Improving Students’ Interest to Learn Mandarin with Mandamonik

Game in Three Languages

Yi Ying ¹, Putri Mustika Susilo ¹, Fu Ruomei ¹, Theresia¹

¹Chinese Department, Faculty of Humanities,

Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia 11480

Keyword: Impove, students’ interest, mandarin, mandamonik game

Abstract: Foreign language education has begun to incorporate conventional education with mobile learning or "M-

Learning." M-Learning offers a modern way to support the learning process through mobile devices, such as

handheld computers and tablets, MP3 players, smartphones and mobile phones. This study explains the

learning of Chinese through M-learning with a smartphone. With the development of technology, the use of

smartphones among elementary school students is also increasing especially for games. Students' interest to

play games, especially on smartphones becomes the background for researchers to design the Chinese

learning by emphasizing on game-based learning. Researchers before designing the smartphone games first

surveyed 129 elementary school students grade 1-6 in two private elementary schools in Jakarta about the

use of smartphones and the interest of students to play educational games. From the survey, researchers

designed a game application called "Mandamonik." This application consists of three types of games,

namely memory game, puzzle game and word crosshairs game. The authors asked 33 students to play the

game. From the students’ feedback, it is known that 85% of students consider the game Chinese Character

helps Chinese learning especially mastery of vocabulary.

1 INTRODUCTION

Chinese learning in Indonesia starts from

kindergarten to university level. By distributing

questionnaires to 594 respondents consisting of

elementary students to university students and

Chinese teachers, also interviews to 8 Chinese

experts in Indonesia for the research on the

condition of Chinese teaching in Indonesia can be

concluded two things, namely 1) there is a need for

interesting and illustrated mandarin teaching

materials; 2) The learning application as a tool of

teaching materials and textbooks for independent

study is also very much needed by Indonesian

students (Zhang SL, Ying Y, 2012).In the process of

learning Chinese language, most learners find it

difficult especially in learning Chinese Character. To

help elementary school students learn Chinese,

especially Chinese Character along with their

meanings, the researchers use technology which is

via mobile games. Chinese learning through games

becomes a better solution for children than the

traditional learning. Researchers introduce the

Mandamonik method of combining vocabulary

learning with educational play (Ying Y, Rawendy D

and Arifin Y, 2016).The use of gamification and

mnemonic methods into the game content is a

strategy to improve memory in various ways. The

gamification and mnemonic methods show positive

results in the learning environment. This game refers

to the elementary school, where students are aged 6-

12 years. Based on the pre-test and post-test results,

this game can improve students' learning outcomes

(Rawendy D, Ying Y and Arifin Y, 2017).

2 RESEARCH METHODS

This research uses survey method and experiment

method. The authors first surveyed 129 elementary

school students from Immanuel School and Sang

Timur Christian Primary School. After the student

feedback is obtained, then authors design the game

containing the vocabulary taken from the Mandarin

book for elementary students grade 1-6 which is

arranged in three languages namely Indonesia,

Chinese and English. The book is arranged by the

authors. After the survey data was processed, the

Ying, Y., Susilo, P., Ruomei, F. and Theresia, .

Improving Students’ Interest to Learn Mandarin with Mandamonik Game in Three Languages.

DOI: 10.5220/0010003200002917

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Sciences, Laws, Arts and Humanities (BINUS-JIC 2018), pages 99-103

ISBN: 978-989-758-515-9

authors design the game called Mandamonik. This

game consists of 3 parts: 1. Puzzle Games, 2.

Memory Game; 3. Word Crosshairs Game. Due to

time limitations, this game is only played by 32

students consisting of 15 students from Harapan

Kasih and 18 students from Immanuel. The study

was conducted from September 2016 until April

2017.

3 MOBILE LEARNING

3.1 Mobile Learning

The phenomenon of iPhone or Android phone users

is increasingly widespread, and it is not surprising

among educators. This has spawned mobile learning

(often called "M-Learning"). Language educators are

interested in the process of learning a language using

an application on a mobile phone (Jones RG, 2011).

The use of mobile phones in vocabulary learning

(abbreviated as VL) is more acceptable for language

learning. Several studies have been conducted on the

effects of Mobile-assisted language learning

(MALL) on vocabulary learning. The teaching

process has grown rapidly, and many scientists have

the same opinion on the role of mobile phones in

VL. Technology, in general, has a positive effect on

VL (Afzali P, Shabani S, Basir Z and Ramazani M,

2017). Research on the advantages and

disadvantages of students using the tablet devices

(iPad 2 only) in the assignments of English video

product was also done in Japan. The study also

examines students' perceptions when they use tablet

devices to see if they can make it a tool for learning

(Brown M, 2012). Research on the benefits,

challenges, and hindrances of mobile learning to

support teaching and learning was also done.

The study shows that M-Learning as distance

learning brings great benefits to society including

the learning that can be done anytime and anywhere

(Mehdipour Y, Zerehkafi H, 2013). Mobile-based

learning is one of the learning alternatives that can

be implemented for smart students who need a

unique approach (Ying Y, Mursitama TN, Oktriono

K and Abbas BS, 2017). Learning will be more

comprehensive if accompanied by game learning

because learning through the game makes the

learning process more enjoyable for the students.

Game-based learning models have been developed

and become the solutions (Ying Y, Mursitama TN,

Lin X and Yetty, 2017). The function of the phone

as a language learning tool and the students'

opinions after the mobile learning experience of 24

adult learners show the phone as an alternative

source for adult learners to learn vocabulary and to

meet the special needs of adult learners who need

more flexible time and place in learning (Hu Z N,

2013). The use of iPads for the English learners in

Japan shows some benefits such as speed in viewing

English video (Brown M, Castellano J, Hughes E

and Worth A, 2012). Mobile phone usage in creating

an out-of-class learning experience makes students

interested in learning by the method that explores

the mobile learning experience with their own

mobile devices (Kim D, Rueckert D, Kim DJ and

Seo D, 2013 ).

3.2 Game based Learning

Game-based learning is a trend that has been

implemented in many ways including workplace

training, education, and social media (Pho A,

Dinscore A, 2015). Research on the effectiveness of

Digital Game Basic Learning (DGBL) shows that

the game design should contain more specific game

elements to be more interesting. (AnissaA, Elena P,

Nuñez C and Jan V L, 2016). Learning through

experience is often more efficient than learning in

class. The trick is to provide the learning experience

needed to respond to the current challenges, i.e. to

use games in education. Innovative education, such

as learning-based games, is considered the most

appropriate (Pivec M, Dziabenko O, 2004). Using

mobile games in education by combining places and

active learning is great fun. The effect of a mobile

city game called Frequency 1550, developed by The

Waag Society to help students in the first year of

secondary education to study the history of

Amsterdam in the Middle Ages. After being

observed, the students who played the game got

more knowledge about the Amsterdam in the Middle

Ages. This shows that the location-based technology

and game-based learning have an impact on students'

knowledge and motivation (Jantina H, Admiral W,

Akmerman S and Dam GT, 2009).

4 MANDAMONIK APPLICATION

4.1 Survey Results before

Mandamonik Application Design

Before designing a Mandarin learning game called

"Mandamonik", first the survey of smartphone usage

was conducted towards 129 students in grade 1-6

elementary school in Jakarta. From the survey

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results can be seen that 91 students have a

smartphone. There are 91 students using android

apps. A total of 48 students said that they like to

play educational games using smartphones. A total

of 46 students said they had played Mandarin-

language educational games. A total of 99 students

said game-based learning could be helpful in

learning Chinese vocabulary and they are interested

if there is a game designed to help them memorize

the Chinese vocabulary. Therefore, the researchers

designed the game containing the vocabulary in

Chinese textbooks. The vocabulary in this design is

taken from a Chinese study textbook compiled by

the author. The vocabulary in this book consists of

11 categories namely fruits, numbers, studental

pronoun, family members, animals, school tools,

food and beverages, objects, vegetables, wind

direction and places.

4.2 Mandamonik Design

Mandamonik is a game application to memorize

Chinese vocabulary. The application is designed in

both Chinese and Indonesian languages. The

application design as follows:

Figure 1: App Front View.

Figure 2: Types of Game.

"Mandamonik" is the name of the application to

learn Chinese language. Learners need to touch the

screen with words or pictures. "Permainan" means

game, when the screen is touched it will display

three types of games. "Pengaturan" means setting

that contains information about the origin of the

game background sound. "Tentang" explains the

name of the student who designed the game.

"Keluar" means out, and the function is to exit the

game app.

Three types of game in this application are

Memory game (Memori), Puzzle game

(PasangGambar), Word Crosshairs game (Bidik

Kata).

4.2.1

Mandamonik Game

Applications.TheMandamonik Game App is

designed to help students memorize everyday

vocabulary. The vocabulary is equipped with

Chinese Character and Hanyu Pinyin in addition to

helping students memorize Chinese Character and

how to read it. This app contains three types of

game. Each type of game comes with game duration

(Waktu). The faster the game is completed, the

shorter the time is. This game comes with a score

(Skor). If you want to stop or change to another

game, then you can press the "pause" п.

Memory Game.

Figure 3: Memory Game.

This game consists of some closed cards and

players should look for a pair of cards that consists

of meaning and Chinese character along with Pin

Yin (how to read it). The player touches one of the

cards first and tries to guess its pair on a closed card.

If the player has discovered the pair, then both cards

will open. If have not met, the player continues to

look for a pair while remembering the Chinese

characters and words that have been opened before.

Repetition of the game will change the layout of the

card from the previous game so that the time

achieved from the previous game may not be faster

because it relies on the player's memory.

Improving Students’ Interest to Learn Mandarin with Mandamonik Game in Three Languages

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Puzzle Game.The game is sorting the pieces of the

image and forming the whole picture as in the right-

hand corner image.

Figure 4: Puzzle Game 1

Figure 5: Puzzle Game 2

To sort the image is by merely touching the piece

and put it in the desired place.Figure 5 is an example

of a puzzle which is almost completed. If the image

is in accordance with the instructions, then the image

will automatically change into another image

Word Crosshairs Game.The game puts a + sign in

a word which meaning is corresponding to the

Chinese Characters in the left-hand corner. The +

sign will shift if moving the mobile phone.

Figure 6: Word Crosshairs Game.

If the + hint has been placed in the correct word

corresponding to the Chinese Characters in the

instruction, then the player immediately presses the

+ sign in the word in question. Thus, the addition of

scores and time calculations stalled when the answer

is right

5 STUDENTS’ VIEW OF

MANDAMONIK

After the application was designed, then it was

tested to 33 elementary school students. Here is the

student's response to the Mandamonik Game. Only 1

respondent answers uncertain, while 6 respondents

agree and 26 respondents say strongly agree that

“Mandamonik” game isi fun. There are 4

respondents answer uncertain, while 12 respondents

agree and 17 respondents strongly agreethat

“Mandamonik” Game makes learning Chinese

interesting. There are 7 respondents are still in

doubt, while 12 respondents agree and 14

respondents strongly agree that“Mandamonik”

Games are not hard to play. Two respondents answer

undecided, while 13 respondents answer agree and

18 respondents answer strongly agree that game

design of “Mandamonik” is not boring. There are 4

respondents answer undecided, while 17 respondents

answer agree and 11 respondents answer strongly

agree that memory game is fun to play while

learning Mandarin. Only one students who answers

undecided, while 11 respondents answer agree and

21 respondents answer strongly agree that Puzzle

Game id fun to play while learning Mandarin. Only

nnestudent disagrees or dislikes the word crosshairs

game, while 5 respondents are undecided and 12

respondents agree and 15 respondents answer

strongly agree that word crosshairs is fun to play

while learning Mandarin.A total of 2 respondents

answer disagree and undecided, while 14

respondents answer agree and 17 respondents

answer strongly agree that Chinese writing on the

“Mandamonik”.Game is readable. There are 3

respondents who are undecided. While 15

respondents answer agree and 15 respondents

answer strongly agree that “Mandamonik” Game

make them more interested in learning Mandarin.

One respondent does not agree if the game is easy to

understand, while 3 other respondents hesitate and

16 respondents agree as well as 13 respondents

strongly agree.A total of 7 respondents say they do

not agree if Mandamonik game is easy to play, while

12 respondents agree that the game is easy to play

and 14 strongly agree if the game is easy to play.

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6 CONCLUSIONS

Chinese learning through games can motivate

elementary school students to learn Chinese. In

addition to learning Chinese Character, students also

learn how to read (Pinyin) and tone (Shengdiao).

Students also learn to memorize Chinese characters

through memory. This game can sharpen students'

memory if the memory game is played periodically.

In addition, the speed in memorizing Chinese

character and its meaning can also be increased

because, with the independent learning, students can

learn anytime and anywhere. The more often to play

this game the more duration of play will be reduced

and then it will be quicker to complete the game.

The drawback of this game is the absence of sound

when the player has found the word pairs for the

game. Besides, the puzzle game also has no sound

when the finished picture is prepared. Similarly, the

word crosshairs game also has no sound when the

right words are shot. Subsequent research should

improve this application for better utilization.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The study is a result of the initial implementation of

a research project supported by Bina Nusantara

(BINUS) University Research Grant 2018. The

subsequent study will represent the result of

application trial that has been designed.

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