Peer Review

How to Use Unicode Pinyin Fonts

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Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: The purpose of this module is to teach learners to type pinyin fonts with tone
marks through Unicode. It provides examples using programs such as the NJ
Communicator and Macro in Word. It also provides other resources on pinyin and
Unicode.
Recommended Uses:: For class and homework assignments.
Technical Requirements:: Word 97 or 2000.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Learn to input Chinese pinyin fonts with tone marks.
Target Student Population:: Users who wish to type Chinese in pinyin and upload it onto the web.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Knowledge of pinyin and tone marks.

Rating:
Strengths:: The module provides step-by-step instructions and illustrations of adding tone
marks to pinyin, especially for 1st-tone and 3rd-tone syllables, along with
combining tone marks with the umlaut. Solutions in both NJStar and Word are
presented clearly. It also includes an external link to convert pinyin to HTML
for displaying on a web page.
Concerns:: The user must follow links to download various fonts or sample software
programs; the website itself does not seem to have the functionality that would
allow the user to generate tone marks in a small window somewhere. Also, the
NJStar software download expires after 30 days, requiring the user to either
purchase it or else download it all over again, month after month. Moreover, all
of these downloads assume that the user has an ISP and a reasonably fast
connection speed; readers who are using a slow modem might have to wait a while
for some pages to load. If one temporarily cannot get on the internet for one
reason or another, the usefulness of this link-dependent website will be greatly
compromised. Finally, the occasional link leads nowhere, to ?page not found,?
such as the link to the website www.euroasiansoftware.com.

Rating:
Strengths:: The module has clear explanations and procedures that are easy to follow, and
the look of the website is pleasing and uncluttered. Teachers can use a sample
sentence or paragraph from an assignment to show students how to type pinyin and
then convert it to HTML code for the web. The module does an excellent job of
supplying links to websites that enable the computer generation of tone marks in
text (which can then be copied and pasted wherever needed) and the conversion
of tone-marked pinyin into Unicode for various web applications.
Concerns:: Because a certain percentage of computer users have trouble with macros,
relatively computer-literate teachers and/or students will sometimes need to
provide some coaching to their uninitiated colleagues in the beginning. It would
also be very helpful for independent learners and students who are not
technologically inclined to see more explanations on the difference between
Unicode and HTML code and their functions/purposes.

Rating:
Strengths:: This single-page instruction/tutorial module has good use of color and various
Unicode pinyin fonts. Not much scrolling is needed to explore the entire
website, which is quite dense with mostly useful links. In particular, the
?Other resources? section near the bottom or end of the site provides useful
supplements to the brief explanation about the tone-mark generation on this
site. The vast majority of the links work very well.
Concerns:: A section designed for novice users to generate tone marks without have to
follow a link elsewhere would be a plus. The module can also be enhanced by
incorporating images in the section on using Macros in Word.