Pinpinju is a physical board game created to assist beginners of Mandarin learners in mastering sentence

learning. Pinpinju is created to address these problems by providing a hands-on, game-based approach that

involves enjoyable sentence construction and interaction between the instructor and learners, it transforms the

learning process from passive memorization to active involvement. The use of guided prompts and immediate

feedback from instructor or game host encourages learners to construct sentences with more confidence. This

approach not only helps learners in comprehending grammatical rules but also enhancing their vocabulary

ability in a real-word setting. Pinpinju has been copyrighted (CRDV2024Q06401) with the Intellectual

Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) under the Malaysia Copyright Art 1987. Copyright protection

applies to its unique design elements, such as the game mechanics, instructional content, sentence-building

system, vocabulary sets, and any original materials like cards, boards and manuals. The main targets of

Pinpinju are beginners of any basic Mandarin courses at schools, tutoring centers, colleges and universities or

even the most dedicated learners. These challenges range from linguistic complexities to psychological barrier.

The immediate challenges are recognizing the target language vocabulary, and monitoring the grammar and

syntax. Furthermore, in the digitalized era, most of the third language courses are hybrid of physical and online

learning. This new learning mode often lacks of real-time interaction which cause difficulty for learners to

engage in lively situational conversations. The increasing of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) also cause

delayed feedback from instructor, might slow down the progress in listening, speaking and writing. The

creation of board game Pinpinju provides the opportunity to practice the target language in simulated real-life

situations, which allow the learners to use the language naturally.

The most common problem faced by Mandarin non-native learners is the challenge of mastering sentence

construction of the target language. Traditional language teacher-centered learning methods, such as textbooks,

it also plays the role as leisure-time board game among learners of all ages. The main objectives of Pinpinju

communicative competence through interaction. At the same time, it provides a low-pressure environment that

reduces learning anxiety, helps learners overcome the fear of speaking, and increases their motivation and oral

confidence.

Filter Hypothesis, which posits that lower levels of personal or classroom anxiety are conducive to second

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is best understood as a set of guiding principles for language

learning and teaching that can be applied flexibly through content-based instruction, task-based approaches, or

competency and text-based frameworks, all with the common goal of enabling learners to use the target

language meaningfully in authentic or simulated communicative contexts (Richards, 2006). In line with this,

the communicative design of Pinpinju closely reflects the principles of CLT, providing learners with

opportunities to engage in meaningful language use within simulated real-life situations.

Pinpinju is an educational language board game designed for Mandarin learners, especially non-native

speakers. The Pinpinju in Figure 1 below is designed as a set of board game with 150 pieces of vocabulary

cards and 6 instruction cards. It is made up of vocabularies and sentence structures retrieved from the UiTM

Pinpinju is a language structure acquisition card game which is designed for learning Mandarin as second

language, suitable for group language practice sessions with 2 to 5 participants. The game includes 150

vocabulary cards and a series of syntactic structure cards, aiming to enhance participants' sentence construction

skill through interactive tasks. Each round lasts approximately 5 to 10 minutes, in line with the principle of

time efficiency in high-intensity focused practice.

At the beginning of the game, the instructor distributes 12 vocabulary cards to each participant. The instructor

then randomly draws a sentence pattern card from a predefined set and reveals it to all players. Within a

specified time limit, participants must construct a grammatically correct sentence using their vocabulary cards

a new sentence pattern card is drawn to begin another cycle of sentence construction until the total allocated

time elapses.

The game design integrates the principles of focus on form and task-based language teaching, promoting the

automation of grammatical processing and the development of cross-linguistic cognitive abilities through

cyclical syntactic practice. Pinpinju was developed by surveying students in Mandarin Level 1 courses in

UiTM and then visualizing the vocabulary and grammar they learned on this board game. Early prototypes

Beyond the technical description of our product Pinpinju, it is essential to compare it with other Mandarin

learning card games to better highlight its innovative elements and academic value. In this process, we

examined existing games in the market, such as the M-Card and Alpha M, to understand more clearly the

colleges, especially for non-native speakers. It prioritizing accuracy, grammar awareness, and multilingual

competence. The structured five round format, host led scoring, and translation bonus created a more

competitive and academically oriented experience.

In short, while games like the M-Card, Alpha M and Say What? Learn Mandarin Card Game support beginners

through vocabulary practice and simple sentence building, Pinpinju advances learning to a higher academic

level. With 150 categorized cards, structured rounds, host-led scoring, and a translation bonus, it emphasizes

grammar, accuracy, and bilingual skills.

A pre-posttest survey was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of Pinpinju. Referring to the Pre-test and

Post-test graph below, the majority of students demonstrated good performance in post-test, with 70.83%

As a game-based learning tool, Pinpinju makes learning Mandarin sentences more engaging and interactive.

By integrating sentence pattern instructions and vocabulary sets into a physical board game, Pinpinju

transforms the learning process from passive memorization to active participation across various aspects.

Learners are encouraged to construct sentences using guided instructions and receiving immediate feedback

awareness and increasing targeted language input and practice, with specific strategies tailored to vocabulary,

phonetics, and grammar. Thirdly, the game simulates real-life scenarios to promote scenario implementation.

According to Sim, Rahmat, and Khin (2021) task-based and situational learning encourage learners to use