Tackling the Kanji hurdle: Investigation of Kanji learning in Non-Kanji background learners

Abstract

Although Kanji is widely recognized as the most difficult hurdle to overcome in learning Japanese, little research has been undertaken on the selection and order in which Kanji are taught to Japanese students from non-Kanji backgrounds. In this study, the criteria for different orders of kanji are analyzed in respect with their pedagogical merits in teaching Kanji to students of Japanese from non-Kanji backgrounds. The principal objective of this study is to redress the lack of research in this area and the lack of uniformity in Kanji education. Overall, the orders Kanji are taught seems to be mostly arbitrary and is not considered to be of any great importance in aiding students attain Kanji proficiency. This paper examines the difficulty of Kanji for non-Kanji background learners and finds that Kanji order is indeed a vital consideration in developing more efficient Kanji teaching and learning strategies for students from non-Kanji backgrounds.

Sustanaible Methods of Improving Kanji Learning Skills for Japanese Language Learners at Basic Level at FPT University

“…In general, the order in which the Kanji are taught seems to be largely random and is not of great importance in supporting students to reach a certain level of Kanji. The article examines the difficulty of Kanji for those without a Kanji background and finds that Kanji order is actually an important factor in developing more effective Kanji teaching and learning strategies for students without a Kanji background [5].…”

The Use of Naritachi to Memorize Kanji

“…Kanji is widely recognized as the most difficult hurdle to overcome in learning Japanese, little research has been undertaken on the selection and order in which kanji are taught to non-kanji backgrounds learners, hereafter NKB learners (Paxton & Svetenant, 2014). According to Gamage (2003), the typological differences between kanji and alphabets are assumed to be responsible for this difficulty (Bourke, 1996, as cited in Gamage, 2003).…”

“…The kanji characters are physically complex and are phonemically very similar, all of them have a meaning on their own, often combined to form various words with new meanings (Tamaoka, Kirsner, Yanase, & Miyaoka, 2002), making them difficult to commit to memory (Gamage, 2006;Mori, Sato, & Shimizu, 2007;Toyoda, 1998, as cited in Nesbit, 2013). Therefore, a learning strategy is needed in order to teach kanji more effectively to NKB learners, understanding how the NKB learners perceive and process kanji is helpful (Paxton & Svetenant, 2014).…”

“…In addition, the physical complexity, a variety of readings and meanings presented by kanji confuse the NKB learners. One advantage of knowing the kanji components is that more complex kanji can be broken down into more easily remembered components (Paxton & Svetenant, 2014). On the other hand, the students find beneficial features such as its pictographic meanings and kanji internal components.…”

“…According to Paxton and Svetenant (2014), basic kanji learning can be taught through the etymology of the kanji. The etymology of the kanji is however only practical for kanji which come under the category of ideographic kanji (象形文字 shoukeimoji).…”