The impact of cultural understanding-based approach to teaching Chinese characters on primary school students' performance, motivation, cognitive load, and culture understanding.

Chinese characters are a core component of the Chinese language and a carrier of cultural connotations, making them vital in primary Chinese language education. However, the Traditional Stroke-by-Stroke Approach to Teaching Chinese Characters (TSSA-TCC) often fails to engage students or foster cultural understanding and identity. In order to enhance the implementation of Chinese character instruction, this study proposes a Cultural Understanding-based Approach to Teaching Chinese Characters (CUA-TCC). This study adopted a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test control group design to investigate the effects of CUA-TCC on primary school students' performance, motivation, cognitive load, and cultural understanding. Participants comprised 77 s-grade students aged 8-10 years, who were divided into an experimental group (n = 38; 18 girls and 20 boys) and a control group (n = 39; 18 girls and 21 boys). The collected data were analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests, while qualitative interview data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically with the support of word cloud visualization. The study results showed that CUA-TCC not only enhances students' literacy skills and learning motivation and reduces cognitive load but also promotes the development of students' cultural understanding and national identity. Therefore, this study concluded that cultural elements should be an important part of Chinese character instruction. Meanwhile, the conclusions of this study provide theoretical support and practical insights for Chinese language education in primary schools and contribute to the field of teaching Chinese characters.