FOREIGN STUDIES

 Chunking is a powerful encoding strategy that significantly improves working memory

performance in normal young people (Huntley, 2018)
 The control group and both disease groups performed significantly better on structured trials of
the digit working memory tasks, indicating successful use of chunking strategies to improve
verbal working memory performance. The control and very mild disease groups also performed
significantly better on structured trials of the spatial task, whereas those with mild disease
demonstrated no significant difference between the structured and unstructured spatial
conditions. (Huntley,2018)
 The ability to use chunking as an encoding strategy to improve verbal working memory
performance is preserved at the mild stage of Alzheimer's disease, whereas use of chunking to
improve spatial working memory is impaired by this stage. Simple training in the use of chunking
might be a beneficial therapeutic strategy to prolong working memory functioning in patients at
the earliest stage of Alzheimer's disease. (Huntley,2018)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/working-
memory-task-performance-and-chunking-in-early-alzheimers-
disease/4CCC776A58F051F8E3393E82F0EDBB68
 Learning and retaining Chinese characters are often considered to be the most
challenging elements in learning Chinese as a foreign language. Applying the theory of
meaningful interpretation, the chunking mnemonic technique, and the linguistic features
of Chinese characters, this study examines whether the method of meaningful
interpretation and chunking (MIC) can promote learners' immediate learning and
retention of Chinese characters. Mandarin Chinese learners at two high schools were
randomized into a treatment group and a control group. Students in the treatment group
learned Chinese characters with the MIC method, whereas their peers in the control
group learned characters by the traditional method of rote repetition according to the
stroke order. Four balanced character sets were introduced each day for four continuous
days with three different interventions: teacher‐instructed method on Day 1, teacher‐
cued method on Day 2, and students' independent work on Day 3 and Day 4. Students'
learning outcomes of the characters were measured with (1) immediate quizzes given
each day after instruction, (2) a retention test (after one week) that integrated all the
immediate quizzes, and (3) an application test administered two months after the
experiment. The findings suggest that MIC enhances learners' immediate learning and
retention of Chinese characters. In addition, the teacher‐cued method and familiar
independent work were more effective for learning and retaining Chinese characters
than the teacher‐instructed method and unfamiliar independent work. Furthermore, the
treatment effect also varied across the measurement components (meaning vs.
perception), levels of instruction, and heritage versus non‐heritage groups.
Tianxu Chen, Joint Contributions of Multilevel Linguistic Knowledge to Character Meaning
Retention in L2 Chinese, Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 10.1007/s10936-018-9594-
3, 48, 1, (129-143), (2018).

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