The Current State of Kanji Learning in the Japanese Foreign Language Classroom
Open Access
- Author:
- Elkins, Alexandra
- Area of Honors:
- Japanese
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Susan G Strauss, Thesis Supervisor
Jonathan Eran Abel, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Japanese
Foreign Language Acquisition
Kanji
Japanese Foreign Language Classroom
Asian Studies
Education - Abstract:
- Kanji has long been thought of as the most difficult thing to learn within the Japanese language. Scholars such as Heath Rose and Yoshiko Mori have dedicated extensive amounts of time to figure out what is behind the difficulties of kanji learning and give possible answers as to how teachers can make it easier for students. However, by focusing on which kanji teaching methods are the best and worst, these scholars have overlooked the most important part of finding a solution to the problem. Who is having the hardest time? The answers provided in most of the scholarly work thus far assume students to have the greatest number of difficulties and attempt to pinpoint the root of these difficulties in either the actions of the students or teachers. Rather than trying to provide an answer that fixes any problem faced while teaching kanji, this thesis instead attempts to reevaluate the problem itself. By looking at how kanji is treated in the Japanese language, viewed by Japanese people, and taught in the Japanese foreign language classroom, every part of kanji acquisition is acknowledged. Contrary to what most research has found, though, it appears that kanji acquisition is primarily a problem for teachers, not students. The lack of time given to teachers to focus on kanji has allowed dissatisfaction to arise in teachers, with many stating that there is not enough time in a semester to teach everything expected of them.