Web-based Japanese
Tomoko Marshall, Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
2002 TTI Fellow
Email: tm5x@Virginia.EDU
Project website: (under construction)
Students in Japanese language classes are challenged by a rather complex writing system embodying three separate scripts: kanji, which are Chinese characters, plus two sets of native syllabaries. Since kanji is used for a major part of the sentence, students including those young native speakers have to master a number of kanji: approximately 1500 kanji by the end of high school year in Japan. Because there are many kanji and they are used frequently in Japanese, students in 2nd year Japanese classes at the University of Virginia generally are required to learn approximately 400. I believe that mastering basic 400 kanji during the first two years of studying Japanese is especially important because it gives students an easier transition and higher motivation to continue studying in a higher level classes.
Learning kanji is a challenging not only because there are so many of them, but also because kanji are irregular and reading them can be complex. In traditional classrooms, an instructor cannot afford to spend too much time practicing kanji. Consequently, students study kanji on their own and have no choice but to rely on rote memorization such as looking at static images of kanji in textbooks, copying the kanji on a piece of paper repeatedly or sounding out the kanji over and over again. These traditional ways of learning can be very frustrating and discouraging.
This web-based kanji learning program is intended to reduce the difficulty of learning, to enhance the efficiency of teaching by extending classroom instruction into the virtual world, and to provide a high level of two-way interaction during learning. With the two textbooks "Genki" and "Nakama" which all exercises are based on, this web-based kanji program consists of four components:
- Practicing the stroke order or correct writing of kanji with video clips and digital writing pad.
- Word recognition and production accompanied by audio.
- Vocabulary comprehension exercises for multiple meaning and reading of kanji compounds.
- Sentence level comprehension exercises with word puzzles and short dialogues.
In addition, theme-based application exercises enable students to have a better understanding of the usages of kanji beyond the textbook they use. This program is highly interactive, as it provides an immediate step-by-step feedback for the successful completion of the task, and creates a multimedia learning environment with audio, video and the digital writing pad. This also means that students can adjust their learning pace according to their proficiency levels.
The most difficult technological challenge this project is facing is the use of Unicode to encode the materials. It will overcome the common Japanese web site access problems caused by using different fonts, character-processing software, and browser types. A Unicode compliant kanji learning program would enable students to learn kanji efficiently, effectively and enjoyably anytime, anywhere at any pace, and will benefit anyone willing to study beyond University of Virginia.