Designing and Evaluating PinyinDash: A Dual-Mode Digital Game Prototype for Chinese Character-Pinyin Learning among Thai High School Learners

บทคัดย่อ

Chinese character-pinyin mapping is a foundational but demanding task for beginning learners of Chinese as a foreign language. Learners must connect visual character forms with alphabetic pinyin spelling and tonal information, yet classroom practice often relies on copying, word lists, or recognition-based exercises that provide limited active retrieval and feedback. This study presents PinyinDash, a dual-mode digital game prototype designed to support Chinese character-pinyin learning through accurate pinyin-tone input, post-learning review, rapid memory retrieval under time pressure, light pre-exposure, immediate feedback, and customizable classroom word banks. The prototype combines Learning Mode, which organizes characters into short tone-marked pinyin input sessions, and Time Mode, which turns toneless pinyin retrieval into a post-learning falling-meteor review activity. Time Mode outcomes are interpreted as retrieval-practice and pre-exposure signals rather than direct evidence of tone-marked mastery. The design was informed by digital game-based learning, retrieval practice, spaced review, and Keller's ARCS motivation model. A one-group pre-test/post-test classroom study was conducted with 30 Mathayom 4 students in Chiang Mai, Thailand. After teacher instruction on the target item pool, students completed a pre-test, used PinyinDash for 2 weeks, and completed a post-test and an ARCS-based motivation questionnaire. Learning achievement increased from the pre-test M=13.0,SD=3.19 to post-test M=18.4,SD=2.19, p<.001. Motivation ratings were high across Attention M=4.51, Relevance M=4.59, Confidence M=4.44, and Satisfaction M=4.66, with overall Cronbach'salpha=.928. These findings suggest that PinyinDash is a feasible and motivationally acceptable prototype for classroom Chinese character-pinyin practice, while controlled studies are needed to establish causal effectiveness.