Spelling correction strategies employed by learners of Japanese

Abstract

This article analyzes the self-correction of spelling by learners of intermediate Japanese. Participants in this study consisted of 20 students withkanji(Chinese characters) background and 43 without. This study investigates (1) types of spelling errors made; (2) the success rate of corrections made when codes for types of errors (error-codes) were given; (3) strategies used for correcting spelling errors; (4) reasons for a failure to correct errors; and (5) measures for further improvement in correction rates. Three methods, including ‘think-aloud’, observation notes, and the writing of an essay before and after corrections, were used as research tools. The findings show a high rate of success in the self-correction strategies. The errors made by the students may be attributed to a number of different causes. On the basis of the findings, this article puts forth the following suggestions, among others: the provision of increased time for corrections, of more detailed instruction inkanji,and of correct pronunciation instruction; increased practice in the use of dictionaries; and improved codes to indicate types of errors.

Review of recent research (2000–2010) on learning and instruction with specific reference to L2 Japanese

“…As a result, issues in L2 kanji include kanji learning/teaching strategies (Shimizu & Green, 2002;, memory and retrieval (Chikamatsu 2005), radical/compositional awareness (Toyoda 2000;Yamashita & Maru 2000;Kubota & Toyoda 2001;Mori, Sato & Shimizu 2007), the role of contextual and morphological information in interpreting novel kanji words (Y. Mori , 2003Kondo-Brown 2006a;, the transferability of L1 knowledge among learners with Chinese-character backgrounds (Kato 2005;Sawabe & Yasui 2008), the role of teacher feedback in learning to write kanji characters (Kubota 2005), and teacher/student perceptions of kanji teaching/learning (Y. Shimizu & Green 2002;Gamage 2003;Grainger 2005;.…”

“…The challenge in kanji learning includes the difficulty of retention, multiple readings of a single character, visual similarities between characters, the polysemous nature of kanji words, the large number of characters to learn, and their visual complexity. As a result, issues in L2 kanji include kanji learning/teaching strategies (Shimizu & Green, 2002; Mori & Shimizu 2007), memory and retrieval (Chikamatsu 2005), radical/compositional awareness (Toyoda 2000; Yamashita & Maru 2000; Kubota & Toyoda 2001; Mori, Sato & Shimizu 2007), the role of contextual and morphological information in interpreting novel kanji words (Y. Mori 2002, 2003; Kondo-Brown 2006a; Mori et al 2007), the transferability of L1 knowledge among learners with Chinese-character backgrounds (Kato 2005; Sawabe & Yasui 2008), the role of teacher feedback in learning to write kanji characters (Kubota 2005), and teacher/student perceptions of kanji teaching/learning (Y. Mori 2002; Shimizu & Green 2002; Gamage 2003; Grainger 2005; Mori & Shimizu 2007).…”