Introduction
Kanji is a difficult barrier to overcome for non-kanji learners of Japanese who are learning Japanese. As a result, it is believed that many students lose interest in kanji or even quit learning Japanese halfway through. What methods are effective for non-kanji learners of Japanese to memorize the shapes of kanji? Various studies have been conducted to date, verifying the effectiveness of specific methods such as “writing over and over again” and “memorizing each component” (Kuwabara 2007).
It is well known that the development of IT-related equipment has been remarkable in recent years, and various educational methods such as e-learning, e-contents, and the creation of teaching materials using web services, and classes using the Internet are being tried everywhere (Yamaguchi 2012). Learning kanji through e -learning and web services is faster and more interesting than learning by writing it by hand over and over again. However, when we think of e-learning and web services, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a computer, but in this study, we conducted an experiment on six Turkish people at the beginner’s level who have started learning Japanese using a kanji application for non-kanji-using Japanese language learners that uses smartphones, which are now owned by everyone around the world, that is, “Obodon – JLPT Kanji.”
Chapter 1
Which hemisphere of the brain processes Chinese characters?
1.1 Role of each hemisphere of the brain
The human cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres, the left and right, and each hemisphere has a different role. However, the left and right hemispheres are firmly connected by beams and work together. Each hemisphere is responsible for controlling the movement of the limbs. For example, the left hemisphere controls the right limbs, and the right hemisphere controls the left limbs.
There is a big difference in the roles of the left and right hemispheres of the cerebrum. People who use their left hemisphere to a large extent are good at language and calculations, while people who use their right hemisphere to a large extent are good at visual matters such as backgrounds, faces, and art. Therefore, it can be said that engineers and singers use the right hemisphere of the brain more than the left hemisphere.
When the left hemisphere of the brain is damaged, language damage called “aphasia” occurs, such as not being able to say the words you want to say, not being able to understand people’s conversations, and not being able to remember words in other languages no matter how hard you try. . On the other hand, if the right hemisphere is damaged, visual-related damage will occur, such as easily forgetting people’s faces and being unable to draw what one is thinking, no matter how hard one tries.
1.2 About kanji processing
As mentioned in 1.1 above, language is processed in the left hemisphere of humans, and if the left hemisphere is damaged, the person will become aphasic. In other words, the speaking function will be affected. There are many cases where people cannot write with their own hands as well as they can speak ( Kamei 1990). This is because the alphabet, which is related to language, is also processed in the left hemisphere of the brain.
However, when compared to people from non-Kanji countries, people who speak kanji are a little different. Of course, people who speak kanji will also suffer damage to their speaking ability in the same way as people who do not speak kanji if they suffer damage to the left hemisphere of their brains, but unlike people who do not speak kanji, they will still be able to use some language even if they have damage. It is also possible to write. This is because, unlike the alphabets used by people in non-Kanji areas, the kanji used by people in kanji areas are not processed in the left hemisphere of the cerebrum, but in data related to vision, such as faces, images, and shapes. This is because it is processed in the right hemisphere of the brain. Shige Yamatori (1985) states, “Kanji, which are ideographic characters, and kana, which are phonetic characters, are memorized in different parts of the brain. Phonetic characters are memorized in the left hemisphere of the cerebrum, while kanji and pictures are memorized in the right hemisphere of the cerebrum. It describes the functional differences between the left and right hemispheres of the human brain.
Existing research based on clinical data from patients with aphasia has revealed that kanji, the Japanese ideographic characters, are processed in the right hemisphere of the brain. Kamei (1990) already stated in his paper ” Aphasia Patients and Kanji” that ” It has been thought that language ability resides only in the left hemisphere , but it has been confirmed that the right hemisphere also possesses a certain degree of language ability . In the case of the right hemisphere, there is almost no speech ability, but there is some writing ability and a considerable vocabulary that can be processed visually and aurally . “
Chapter 2
Teaching method for kanji education
2.1 Teaching materials and methods used for kanji education
What methods are effective for non-kanji learners of Japanese to memorize kanji ? Various studies have been conducted so far , but in this study , we would like to focus on image formation when remembering the shape of kanji and examine its effects. In a study of the effects of image formation ( Kuwahara, 2007) , Matsumi, Morikawa, and Kuwahara (1998) showed that external image formation through the presentation of pictures is effective for long-term memory retention .
Concerning independent learning methods for students, Sakai ( 1994 ) states, “Just repeating mechanical transcription of kanji does not lead to sustained memorization, and teaching stroke order that is simply replaced with shapes does not make memorizing fun for students.” “It’s a series of pains.”
Even today, the traditional method of calligraphy is still widely used in kanji education. However, with the spread of the Internet, e -learning and web services have also come into use. Currently, with the spread of smartphones, smartphone apps are also being widely used for kanji learning. This is because, unlike personal computers, smartphones are light and can be taken anywhere. One of the goals of this research is to develop a kanji learning app that is convenient, fun, and easy to keep from getting bored.
Chapter 3
Introducing the kanji learning app we developed
3.1 Indispensable features of existing kanji learning apps
Looking at existing kanji learning apps listed on Apple’s Apple Store, there are many free flashcard apps and apps that allow you to practice writing . However, there are few apps that simultaneously present Japanese ideograms and illustrations representing the meanings of the kanji, which develop the right hemisphere of the brain . Most of the kanji learning applications currently available on the Apple Store are Flashcard applications, which are hand-written kanji one by one on the front side of a piece of paper, and the meaning, on-yomi, and kun-yomi on the back side. Although it may be easier to do so, such teaching materials cannot be said to be effective enough for learning kanji.
The most important problem is that there are still no kanji learning applications developed in Turkish. Even if there are, the buttons and usage of the application are written in Turkish. Therefore, in this study, we develop an application in which the application font, application contents, in other words, the meanings of the kanji and the meanings of words related to the kanji are all written in Turkish.
3.2 Introduction to this app — How is it different from existing apps?
The purpose of this research is to develop a kanji learning application for non-kanji learners of Japanese, and to examine its learning effects through experiments. Create a kanji learning app by dividing kanji at the elementary, middle, and upper level into groups, preparing illustrations that represent the meaning of each kanji, and words related to the kanji. The app will have an SNS function that allows users to interact with other users and friends, and a quiz game function that allows users to practice the kanji they have learned.
Figure: Kanji learning application interface
Figure 1 shows the interface of the developed kanji learning application. The leftmost screen is a sliding menu that makes the app easier to use. The central screen shows kanji divided by level. Kanji are classified into levels based on the difficulty of the kanji that appear on the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. In order to level kanji, I analyzed many Japanese Language Proficiency Test books. I also referred to a list of proficiency test kanji posted online. The rightmost screen is the kanji detail screen . When you click on a kanji at each level , the kanji and illustrations related to that kanji appear. If you touch the blue button at the bottom left of the screen, the on-yomi, kun-yomi, Turkish meaning and usage examples of that kanji will be displayed. If you touch the same button again, the item mentioned earlier will disappear from the screen. This is because it was developed in such a way that other data does not get in the way when kanji learners are learning kanji. Then, by touching the heart button at the top right of the same screen, students can add kanji they like or kanji they think they haven’t studied enough to the bookmark folder.
Figure 2: Quiz skills in the “Obodon – JLPT Kanji Study & Quiz” app
It is possible to practice the kanji learned in this app over and over again. In addition, a game function has been added to improve the learner’s motivation. The screen on the left side of Figure 2 shows the quiz function of “JLPT Kanji”. From this screen, the learner can select the kanji level he/she wants to practice. A learner who has installed this app on a device for the first time must start from level 5 to take the quiz. All levels other than level 5 are locked. If the learner takes level 5 and successfully completes it, level 4 will be unlocked. In this way, the learner can practice all kanji from beginner level to advanced level kanji. The learner can practice the kanji learned using this app again without other teaching materials. The screen in the center is the quiz screen of this app. The question kanji appears in the center of the screen. Four Turkish words are displayed below the kanji as options. Only one of the four Turkish words is the correct answer, and the remaining three options are incorrect. If the learner answers the question correctly, he/she gets 100 points. Then, animations and sounds that attract the learner’s interest are generated. If the student answers a question incorrectly, the student will lose 50 points and then another animation and sound will be generated to make the student anxious. If the student makes three mistakes during the test, the quiz will end. The student can move on to the next level by answering each kanji question one by one, so that the student does not make more than three mistakes. The time elapsed is located in the upper left of the screen. If the student completes the test without making more than three mistakes, the “Level Completed” screen will appear. The screen will show the number of points the student has earned, the time elapsed, and a list of kanji that the student was unable to answer correctly. The screen on the right is the scoreboard screen. The student can see the points he or she has earned at each level by level. It is also possible to post the results of each level on social media. By posting the results, the student can announce their results to other users of the app, and it will be an effort to compete with friends to achieve the highest score. By touching the button in the upper right of the screen, the student can see the scores of not only the student’s friends but also all users of the app worldwide.
In summary, unlike existing apps, this app has a quiz game function that draws the attention of Japanese language learners and increases their motivation, a share function that allows learners to post their results on social media, and kanji learning around the world. Add a game center function that tells you your level or position among the players.
Chapter 4
Research method and results
4.1 Survey target/method
‘Obodon – JLPT Kanji Study & Quiz ‘ app developed in this research is effective for learning kanji for non-kanji learners. This experiment was conducted using the method described below. The target audience was 6 students in the preparatory course of the Department of Japanese Language Education at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey. All experiments were at the beginner level.
The experiment was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the six test subjects were divided into two groups of three people each. One group used the developed iOS kanji learning app, and the other group used the traditional method of studying kanji by writing. I instructed him to do so. They selected 20 third-grade kanji that the subjects had not yet learned, put them all in the same classroom, and gave them 30 minutes to study them. Of course, for the subjects who study by hand, we prepared materials containing kanji, their meanings and stroke order in Turkish, and distributed them to the subjects on the day of the experiment (Figure 3). Thirty minutes later, participants in both groups were given the test, one at a time, using the app.
A week later, for the second phase of the experiment, the subjects were gathered again. This time, instead of reviewing the kanji they had learned, they took a test one by one to see whether the kanji they had learned in the previous short-term memory were retained in their long-term memory.
4.2 Survey results
First stage:
All subjects who studied using the app and those who studied by writing by hand received full marks. This result shows that the kanji characters were retained in the short-term memory of the subjects who studied using the app, equally to the group who studied by writing, and there was not much difference. However, when the time elapsed during the test was measured for each subject, a large difference was found between the groups. The group who studied using the app answered questions faster than the group who studied by writing (Figure 4). In other words, the results showed that the reaction ability or reaction speed of learners who studied using the app was faster than those who studied by writing by hand many times.
Figure 4: Results table from the first phase of the experiment
Second stage:
In order to confirm which of the two kanji learning methods was more effective in retaining kanji in long-term memory, the second phase of the experiment was conducted one week later. The subjects were given the same test as in phase 1, and the elapsed time was compared with the results of the previous test. Looking at the elapsed time of both groups, it can be seen that the elapsed time was longer than the previous time, but the elapsed time of the subjects who used the app was the same as the previous time (Figure 3), and their reaction speed was also much faster than that of the subjects who learned kanji by writing them down.
Figure 5: Results table from the second phase of the experiment
Survey summary:
In summary, using an app to learn kanji and learning kanji through image formation is a method without drawbacks in that it is retained in short-term and long-term memory compared to the handwriting method. Rather, it is no exaggeration to say that the fact that the subjects who studied with the app spent less time on it supports them in recalling the kanji they learned.
Conclusion
In this study, we developed a kanji learning application for non-kanji learners of Japanese and conducted an experiment on six beginner-level students. As a result, it can be said that this app is effective. In this research, we searched for ways to train the right brain of non-kanji language learners of Japanese, whose right hemisphere has not yet been trained.As a result, we developed an app that shows kanji, illustrations of the kanji, and meanings in Turkish at the same time. Added functions such as social network function and quiz game function to increase learners’ motivation.
Then, six beginners were given intermediate level Chinese characters to study and take quizzes. The results showed that the app developed in this study was significantly more effective than the traditional method, which involved writing Chinese characters by hand multiple times. However, it was only superior in terms of remembering the Turkish meanings of Chinese characters.
In the future, I would like to repeat the experiment conducted in this study with at least 30 subjects. I would also like to add a function to practice writing kanji, rather than just memorizing their meanings. In this study, we will target Turkish Japanese learners whose native language is Turkish, which is one of the SOV type languages, but we will also use the results to study Japanese learners of SVO type languages in non-kanji countries. I would also like to consider whether this is an effective method. We would also like to use the data we have collected to develop more effective learning apps in the future.
References
Yoko Kuwahara (2007) “ Journal CAJLE ” “Effect of image formation on reacknowledgment of kanji in non-kanji language learning” No. 9 pp . 21-38
Aldo Dorigny (1992) “World Japanese Language Education” In: A Study on Kanji Teaching for Non-Chinese Character-Using Students in the Introductory Period, pp . 61-76
Kamei, Takashi (1990) “Japanese Linguistics,” Aphasia Patients and Kanji, No. 9, pp . 39-47
Ichiro Ikeda and Tsuguo Ogawa, “Memory Strategies and Functional Differences between the Cerebral Hemispheres,” Nara University Bulletin, Vol. 11, pp . 99-107
Hiroyuki Uno, Satomi Takami, Hiromi Kotani, and Hiroki Watanabe (2004) “Characteristic Educational Research” Cognitive Training for Children with Inattention – Children with Continuous Spike-Wave Syndrome during Slow-Wave Sleep (CSWS) – 42,4 pp.271-281
Special Thanks
Asst. Prof. Aydın ÖZBEK
and all the teachers of Department of Japanese Language Education at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkiye.
