic properties from the Latin alphabet. Professor Bai also mentioned that more and more experts and teachers support the "character based" teaching method, which he links with "dualism" to distinguish between characters and words as different teaching units. He explained that his "character based" teaching method differs from Mr. Xu Tongqiang's linguistic perspective and focuses more on education. Professor Bai also mentioned that Mr. Lv Bisong regards his "character based" approach as "morpheme based", but he emphasizes that "character based" not only includes morphemes, but also encompasses multiple levels such as form and stroke order. The textbook "Enlightenment of Chinese Language and Writing" was originally written based on Professor Bai's lesson plan, and later published with the support of Professor Zhang Pengpeng and parents. The textbook contains rich cultural annotations, especially the cultural content of Chinese characters, which Professor Bai believes can help stimulate students' learning motivation. He intentionally chose to highlight traditional culture to showcase China's history and cultural differences. The sales of textbooks exceeded 200000 copies, setting a record for the sales of Chinese language textbooks for foreigners in France. In 2008, Professor Bai made minor revisions to the textbook, adding some comics and oral vocabulary. Although there are relatively few users now, the influence of textbooks still exists.