introducing kanji strategies through japanese calligraphy - Princeton

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37 参考資料1 Japanese KANJI Survey (Conducted on May 3, 2010) 1) What was the most difficult thing about studying kanji? 2) How many hours per week did you spend studying kanji? 3) Do you think 220 kanji is a suitable amount of kanji to study for first-year Japanese students? Yes No --> How many kanji is a suitable amount? 4) Was “sora-gaki” (using your finger in the air) a good practice for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 5) Was “yubi-gaki” (using your finger on the desk) a good way for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 6) Was body-writing a good way for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 7) Were the 46 Kanji Mini Tests (Quizzes) helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 8) Was using the brush-pen helpful for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 9) Were the feedbacks on the homework kanji-sheets helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 10) Was practicing in the empty boxes of the kanji sheets helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 11) Was using the brush with water and writing on the blackboard helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 12) Was the kanji calligraphy practice method helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 13) Were the games that were played in class helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 14) When learning a new kanji, was the method of introducing other kanji that can be combined to make words helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 15) When introducing one kanji, was introducing different kanji with some of the same parts (hen, tsukuri, etc.) helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 16) For “sora-gaki” and “yubi-gaki,” was counting the strokes “1, 2, 3...” outloud helpful for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 17) Was writing papers on the boxed-sheets vertically and by hand (genkoo-yooshi) a good way to improve your kanji knowledge? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial?

Transcript of introducing kanji strategies through japanese calligraphy - Princeton

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参考資料1

Japanese KANJI Survey (Conducted on May 3, 2010) 1) What was the most difficult thing about studying kanji? 2) How many hours per week did you spend studying kanji? 3) Do you think 220 kanji is a suitable amount of kanji to study for first-year Japanese students? Yes No --> How many kanji is a suitable amount? 4) Was “sora-gaki” (using your finger in the air) a good practice for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 5) Was “yubi-gaki” (using your finger on the desk) a good way for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 6) Was body-writing a good way for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 7) Were the 46 Kanji Mini Tests (Quizzes) helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 8) Was using the brush-pen helpful for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 9) Were the feedbacks on the homework kanji-sheets helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 10) Was practicing in the empty boxes of the kanji sheets helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 11) Was using the brush with water and writing on the blackboard helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 12) Was the kanji calligraphy practice method helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 13) Were the games that were played in class helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 14) When learning a new kanji, was the method of introducing other kanji that can be combined to make words helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 15) When introducing one kanji, was introducing different kanji with some of the same parts (hen, tsukuri, etc.) helpful for learning them? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 16) For “sora-gaki” and “yubi-gaki,” was counting the strokes “1, 2, 3...” outloud helpful for learning the kanji? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial? 17) Was writing papers on the boxed-sheets vertically and by hand (genkoo-yooshi) a good way to improve your kanji knowledge? Yes --> What part of it was beneficial? No --> Why was it not beneficial?

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INTRODUCING KANJI STRATEGIES THROUGH JAPANESE CALLIGRAPHY

書道と組み合わせての漢字ストラタジーの導入の試み

Nobuyoshi Asaoka 浅岡信義

Grinnell College Introduction Every foreign language has some challenging aspects to learn and Japanese

language is no exception. Learning kanji, the logographic characters shared with Chinese, is surely one of the most complex tasks when it comes to learning Japanese (Gamage, 2003; Mori, 1999; Okita, 1997; Toyoda, 1995). In particular, Toyoda (1995) found through her survey that intermediate level students feel learning kanji to be most difficult as the lexical burden increases. The respondents’ difficulty includes retention, multiple readings of a single character (unlike Chinese), as well as visual similarity and complexity.

Five major word learning strategies discussed in the literature include rote learning, context-based strategies, morphological analysis, mnemonics or association methods, and metacognitive strategies (Mori & Shimizu, 2007). As for learning kanji, strategy instructions, such as raising learners’ metacognitive or metalinguistic awareness about the nature of word meanings are suggested by Mori (2002) on the basis that the integrated combination of morphological clues and context clues leads to better understanding of novel kanji compounds, i.e., words consisting of two or more Chinese characters. On the other hand, Shimizu & Green (2002) reported through their survey of 251 members of the Association of Teachers of Japanese that although some tended to utilize memory and contextual strategies for teaching kanji, the rote learning approach was the most frequently employed among all the respondents.

Indeed, the widely used methodology of kanji education at American universities seems to (1) introduce a few kanji every day, (2) practice the stroke order with an instructor writing in space while reading aloud or using flashcards, and (3) administer occasional kanji quizzes to ensure that all students make steady progress. This whole process is limited generally to the very beginning, most likely 5 to 10 minutes per class (Endo & Kurokawa, 2004; Toyoda, 1995) and at most 30 minutes per week. Moreover, the textbooks widely used at American universities follow a thematic frequency-based approach to the order of teaching kanji. This approach supposes JFL learners, without much exposure to kanji outside the classroom, will have a better chance to see/read and use/write the same kanji more often, thus reinforcing their memory of learned kanji.

However, according to Toyoda’s survey, the most difficult aspect of kanji learning is retention. Learners might not have much difficulty to initially memorize kanji, but, soon afterwards their retention rate declines. So, although frequency is no doubt important, the question remains whether rote memorization is sufficient to help learners acquire kanji? Most learners, especially intermediate level, seem to have some doubts about it. This discrepancy between the feelings of learners of Japanese towards kanji learning and the commonly used methodology for teaching kanji suggests a strong risk of de-motivation.

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This causes additional problems because, if teachers follow a proficiency-oriented approach, they should aim to improve all the four language skills. As each closely interacts with the other, the lagging of one also adversely affects the rest. Insufficient knowledge of kanji leads to deficiency of reading comprehension, especially when learners face authentic materials, such as a Japanese newspaper. Yet priority is often put on spoken language. At some big state universities, for example, due to the emphasis on speaking, “Conversational Japanese” is offered. However, as it is students’ kanji acquisition that tends to lag behind, why not provide a specialized kanji course?

The present study investigates issues in kanji education at American universities and makes a case for a combined Japanese calligraphy and specialized kanji course. While the calligraphy course teaches basic techniques of calligraphy to re-motivate learners by lowering learners’ resistance towards kanji learning, the kanji course introduces learning strategies and through exercises in class, and thus learners build up kanji knowledge more systematically. For instance, they learn through an element-base approach, as well as becoming flexible at employing multiple strategies when they face unfamiliar kanji. Finally, the study shows how such a combined course may fit into a typical American institution’s curriculum.

Motivation The first question to consider is motivation, for without this, little progress can be

expected. Motivation generally consists of intrinsic and extrinsic components (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Financial gain is the most obvious example of the latter, but coercion and threat of punishment are also common extrinsic motivations (Kohn, 1996). However, both are time and context dependent and the same activity can be intrinsically or extrinsically motivating for different people (Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2007). Intrinsic motivation can also change over time (ibid). Many things that children find interesting gradually lose their appeal or vice versa. This can also be applied to kanji learning. Students perhaps find kanji exotic first but after taking Japanese and experiencing some learning difficulties, their motivation may be affected by changes in their perception towards it.

There is, indeed, evidence for this. As already noted, Toyoda (1995) conducted a survey among students of Japanese from an alphabetic background at a Japanese university. The results revealed that more students of intermediate Japanese, who had already studied 301 to 1,000 kanji, thought learning characters is difficult in comparison with students of introductory Japanese (with less than 300 kanji). Meanwhile students of advanced Japanese, who had previously studied 1,001 to 2,000 kanji, felt the least daunted by the task. But among the three groups, all considered retention of kanji as the most challenging aspect. This indicates how some learners of Japanese may go through some motivational changes in their perception towards kanji learning as they move up to intermediate level because they struggle with the sheer quantity. My thesis here is that a combination of kanji learning strategies and practice in combination with Japanese calligraphy may rekindle learners’ intrinsic motivation and thus help students overcome the difficulties face as they progress.

As Toyoda’s study was undertaken in Japan, in order to verify whether it is also the case with JFL learners, I conducted a similar survey in April 2009 across all students who were currently taking Japanese or had previously taken Japanese at Grinnell

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College1 where I am teaching. The participants were categorized into either beginning (with less than 300 kanji) or intermediate (with 300 to 1,000 kanji). There were 29 participants in this study: 19 beginning, 10 intermediate learners of Japanese.2

With background questions on the frequency and the amount of time spent on their kanji studies outside the classroom, the questionnaire asked about their perception towards kanji learning. The first three questions about overall kanji learning, kanji reading, and kanji writing respectively asked students to rate these to four different scales from (1) very difficult, (2) manageable, (3) relatively easy, and (4) very easy. The last question

about their attitude to kanji learning used a similar format from very interesting to very daunting. 3

From the results (see appendix), none of the beginning learners felt kanji learning to be very difficult including 4 feeling that it was relatively easy whereas all the intermediate learners felt it either very difficult or no more than manageable. As for kanji reading and writing, slightly more of the beginning learners felt (multiple) reading is more difficult than writing while all the intermediate learners felt writing is more difficult or similar to reading. The last question about their perception towards kanji learning shows a stark contrast between beginning and intermediate learners in that the majority of beginning learners felt it was either very interesting or quite interesting whereas the majority of intermediate learners felt it was both very/quite interesting but at the same time very/quite daunting. Overall, this would seem to support Toyoda’s evidence that although initial interest is strong, kanji learning can become a burden to students of both JSL and JFL as they get beyond the early stage.

There is one further point worth noting here. Toyoda (1995) commented that one possible reason why most advanced learners do not feel learning kanji to be as daunting as intermediate learners is that they may have somehow acquired kanji learning strategies, such as identifying kanji patterns. If this is the case, explicit instructions of kanji learning strategies might help the struggling intermediate learners of Japanese.

Memorization As we have noted, rote memorization has been used the most for kanji learning in

the U.S., but first, the definition of “memorization” needs to be clarified here, as this will help us understand both the strengths and the weakness of this approach. Memory is generally processed through three stages: (1) acquisition or encoding to learn the material in the first place, (2) storage to keep it until it is needed, and (3) retrieval to find it and get it back out when it is needed (Higbee, 1996). We also have short-term memory and long-term memory. The former refers to how many items can be perceived at one time – how much a person can consciously pay attention to at one time. The retention for short-term memory is therefore limited, to less than 30 seconds. A good example is when we look up a telephone number and forget it before we actually get to dial it. The retention for long-term memory is considerably longer. Long-term memory is also composed of several

                                                        1 Grinnell College is a highly selective private college with an enrollment of about 1,500, located in Iowa. 2 Among them, 3 beginning and 3 intermediate kanji-background students were excluded to match up with Toyoda’s 3 For this last question, some participants chose more than one answer: for example, “very interesting but quite daunting”.

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different types: procedural memory, semantic memory, and episodic memory. Procedural memory involves remembering how to do something, such as riding on a bicycle. Semantic memory involves remembering factual information, such as math equation with no connection to time or place. And episodic memory involves remembering personal events, such as mnemonics.

Higbee (1996, p. 25) summarizes the process of the transition from short-term memory to long-term memory as follows:

“Forgotten” rehearsed not coded Retrieval Failure Information Short-term Memory coded Long-term Memory retrieved Retrieved later immediately “Remembered” All the information goes through short-term memory to reach long-term memory,

but the in formation in short-term memory needs to be coded in some way to be transferred. This transition for kanji learning from short to long-term memory can be made in two ways: rote learning or mechanical repetition, and learning through understanding components of meaning, i.e., understanding, for instance, the radicals. However, these two methods are, in fact, placed at each end of a continuum. Coding requires us to make connections between, for example, a word and its meaning, in our brains. Rote learning depends on repetition and neglects the deeper affective side of memory while learning through understanding affects the other end. However, the latter stabilizes, moving from short-term memory to long-term memory only through repetition. Therefore, long-term memory requires both methods. As new information is added to long-term memory, the mental lexicon increases like a web through, not one, but various ways such as co-ordinates and collocational links (Aitchison, 1987). This can also be true with kanji building.

Indeed, even native speakers do not learn kanji simply through rote-memorization. From elementary school, various methods, such as stroke orders, radicals, rikusho (六書), homonyms, and other games-like activities are also used (Suda, 1988), just as native English speakers play “Scrabble”. Moreover, according to its difficulty and complexity, various methods and techniques have been employed among Japanese instructors to introduce each grammar point, for example, te-form by singing the te-form song, as well as provide various exercises to help learners efficiently acquire the new concept. So although current research has not adequately answered the question why some learners achieve higher kanji proficiency while others fail (Mori & Shimizu, 2007), we could at least say that a variety of techniques can help learners “playfully” motivated to acquire kanji and stabilize their knowledge.

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Issues with the Thematic-frequency Approach However, playful the learning process is, words in long-term memory are,

nevertheless, just stacked at random but carefully organized (Aitchison, 1987) and closely related. For example, they are stored through superordination (e.g. animal – horse) or synonomy (e.g., hungry – starved). As I already noted, the thematic-frequency approach promotes kanji recognition and attempts to make semantic connections but these remain weak. The current curriculum also fails to adequately recycle vocabulary that has already been learnt, but has yet to be stored in long-term memory. Here I will therefore address the current limitations with kanji education in the U.S. and propose an alternative specialized kanji course where learners with individual differences can learn and build up their kanji knowledge through various supplementary methods.

In most of the Japanese textbooks used in the U.S., the order in which kanji appears is based on a combination of the easiness of the kanji character (generally, those with fewer stokes) and the particular textbook chapter: for example, the theme of Nakama 2 Chapter 1 is health. Therefore, most of the kanji for the chapter is health-related. Below is a chart showing the order that kanji appears in three widely used textbooks, Genki, Nakama, and Yookoso as well as kanji for Chapter 1 of Nakama 2.

Type of kanji Chapter Total

Chapters Genki 1 一二三四五六七八九十百千万円時 Chapter 3 12

Nakama 1 大学校先生 山川田人上下中小日本

Chapter 4 Chapter 5

12

Yookoso 1 日本学生名何月人一二三四 五六七八九十百先話語大

Chapter 1* 7

*Yookoso 1 starts with Getting Started section which consists of 5 chapters, so the textbook is almost equivalent to Genki 1 and Nakama 1with 12 chapters each.

Nakama 2 Chapter 1 子供元入左右体薬病院医者住所痛悪変

The order of kanji is also apparently in accordance with the Educational Kanji

Grade Breakdown Kanji Allotment Chart (教育漢字の学年別漢字配当表) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. The Ministry has placed the order of kanji in the order of importance according to the age of learners. For example, all the 80 kanji assigned for first graders are easily understandable for them, such as 「花」「空」「男」「森」「学」and「校」. Likewise, most of the kanji in Chapter 3 of Genki 1 or Chapter 4 and 5 of Nakama 1 are either from the 80 kanji for first-year or from the 160 kanji for second-year elementary students in Japan.

However, we might question whether this approach is necessarily the most effective. As Flaherty (1991), for instance, pointed out, alphabetic-habituated learners do not process kanji in the same way as Japanese children. While Japanese children acquire speaking and listening at an early age and then acquire reading and writing rather late, adult learners learn the four skills almost simultaneously. Besides, children as well as JSL learners are also exposed to kanji outside the classroom.

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The order of kanji in most Japanese textbooks in the U.S. is strongly influenced by the frequency of the use of particular words in the classroom, such as 「先生」「学

生」「学校」「日本語」. Thematic-frequency approach is, therefore, employed for JFL learners apparently with less exposure to kanji outside the classroom to reinforce memory through repetition. However, learners of Japanese are often forced to learn 「時」「語」「好」before 「日」or「寺」「言」「女」or「子」respectively. For instance, 「時」is introduced in Chapter 3 of Genki 1 but 「寺」does not appear until Chapter 15 of Genki 2. Because of this semantic priority, learners are forced to learn the more complex 「時」before「寺」. This shows how semantic familiarity is prioritized over structural simplicity. Moreover, Ellis (1985) reported that the rate and the degree of success of foreign language learning is largely affected by individual learner differences, such as age, aptitude, attitude, motivation, personality, cognitive style, and preferred learning strategies. My argument is that the thematic-frequency approach may make sense pragmatically in the short term but ultimately such an approach treats kanji as an extension of (classroom) speaking rather than a skill in itself.

Of course, the issue mainly depends on each learner’s needs, such as how far s/he wants to learn the language. Supposing the learner wants to get to an advanced level, s/he will need to cover a large number of kanji, say somewhere around 2,000+. If so, I would argue that as far as writing kanji is concerned, it is more efficient and effective to teach smaller components first and then if possible, introduce more complex kanji like building blocks. Hatasa (1989) reported that more complex kanji are not necessarily more difficult to read but as far as production is concerned, not surprisingly, kanji with fewer strokes are more easily produced than those with more. Of course, computer input methods can get around this problem, but I would suggest that as the burden of kanji increases, the reliance on whole character memorization for its production which the thematic-frequency approach encourages is in fact its long term weakness. Although such an approach may facilitate kanji reading best, in the short term, because the choice of kanji is mainly in accordance with the theme of the chapter and its relative ‘easiness’ (i.e. either fewer strokes or its inclusion in the Kanji Grade Chart or both) only the criteria of simplicity makes sense if we wish to introduce kanji in a systematic manner.

Of course, opinion is somewhat divided on whether teaching radicals, as part of morphological analysis, should be taught in the Japanese class (Hatasa, 1989). One of the main objections was that it would take a large amount of time out of the current already tight curriculum and also possibly bore students. However, this depends on how they are taught and brings me to the design of the kanji/calligraphy course.

Calligraphy Course at Grinnell College Grinnell College currently offers a 1-credit Chinese/Japanese calligraphy course

each semester. This practicum course mainly consists of students of Chinese and Japanese as well as those with an art major. Of course, Chinese or Japanese calligraphy is an ancient traditional art and therefore, it takes a tremendous amount of time to master. In order to successfully fit into the American university curriculum, the way the art is taught needs to be revised for learners, especially from an alphabetic-background. First of all, the basic course objective should be to enjoyably experience the traditional art rather than to make them master calligraphers.

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Following adequate practice of basic strokes, two projects can be provided, one in the middle of semester and another at the end. 「永」can be a good sample for the mid-term project when students acquire all the basics as the character contains all the basic strokes with a dot, a straight line, a hook, and stops while a word of student’s choice, for instance, a four-letter Japanese idiom, for the final project can make the activity enjoyable. This slow yet repetitive process enables students to learn and master basic stroke orders – once this foundation is laid, more rapid progress can be achieved.

The art makes learners focus on smaller details through kinetic movements whereas the kanji learning section focuses on studying kanji systematically through learning radicals, homonyms, and distinctive and assorted chunks. The former aims to arouse intrinsic motivation as learners mainly enjoy the traditional art and become more aware of each kanji stroke while the latter facilitates extrinsic motivation as they learn kanji in a more systematic manner, building from ‘block’ to ‘block’, component to component. However, the two sections of the course are complimentary and mutually reinforcing.

Of course, we cannot deny that in one way or another, kanji need to be memorized by learners. But, the question is how the process can be made less painful, for otherwise too many learners will simply give up. I have already been teaching a one-credit once-a-week calligraphy course at Grinnell College. This art-oriented course has been received very well. A student’s comment, such as “After taking the course I have realized the importance of the balance of kanji” shows, I hope, that learners do not simply improve their penmanship as a result, but become more committed to the overall task of learning Japanese.

New Approach: Introducing Flexibility in Kanji Learning This specialized kanji course allows us reconstruct the order of kanji for learners

to learn or review them as well as to teach learning strategies. The purpose of the course is to approach both ends of the memory continuum, learning through repetition and through understanding.

Here I will briefly explain what kind of learning strategies can be taught and how each of them should be exercised in class. Heisig (1986) proposed an innovative kanji learning approach, called, the element-based approach, which focuses more on each element, such as radicals, and builds these up meaningfully by identifying the parts of kanji and assigning their meanings. Learners first learn important radicals and simpler elements. For example, before 「校」is learned, the radical, 「木」and「父」is introduced so that learners can make a smooth transition. This is an analogy to building blocks of a house: first, put in place the solid foundations - i.e. mainly radicals. The number of kanji to introduce during the course is, on an experimental basis, limited up to JPN332 (the highest Japanese language course). So, within the approximately 800 kanji syllabus, the order will be rearranged using the element-based approach. For example,「言」(Chapter 8 of Genki 1)and「売」(Chapter 10 of Genki 1) and 「日」

(Chapter 4 of Genki 1) and「寺」(Chapter 15 of Genki 2) are introduced first and then, 「読」(Chapter 8 of Genki 1) and 「時」(Chapter 3 of Genki 1) follow respectively for smoother learning sequence.

One of the other difficulties of learning kanji is homonyms, which learners of Japanese may find unfamiliar. However, Samuels (1973) found pre-training for visual

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discrimination was effective with American children trying to learn English letters, “p”, “d”, “g”, and “q”. He concluded that the pre-training facilitated the subsequent learning by sensitizing children to visual features of letters. Sugimura & Kubo (1975) conducted a similar experiment with Japanese children trying to learn the pronunciation of katakana, and found that their pre-training for visual discrimination facilitated subsequent association between hiragana and their sounds. Kaiho & Nomura (1983) propose that as learners have to learn a huge number of kanji, the pre-training for visual discrimination of kanji is necessary before learners recognize useful kanji patterns.

For instance, miru can be written as「見る」「看る」「診る」「観る」or「視る」. However, each of them is semantically different:

「見る」- ‘seeing’, ‘looking at’, ‘watching’ (TV) 「看る」- ‘attending’ (a person) 「診る」- ‘examining’ (a patient) 「観る」- ‘appreciating’(a movie) 「視る」- ‘setting an eye on’. In addition, especially for those from alphabetic-background, without knowing

radicals, some kanji are so similar to others that learners cannot make clear distinctions, particularly when writing. Examples are 「四/西」「良/食」「大/天」「小/少」「元/先」「各/名」「字/学」「夕/名」「英/映」「木/本」「理/野」「枚/牧」. Occasionally such exercises can be conducted in class for learners to recall their kanji memory and sort them out meaningfully.

I can also cite a number of exercises developed by Tollini (1991). For alphabetic-habituated learners, kanji appears to be an arbitrary congregate of dots and lines, therefore, we can use Tollini’s (1991) (slightly revised) introductory exercises as below to develop graphic memory.

Exercise 1: Divide the following kanji in two parts. Example: 細=糸+田 「鎮」「習」「梅」「語」「張」「答」「悲」「晴」「現」「仕」「始」

「好」「時」「間」「強」「学」「語」「毎」「買」「住」「何」「前」「曜」

「線」 Exercise 2: To which deconstructed kanji do the following in the list belong? Example: 田+糸=累 「士+心」「安+木」「耳+口+王」「竹+木+目」「言+刃+心」「目+

民」「言+五+口」「糸+刀+口」「走+耳+又」「羽+白」「木+目」

「車+交」「糸+又+土」「言+火+火」「貝+占」「立+木+見」「立+

日+心」 Exercise 3: Choose the common components of the following kanji. Example: 奈奥太奄 大 「勉努勤務募」「謀諮誓」「念恥愛感」「岩峠島獄」「守寺導謝」「妙烈炭

焚」

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Exercise 4: Which parts are contained in the following kanji? Example: 侍 j+f 1. 明 2. 時 3. 品 4. 加 5. 吉 6. 含 7. 念 8. 志 Parts: a. 月 b. 口 c. 力 d. 心 e. 土 f. 寺 g. 日 h. 今 i. 生 j. 人 Exercise 5: Choose from each list the kanji that does not belong. Example: 技持功抗:功 「梅桜料柏」「鮎蛤鯛鯨」「罵雪雲電」「都影郊郵」「虫忠念愁」 The current lack of time in the college curriculum does not allow an instructor to

teach learners these distinctions in class systematically without a separate specialized kanji course. The categorization of Japanese proficiency levels that Toyoda (1995) employed was in accordance with JSL. However, even for JFL, for instance, in the U.S. the number of kanji that learners of introductory Japanese learn is within 100 to 300 manageable range. However, students of intermediate Japanese face a daunting 301 to at least 800 (at the end of one of the most widely used textbooks for the intermediate level, Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese by McGloin & Miura, 1995) and many of them, as I already suggested, may become de-motivated from tackling kanji without such assistance.

This specialized kanji course therefore aims to accommodate all learners with their individual differences not only thorough the element-based approach but also through introduction of various learning strategies. So learners can pick up combined methods to facilitate the transfer of their kanji knowledge from short-term memory to long-term memory without relying solely on tedious repetition.

Potential Benefits to the Japanese Program As we have seen, many intermediate learners of Japanese from an alphabetic-

background feel kanji are very tough to learn. In any language course, the attrition rate gets higher as language learners move up to higher level. This new approach aims to ease the burden for those learners and the hope is that more of them might be able to reach to advanced level better-prepared. In addition, improved kanji proficiency has benefits for the other skills: better kanji recognition leads to better reading comprehension, especially at intermediate to advanced levels where many more novel kanji appear. And lastly, this new course may help alleviate instructors from the extra headache of trying to read learners’ illegible handwriting – a small, but worthwhile side-effect of a more general improvement.

Further Research This study explains the current issues with kanji education in the U.S. and

proposes, as an alternative, a specialized kanji course in combination with Japanese calligraphy course. The basic structure of the kanji course is illustrated with some exercise examples, however, the course is still work in progress. Thanks to support from Grinnell College, this brand-new course is scheduled to be offered there from the Fall Semester 2010. Therefore, the actual syllabus and course schedule is also in development. One of the possible textbook to be used for the course is 「漢字はむずか

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しくない;24の法則ですべての漢字がマスターできる」(Kanji Isn’t That Hard!) by Takebe (1994), one of the few textbooks with a focus on morphological analysis available on the market, but along with Heisig “Remembering The Kanji” (1977), the effectiveness of its unique methodology has yet to be demonstrated (Okita, 1995). Further research work on this is therefore required.

Conclusion There is nothing necessarily wrong with rote memorization. In fact, this strategy

has been found to be effective for some purposes (Naka, 1988; Naka & Naoi, 1995), however, a lack of self-monitoring and flexibility in strategy use should be of great concern (Mori & Shimizu, 2007). Learners are taking Japanese classes to learn Japanese systematically, but also imaginatively. So, why not offer a specialized kanji course to help them learn other kanji learning strategies and monitor their kanji acquisition?

One of the main reasons behind why the rote learning strategy has still remained the most frequently used by teachers of Japanese in the U.S. is our own experience of how to learn kanji (Shimizu & Green 2002). Most of us have the idea that we learned kanji through repetition: writing it many times on paper. This experience may strongly reflect our underlying ideas of how learners should learn. At the same time, several strategies, such as morphological analysis and metacognitive strategies, have been suggested, but the current curriculum tends to focus on speaking, and thus doesn’t have much room for more effective kanji education.

While Japanese calligraphy should stimulate learners and motivate them to change their perception towards kanji, the kanji course should allow learners to study kanji systematically with an introduction of various learning strategies, and thus more efficiently and effectively for JFL. This combination aims to re-motivate learners of intermediate Japanese swamped with kanji by combining it with the experience of traditional Japanese calligraphy which focuses on detail and thereby aims to deepen and diversify learners’ memorization techniques.

It may be that a thematic-frequency-based approach might work better for students from kanji background or even for JSL or for JFL at the very beginning levels where the selection of kanji is closely related to the theme of each chapter. However, as I have argued, this may be counterproductive in the long term as the current approach often forces learners, especially from alphabetic background, to depend on ad hoc rote memorization in a one dimensional way. As we have seen, when learners of Japanese reach a limit where they feel overloaded with kanji, they may become overwhelmed. The task, especially writing kanji with close to native proficiency is not easy. It requires a great deal of stamina, concentration, and commitment (Heisig, 1977). I hope the new approach outlined in this paper can compensate for the drawbacks of the thematic-frequent-based approach (without necessarily replacing it). If so, it can eliminate a great deal of wasted efforts and thereby better facilitate learners of Japanese struggling towards success with kanji.

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Appendix

Questionnaire about learning kanji

1. I am currently taking or have taken up to: * JPN102 * JPN222 * JPN331 * JPN332

2. I am:

* American * From kanji background (specify your nationality: ) 3. Place all the items according to the difficulty for you from most difficult to

easiest: (Grammar, Speaking, Listening, Kanji reading, Kanji writing) 4. How often do you study kanji outside the classroom?

* Almost everyday *three or four days a week *Once or twice a week * Only before kanji quiz

5. On average how long per week do you study kanji outside the classroom?

e.x., about 30 min. per week 6. I feel that kanji learning is:

* Very difficult * Manageable * Relatively easy * Very easy 7. If you feel that kanji learning is very difficult, do you feel it is increasingly

difficult? If so, why? * Strongly agree * Agree * Slightly agree BECAUSE 8. I feel that kanji reading is:

* Very difficult * Manageable * Relatively easy * Very easy 9. If you feel that kanji reading is very difficult, do you feel it is increasingly

difficult? If so, why? * Strongly agree * Agree * Slightly agree BECAUSE 10. I feel that kanji writing is:

* Very difficult * Manageable * Relatively easy * Very easy

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11. If you feel that kanji writing is is very difficult, do you feel it is increasingly difficult? If so, why?

* Strongly agree * Agree * Slightly agree BECAUSE 12. I have found learning kanji:

* Very interesting * Quite interesting *Neither I like nor dislike * Quite daunting * Very Daunting

BECAUSE 13. Feel free to write anything to help you learn kanji more effectively and efficiently

in class

Questionnaire Results

Q1 (k learning) Q2 (k reading) Q3 (k writing) Q4 (k found)

Beginning

(1) 0 3 0 7

(2) 12 9 11 8

(3) 4 4 4 0

(4) 0 0 1 2

(5) - - - 1

Intermediate

(1) 4 0 5 3

(2) 3 6 2 2

(3) 0 1 0 0

(4) 0 0 0 3

(5) - - - 1

* (1) very difficult, (2) manageable, (3) relatively easy, and (4) very easy for Q1 to Q3 (1) very interesting, (2) quite interesting, (3) neither I like nor dislike, (4) quite daunting, and (5) very daunting for Q4

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Hatasa, K. (1989). A study of learning and teaching of kanji for non-native learners of Japanese, Ph. D. dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Naka, M. (1998). Repeated writing facilitates children’s memory for pesudocharacter and foreign letters, Memory & Cognition, 26, 804-809.

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Naka, M. & Naoi, H. (1995). The effect of repeated writing on memory, Memory & Cognition, 23, 201-212.

Okita, Y. (1995). Kanji sutoratajii to gakusei no kanjigakushuu ni taisuru shinnen (Kanji strategies and students’ belief about kanji learning), Nihongo kyoiku ronshu. Sekai no nihongo kyoiku, 5, 105-124

Okita, Y. (1997). Students’ beliefs about learning Japanese orthography: Beyond the textbooks. In H. M. Cook, K. Hijirida, & M. Tahara (Eds.), New trends and issued in teaching Japanese language and culture (Tech. Rep. No.15, pp.. 61-75). Honolulu: University of Hawaii. Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.

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Schunk, D. H., Pintrich, P. R., & Meece, J. L. (2007). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Shimizu, H. & Green, K.E. (2002). Japanese language educators’ strategies for and attitudes towards teaching kanji, Modern Language Journal, 86, 228-241.

Suda, M. (1988). Kanji kyoiku ni okeru kanji, Kozakanji kanji kyoiku, 12, 65-85. Sugimura, K. & Kubo, M. (1975). Moji no yomigakushuu ni oyobosu benbetsukunren

no sokushinkohka, Kyoiku shinrigaku kenkyuu, 23, 31-37. Takebe, Y. (1994). Kanji isn’t that hard! Tokyo: ALC Press Inc. Tollini, A. (1992). A consideration on teaching kanji at the introductory level to

non-kanji area student, Nihongo kyoiku ronshu. Sekai no nihongo kyoiku, 2, 65-76.

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Toyoda, E. (1995). Learner’s feelings toward kanji study, Nihongo kyoiku, 85, 101- 113.

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STARTING LIFELONG JAPANESE LEARNING VIA TWITTER TWITTER を使った漢字練習の試み

根本菜穂子 Naoko Nemoto

Mount Holyoke College (Twitter @MHCJ) ダリル・ベレス Daryl Beres

Mount Holyoke College (Twitter @mhc_lrc_db)

Background of the Project

Previous research on our campus confirmed that the majority of our students own mp3 players or other mobile devices, but most are not using these technologies to support their language studies. For example, of 349 students enrolled in language classes completing a survey during fall of 2008, 87% reported that they owned some type of mp3 player or mp3-capable mobile phone. Of these 87%, only 32% indicated that they used their devices for language learning. Nonetheless, these devices, which have been referred to as a “pocket” language lab (Sathe and Waltje, 2008), could allow students to engage in many of the same types of learning activities that institutions invested thousands of dollars in the past to provide equipment for: listening to, recording, and exchanging audio and even video files, interacting with native speakers, etc. A follow-up survey with students in Japanese classes showed that 45% of the students had never thought of using their mp3 player in this way, an additional 20% had thought of it but hadn't tried it yet, and 30% did not know how to do so. Only 15% reported that they did not think it would be useful.

As we undertook a case study in the Japanese department to explore how we might encourage students to make more effective use of "mobile-assisted language learning," both while in college and throughout their lives, we asked students what types of learning strategies they were most interested in. Young (2007) suggests that educators focus on activities based on communication, interaction and collaboration: "Activities that are engaging, problem-solving, and task-based, and that encourage authentic self expression for a purpose, are more appealing than listening to mechanical discrete-point verb conjugations or prefabricated audio files" (p. 45). However, our students' responses indicated a surprisingly high level of interest in many of those more "mechanical" types of activities. For example, "Listen to vocabulary words and sentences" generated a mean interest level of 3.9 (on a scale of 1 = "no interest" to 5 = "very interested), while "Create and record a radio program with classmates" earned an average interest of only 2.6. Being reluctant to encourage less-than-optimal learning conditions, we decided to try using Twitter, as suggested to us by one student: "I think it might be fun to connect with students in class via a webservice like Twitter. We could practice Japanese together in short little spurts." The Japanese faculty felt that Twitter might also fulfill students' need for more exposure to the kanji studied in class. The Basics of Using Twitter

“Twitter” (http://www.twitter.com) is one example of a “microblogging” service: users post short messages (limited to a maximum 140 characters), like keeping an online

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diary or journal with brief entries. Keeping with the avian theme, these messages are called “tweets;” the act of posting messages is referred to as “tweeting” or alternatively “twittering.” Twitter can also be considered a social networking service, as users can choose to “follow” each other. After creating a free account with Twitter, when you log in, you will see your timeline or feed, which displays all of your own tweets and the tweets of anyone you are following, in reverse chronological order. Other users can also browse your profile, which includes lists of everyone you are following and everyone who is following you. If you are followed by someone with whom you do not wish to be associated (spam is unfortunately a regular occurrence on Twitter as in email), you can choose to “block” that user, removing him/her from your follower list. (For more detailed information and instructions for getting started with Twitter, we refer you to Twitter's help documents located online at http://twitter.com/help/start. There are also numerous guides to Twitter created by users, which can be found by searching terms such as “Twitter how-to,” “Twitter step-by-step,” or “Twitter tutorial” with a search engine such as Google.)

It is important to keep in mind that your tweets are essentially public; they could be found and read by anyone searching Twitter or even through search engines such as Google. (It is possible to “protect” your Twitter account, so that only users you approve can view your tweets; however, that would negate what we believe to be one of the major benefits of using Twitter for language learning; see further discussion below.) In addition, your Twitter account includes a number of settings that you should review carefully: Do you want to use your real first and last name, or perhaps a nickname? Do you want to turn on “location services,” allowing your current location to be added to each of your tweets? Despite their apparent facility with all things digital, our students may be woefully naïve about privacy concerns; as educators, we believe that it is our responsibility when integrating a public web service like Twitter into our courses to bring these issues to students' attention and to provide some guidance in safe practices.

Twitter users have developed a number of conventions to facilitate communication with each other. To reply to someone's tweet, you can direct your tweet “@” that user, i.e., by typing “@username” usually at the beginning of your tweet. On Twitter.com, there is a “Reply” button displayed after each tweet which automatically adds “@username” to the text box where you type your message (“username宛” is used in Japanese). Like other tweets, @ replies are public. To respond privately to another user, you can send a “direct message.” Twitter.com provides a link for direct messaging on the right side of the page, but you are only allowed to direct message users who are following you. If you see a tweet that you find particularly interesting, you can “retweet” it, thus sharing it with all of your followers. Again, Twitter.com provides a “Retweet” button, but retweeting can also be done manually by typing “RT @username” and copying the other user's message. Finally, tags are used to facilitate tracking of specific topics. Tags are included in tweets by adding the hash or pound symbol (#) to the beginning of any word. The word can be a part of your message or isolated at the beginning or end of your tweet:

langology RT @CASLS_NFLRC: #Spanish teacher uses text messages as a way to practice the #language. 3:20 PM May 4th via web

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mhc_lrc_db See “Trümmerfrauen” (MHC students' entry in Deutsches Theaterfest 2010): http://www.youtube.com/user/MHCLanguages #German 3:33 PM May 6th via web Twitter.com automatically converts any tags in your tweets into clickable links

that generate search results for all tweets including that tag. You can also search for tags using a search box . Groups using Twitter often designate a unique tag for all members to include in their tweets; any member can then search Twitter for this tag to generate a timeline of all of the group's tweets. For example, in our project, we chose the tag #mhcj, after searching Twitter to confirm that it was not already in use. We asked the faculty and students participating to include “#mhcj” in any tweets they wanted to share with the Japanese-learning community at Mount Holyoke College.

Users can choose a number of means through which to receive and post tweets, the simplest perhaps being to access http://www.twitter.com through an Internet browser on a personal computer or a mobile device. Alternatively, you can choose to associate your cell phone number with your Twitter account and then send and receive tweets as text messages (your cell phone carrier's text messaging rates apply). A third option is to install a third-party software for accessing Twitter on your personal computer or mobile device. Our 2nd and 3rd year Japanese classes were piloting the use of iPod Touches to assist their studies, so we loaded the free “IM+ Lite” app which enabled the students to access Twitter (and any other instant messaging accounts they might use) on the iPod through a wireless Internet connection. On campus computers, we use the Internet browser “Firefox,” and we found an advantage to our students for tweeting through Firefox was the availability of “Rikai-chan,” a free add-on tool which automatically performs a bilingual dictionary/character look up when the user moves her mouse over any Japanese text on the webpage. Why Twitter for Lifelong Japanese Study?

As a service designed for native speakers (of any language) to communicate with one another, Twitter offers language learners a unique opportunity for authentic communication through an authentic medium and interaction with authentic participants. At any given moment, there are users all over the world tweeting their thoughts and experiences in their preferred language of communication, including Japanese. Students may follow other users, including native speakers, who are tweeting in Japanese and who may even follow the students in turn. As most tweets are posted publicly, students may freely read anyone's tweets in Japanese and may reply if they choose. If a student tweets about a topic of interest to other Twitter users, she may find that they begin to follow her and may even send her a reply. Unlike almost any other context for communication with native speakers, no introduction or prior acquaintance is needed to initiate interaction. In Twitter culture, it is perfectly natural to follow someone you've never met, and it is even acceptable to reply to a stranger's tweets (although you may or may not receive any further response).

Another advantage of Twitter for language study is that it allows the learner to participate at whatever level and pace she is comfortable. In our project, the students could read tweets to develop their receptive language skills, however frequently or

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infrequently they chose. If the student desired, she could also post her own tweets, practicing her productive language skills and providing more text for her peers to read. In this way, using Twitter is not necessarily an instructor-centered activity although from our initial experience, we have found that the involvement of the instructor can be very important in engaging and motivating the students to participate (see Discussion below). We hope that by providing a resource that allows the opportunity to make these choices, we are helping the students to further develop their autonomy as language learners and to take control of their language learning process.

Text length and frequency of exposure also seem like beneficial characteristics of Twitter for language acquisition. Because of the 140-character limit imposed on the length of Tweets, the messages are more accessible than other sources of text for learners who are developing their reading skills, and the idea of composing such a short message is also seems less intimidating. (Nonetheless, tweeting in Japanese is, however, quite different from tweeting in English as 140 Japanese characters can convey significantly more content than 140 characters in English). On Twitter, users tend to tweet at sporadic intervals, so new messages may arrive in your timeline sometimes once per day, at other times perhaps more or less often, depending on the number of people you are following. For learners, that means that several times throughout the day, they may have an opportunity to take a few minutes to read a new, short text in Japanese. Thorton and Houser (2005) studied a similar strategy, in which they sent vocabulary “mini-lessons” to their students cell phones as text messages. They concluded that shorter and longer messages were equally as effective, but what was most successful about the strategy was the “push” aspect whereby the messages were automatically and regularly delivered to students. Twitter may offer the same advantage, and students can even receive the tweets via cell, if they choose to connect their phone number to their Twitter account.

In addition to Twitter, there are numerous other social networking and/or microblogging services available, including some that are specifically designed for education. For example, Edmodo (http://www.edmodo.com) allows instructors to create a private social networking space online which is limited in access to only their students, eliminating some of the above concerns about privacy. Although this would offer some obvious advantages, we felt that these did not outweigh the disadvantage of isolating learners from the potential interaction and the exposure to authentic Japanese text as tweeted by native speakers. Edmodo would also function only within the context of the course—once the semester ended, learners would have no reason to continue visiting and participating in the space, whereas we expect Twitter to continue to be popular, the world over, for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, another option would be a social networking space that learners might already participate in personally, such as Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) or a space that is popular among young people in Japan, such as Mixi (http://mixi.jp). However, we liked the simplicity of Twitter—its social-networking functions are limited (there are no photos/videos, walls, chats, etc.), keeping the focus squarely on the tweets, in other words, on the target language text.

From a pedagogical standpoint, one potential concern that we discussed was the possibility that student-initiated tweets might include language errors, and that these errors might be picked up by other learners. A review of the literature indicated that in peer-to-peer interaction, learners do not usually acquire errors of non-native speaking peers (e.g., Bruton and Samuda, 1980; Gascoigne, 2004; Gass and Varonis, 1989; Jacobs,

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1989) although Gass and Selinker (2008) emphasize that the mediation of the instructor is still often needed to clarify which are the correct language forms. However, most of this research focuses on face-to-face, oral interaction among peers. Would the results be the same in the written, online, asynchronous environment of Twitter? To date, we do not have enough data from learner tweets to begin to explore this question, as most of our students who chose to participate did so passively through reading the tweets of the faculty. Kanji Learning and Twitter

The main textbook of our 2nd year Japanese courses is Nakama 2 (Hatasa, Hatasa, & Makino, 2000). Each chapter of this textbook introduces approximately 30 kanji with a few example sentences. It does not seem that all of the kanji of the chapter are necessarily related to the contents of the chapter. It follows that the learners may not have a chance to see some of the new kanji in either the dialog or the reading. The instructor prepares a kanji handout that introduces several of the chapter's kanji each day and provides additional compounds and example sentences. However, the learners can definitely use more opportunities to see the kanji that they are learning.

It is most desirable if the learners can encounter the target kanji within a natural context. For example, Kawaguchi (1989) introduces his attempt to assign the learners to bring printed materials such as newspaper articles, manga, or advertisements with the kanji that they are learning. One of the problems for the non-advanced Japanese learners who live outside of Japan is the lack of opportunities to see Japanese writing outside of the classroom. Thanks to the Internet, more and more materials with the Japanese language are available even for those of us who live outside of Japan; however, most of them are much too difficult not only for beginning-level but even for intermediate-level learners.

What we attempt to do with Twitter is to provide the learners with sentences with the target kanji in a natural context that they can relate to. For example, our class had a nicchoku(日直)who does a short presentation on the assigned topic of the day at the beginning of class. As shown in an example from our Twitter account (below), the instructor or the teaching assistant tweet later in the day on something related to the nicchoku's presentation. On March 1, the nicchoku was “Shin-chan,” and she talked about how Japanese people celebrate New Year’s Day. The instructor first praised her drawings of Japanese New Year decorations. After that she added some cultural notes to Shin-chan’s presentation, using the target kanji, which are in the current or previous chapter that the class is studying. In the example below, the targeted kanji are shaded.

#MHCJ 今日の日直はシンちゃんで、お正月のお祝いについてでした。門松

とかの絵が立派! 上手ですね。お正月の食べ物と言えば、「おぞうに」

です。これは、場所によって味が全然違うようです。例えば、関東はしょ

うゆ系ですが、関西は白みそ味。四国のはあまいそうです。おもちも関東

は四角で、関西は丸です。4:56 PM Mar 1st web から On April 6, the nicchoku “Shan-chan” talked about the results of a survey that she

conducted with some Japanese college soccer players who visited our campus in late

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March. The instructor reported on Shan-chan's remarks and at the end, she introduced an idiomatic expression using the target kanji.

#MHCJ 今日の日直はシャンちゃんでした。アンケート調査の結果では、サ

ッカー選手は受験勉強をあまりしなかったらしいです。将来やりたいこと

も決まっていて、シャンちゃんはびっくりしたそうです。サッカー選手の

みなさんが帰って、教室は火が消えたよう・・・7:33 PM Apr 6th web か

ら Sometimes we tweet on the current news, as shown in the example below. #MHCJ 今日は、アイスランドの火山爆発による煙で、ヨーロッパの空路に

キャンセルが相次いだらしいですね。乗客たちは迷惑だと思っているでし

ょうが、飛行機が落ちるよりは、空港で泣いていたほうがましだと思って

ほしい。最近、地球もいろいろありますね。次はどこで何が、と、心配で

す。7:09 PM Apr 15th web から

Moreover, we can introduce interesting articles on the web that include the topic

and/or the target kanji. #MHCJ 就職はする人もされる会社も大変。会社が面接試験に落ちた学生さ

んたちに自社製品を送ってくれるそうです。将来のお客だから。それを考

えると、どんな会社に申込書を送りたい?

http://www.asahi.com/job/news/TKY201004210270.html 3:25 PM Apr

22nd web から Sometimes making a good message using the target kanji is not easy; however,

even the following can be helpful for the learners. #MHCJ 今日もいいお天気!でもボキャ・クイズは「汚い部屋」とか「4月

に雪が降る」とか変な文ばかり・・・9課はネガティブな言葉がたくさん

ありますね、文句、注意、心配、迷惑・・・みなさん、寝る前に勉強する

と悪い夢を見るかもしれませんね。2:46 PM Apr 20th web から Although replying to the instructors’ tweets is optional, sometimes we got a nice

reply that was worth re-tweeting. The second message below, with “@MHCJ,” is a reply from a learner to the first message from an instructor.

#MHCJ 今日の午後、フィラデルフィアの近くに住んでいる友人から電話が

あったんだけど、電話中に急に「あ、雪が降って来た!」と。こちらは雨

で良かったね。ところで、二年生はそろそろ専攻を決めなくちゃならない

けど、専攻を決める前に誰かに相談した?就職とか将来のことを考えて決

めたの?4:03 PM Mar 30th web から