The Development of a New Pedagogy Exemplified in Kanji Acquisition
MARKOVIĆ Ljiljana, TRIČKOVIĆ Divna University of Belgrade Abstract
The general rationale of our research can be found in the already established lack of appropriate materials for learning kanji available to Serbian speaking students of the Japanese language. In attempting to solve this problem we have endeavoured to apply the postulates of modern pedagogical and didactic paradigms, such as CLIL, Autonomous Learner and CAN-DO descriptors. We were able to extract many valuable hypotheses and procedures from these different approaches and consequently develop a new form of pedagogy, which we applied in writing the book “Kanji”. In this paper we describe the book’s distinctive features, as well as the comments collected from its users and the results of several tests performed following its publication.
Keywords: kanji, students, Japanese language, pedagogy
【キーワード】 漢字、学習者、日本語、教授法
1 Introduction
The aim of this paper is to present the development and outcomes of a new pedagogical paradigm we have named Students for Students. During our research we focused on students of Japanese as an elective subject at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, in the period from 2011 to 2016, and their study of kanji, Japanese-Chinese characters. The whole process consisted of three phases: 1. Finding out the students’ desires and necessities in order to structure the syllabus the course must cover (prior to and until 2012); 2. Writing and publishing the book
“Kanji” (Markovic et al 2013 - I edition, 2014 - II edition) together with students (2012-2013); 3.
Collecting users’ opinions (following the publication of the first edition, 2013) and checking results through testing (2016). Throughout the said period on several occasions we conducted interviews with students and discussed the project.
This paper will be divided similarly: firstly, we will explain the situation concerning the students and the course in question; secondly, we will give an overview of the book we produced in cooperation with students; and lastly, we will present our findings from the testing conducted on the book’s publication. We will end with our final remarks.
2 The needs and circumstances
In lessons of Japanese as an elective language at the Faculty of Philology we used “みんなの 日本語初級 I” as a textbook, but when it came to the teaching of kanji, we found it lacking for the following reason: as our course entailed the simultaneous teaching of hiragana and katakana, while following lessons presented in the Latin script for the first two months, it was difficult to fit in teaching of kanji as it was set out by the book. Correspondingly, in earlier interviews and talks our students revealed that they were not satisfied with the way characters were taught because they had difficulties remembering them and were presented with very little opportunity to use them.
During our initial talks and later the testing that took place in 2016, we were able to note that students in Serbia predominantly learn Japanese for pleasure: they seek the mental and aesthetic satisfaction. Their motivation is not the desire to gain an advantage when seeking employment or financial gain, except in the context of “the more languages (whichever they may be) I know, the better” and as an asset in the eyes of the employer. In a great many cases students chose to learn Japanese because they are interested in anime, manga and other popular forms of Japanese culture, articulating their choice as a desire “to watch anime without subtitles”. A significant number of students of Japanese as an elective do not contemplate going to Japan or consider it to be an exotic tourist destination which they might visit out of curiosity “one day in the distant future”.
Regardless of the points mentioned above, almost all of our subjects agreed that they benefit from learning Japanese because it helps the development of their mental and aesthetic potentials and that these benefits are primarily indirect, but, nevertheless, of value to them. Perhaps for this reason, the number of people learning Japanese as an elective continues to grow.1
At the same time, exposure to the language of students who do not study for a degree comes down to their personal effort as the number of lessons is limited and does not permit major departures from the set curriculum. It is also important to add that most teachers of Japanese working in Serbia today are not of Japanese origin and some of them have never actually been to Japan.
For this reason, the students are limited to their textbooks, anime, manga and other content of the students’ liking and for which Japanese merely serves as a vehicle. In other words, the students implement the principles of CLIL2 on their own, autonomously, and the teacher’s role in this is to help and direct them in setting targets of their learning3 by the use of CAN DOs4. 3 “Kanji” – students and teachers working together
The result of the process described can be seen in the book “Kanji”. The book “Kanji” is a product of the initiative of two students who learn Japanese as an elective at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, namely Marina Erdeljan and Simon Maric, who communicated the problems they encountered when learning kanji and their desire to find a better way of approaching this task.
The book “Kanji” contains 15 units which deal with 180 individual characters and another approximately 10 characters which form part of other characters. What follows is a description of the book’s distinctive features.
In discussions with our students, we came to the conclusion that students wish to be able to use characters in sentences as soon as they learn them. For this reason, it was important to present the characters in such a way so as to enable their contextual grouping. This meant that the characters could not be grouped by type of word or logical set. An example of this can be seen in
the case of verbs, which the students wanted to be able to use immediately and which, therefore, could not be separated from the nouns they collocate with.5 For the same reason, we did not place all the words for family members in one unit, for example.6
Although it is common practice in textbooks that teach characters to progress from simpler to more complex kanjis, we believed that this was not always necessary, as our students are adults learning Japanese as L2 and more commonly L3. For this reason, we found it unnecessary to, for example, give an explanation of 田 “rice paddy”, because there are no rice paddies in Serbia and at the beginner level there is no context in which students can use this word in a sentence. The same applied to the characters 貝 “shell”, 力 “strength” and several others. However, most of these productive radicals were used in the descriptions of characters (for example in the explanation for kanji 男 and 買). On the other hand, we included characters such as 曜 used in the days of the week because the students requested it.
As the characters were not grouped according to logic but context, the creation of logical connections between characters was encouraged as a means of motivating students to learn. In this way, not only were mnemonic and cognitive abilities strengthened but also encouraged were curiosity and the ability to logically create categorical units (for its importance see Nation 2001).
For example, when the character for “father” or a season or a similar logical-semantic unit was explained, we directed the readers to the page where the individual words were grouped and where the students would be able to find additional information about other members of the subset the word belonged to.
Right from the start the characters were introduced through approximations of real-life situations and for this purpose we used a comic strip. The strip was used as a task through which characters would be acquired because “it requires them [the students] to give primary attention to meaning and to make use of their own linguistic resources” (Ellis 2004:16) in the decoding of the message before them. By looking at the comic strip the students are encouraged to draw their own conclusions regarding the meaning of the character and at the same time it provides them with a background for the subject matter to be covered in the unit.
Each character in the lesson is described separately in the manner commonly seen in textbooks devoted to the subject.7 What is novel in the explanations is the part which is meant to aid memorization, which is not based only on etymology (etymology was used when we found it helpful for memorization, as in the case of pictograms) but on local association as well (e.g. the number 9 is associated by its shape with a cat and its nine lives; an association familiar to Europeans but not to Japanese).
The exercises that follow the units encourage creativity, besides testing the students’ memory.
They also provide the students with an opportunity to use kanji in different contexts.
4 Testing of the positive outcomes of the book “Kanji”
During the course of the academic year 2015/2016, we attempted to reach statistically significant results which would corroborate these claims, as well as provide concrete evidence which would substantiate the positive feedback given to us thus far by the users. For this purpose, we devised a test to check whether the implemented methods aid or not the memorization of kanji. The results presented here are only from the group of students that normally do not study Japanese, 44 in total. We also tested students of Japanese as an elective at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade (14 subjects) and in one Belgrade secondary school (5
subjects), and the results almost completely coincide with those presented here. Apart from the questions regarding prior knowledge of Japanese and similar information, the test contained 4 groups of questions, and the tested subjects were divided into two groups (22 + 22 subjects).
Groups were given different materials, both taken from the book in question.
For the first question (“On the basis of the character try to guess what it means” Group A, and
“On the basis of the comic strip, try to guess the meaning of the character” Group B), which tested the ability of students to make their own associations without prior knowledge, one group (A) was given only a list of characters and was asked to choose from three possible meanings based on their appearance only. The second group (B) was given the same multiple-choice question with the addition of the comic strip from the beginning of the unit as a hint. The tests showed that the comic strip alone, although helpful, was not sufficient for the students to be able to guess the meaning of unfamiliar characters, since the number of correct answers to question no.
1 was only slightly higher in group B.
The second group of questions (Q2-4) focused on the testing of memory and logical reasoning on the basis of given associations. Group (A) was given only dictionary type explanations from a book and example sentences with their translations. The second group was given only the specific explanations which we previously mentioned were an innovation. All of the questions had answers given in the material which was presented for a limited amount of time before the testing.
For question number 2 – “Which of the following characters do you think is connected to atmospheric conditions (choose up to 3)?” – the right characters out of 16 (雪、雷、雲) were predominantly chosen by the subjects in group B. This group were given the additional information hidden in the explanation of the other kanji, that the character 雨 often appears in conjunction with other characters which signify atmospheric conditions.8
For question 3, testing memorization only, where the explanations differed between groups A and B in the aforementioned way, the ratio of correct answers in the two groups, A and B, was always in favour of group B.
For question number 4, which combined associative reasoning with memory (the characters had been indirectly mentioned when explaining other characters) most of the correct answers were also provided by group B.
Although the results of the testing did not provide us with the radical differences we expected, we felt that the oral comments provided by the readers of our book and their endorsement of the continuation of our project, were, nevertheless, sufficiently illustrative to validate our statements.
Additionally, it is our belief that in this way it is possible to stimulate the cognitive abilities of students, which can further produce significant effects in a less direct way. In other words, the study of Japanese can be undertaken not merely for the reason of mastering the language, but in order to improve skills of reasoning and provide a deeper understanding of the world around us.
5 Final remarks
The fact that it was the students themselves who, with guidance from the teachers, determined which characters they needed, significantly influenced not only their personal motivation but also the motivation of future generations of students, to whom they are obviously closer than the teachers. The possibility of being able to create their own syllabus deeply influenced their feelings of being responsible for the success of their studies and made them more mindful autonomous learners. Our selection of kanji and their presentation, especially the connections
made to the local culture and the omission of some more commonly taught kanji in favour of those kanji we found were more useful, proved itself to be beneficial (question no. 3). It is also important to note that the practice of mentioning simpler kanji as parts of other kanji also had a very positive effect on the students as it made them look at characters as a puzzle with whose parts they familiarize themselves gradually. A great number of students memorized characters that were just mentioned in passing, as proved by the test results (question no. 2 and 4).
The newly created situation in the world of Japanese language education shifts the emphasis from the Japanese language to developing students’ cognitive abilities and the broadening of their horizons. Japanese language thus becomes a means for improvement, and not a goal in itself.
This is achieved by stimulating students’ autonomy (Learner Autonomy) and their awareness of their own achievements (CAN-DO), which become key factors in their further development as members of society, even on the completion of their studies. In this way, the development of the inherent abilities of students through the learning of the Japanese language, contributes to the advancement of their personal strengths and enables students to increase their personal welfare, all of which, in turn, contributes to the welfare of their communities and societies in general.
1 In 2013 Japanese was introduced to Serbian primary and secondary schools as an elective subject.
2 “The language classroom is essential for the learner to understand the ‘nuts and bolts’ of language – the architectural plans. But there is rarely enough time in the classroom for the language teacher to go beyond this essential part of the learning process. Learners need time to build things with the ‘nuts and bolts’ – to build the house which they see in theory on paper” (Marsh 2000: 3).
3 As the paradigm of autonomous learner is the concept used as a foundation in the process of reforming the Faculty of Philology University of Belgrade since 2002, we wrote more about this subject in the paper Markovic and Trickovic 2014 (ref. Little 2007, 2009a, 2009b, 2010).
4 Although there are many CAN-DOs that imply at least partial familiarity with certain kanji, there is not an explicit list of characters that are expected to be known at a specific level. Precisely for this reason, nowadays it is difficult to determine what should be taught to students. On the other hand, we are permitted more freedom in the selection of kanji. The principles of CAN-DO stress the importance of what a student can do with the language and competence levels delineate precisely what they should be able to do, which help us to draw many conclusions. Nevertheless, the question of writing has not yet been fully addressed and the initiatives of Japan Foundation and other similar organizations to find the answers are still in the initial phase.
5 It is often done that way. For example, in the book 『漢字マスター Vol.1』“100 Kanji in 10 Days, The Easy Way” all kanji’s for verbs are grouped together in lesson 9.
6 “The grouping of words of similar meaning, e.g. cardinal points, actually hinders their memorization”
(Nation 2001).
7 First, we give the on and kun readings, the basic meaning, typographical variations and similar
information provided in dictionaries. What follows is the usage of the given character in words in which the character appears in combination with another character. Finally, these words are employed in sentences which are appropriate to the level.
8It is interesting to note that Serbian speaking students often thought that the characters 物 and 家 were also connected to the weather, possibly because wind is sometimes symbolically represented in Serbian culture by several slanting parallel lines.
References
『漢字マスター Vol.1』 4級漢字１００(100 Kanji in 10 Days, The Easy Way) （2006）アークア カデミー教材作成委員会編、専門教育出版
Little D. (2007) Language Learners Autonomy: Some Fundamental Considerations Revisited. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 1: 14-28.
Little D. (2009a) Developing and implementing a holistic approach to language teaching and learning at university. A Seminar on Language Teaching. March 25th – 27th, The Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade.
Little D. (2009b) The European Language Portfolio – Where pedagogy and assessment meet. 8th International Seminar on the European Language Portfolio, September 29th – October 1st, Graz. Document 4. Language Policy Division.
Little D., Marković Lj., Nikolić J. & Nikolić N. (2010) LinkDesc: a Software tool for establishing relationship between learning outcomes and ELP Descriptors. INTED2010 Proceedings CD. Valencia.
Marković Lj. & Nikolić J. (2009) Reforming foreign language studies in Serbia. EDULEAR09 Procedeeings, International Association for Technology, Education and Development. Barcelona.
Marković Lj. & Tričković D. (2014) Collection of student articles as a case-study for the acquisition of discourse: Competence and written production in the field of Japanese language and culture. Japanese Language Education in Europe 19; The Proceedings of the 18th Japanese Language Symposium in Europe 28-30 August, 2014; Section 10: Japanese Language Education, Subsection of the 14th International Conference of EAJS, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 203-208.
Marković Lj, Tričković D., Erdeljan M. and Marić, S. (2013 – I edition, 2014 – II edition) Kanji. Kokoro.
Marsh D. (2000) Using languages to learn and learning to use languages (http://www.tieclil.org/html/products/pdf/%201%20UK.pdf) (2016.06.03).
Minna no Nihongo 『みんなの日本語 初級I』（1998初版）、スリーエーネットワーク.
Nation I.S.P. (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge University Press.
学生から学生へ
漢字学習を事例とした新たな教育学の開発
リリャナ・マルコヴィッチ、ディヴナ・トリチコヴィッチ ベオグラード大学
要旨
本研究は、セルビアにおける日本語学習者に適した漢字教材が不足しているという背景 に基づいたものである。この問題を解決するあたり CLIL、自律学習者および CAN－DO 等といった現代的な教授法と教訓的パラダイムを採用した。これらの異なるアプローチか ら様々な良質なアイデアと手順を抽出することに成功し、新たな教授法の開発への導きと なり、『漢字』という教科書の作成へと繋がった。本論文では、その教科書の特徴と使用者 から収集した評価、また、出版後に数回実施したテスティングの結果を報告する。