KANJI LEARNING AND WORKBOOKS. A comparative analysis of L2 and L1 kanji educational material

Abstract

This study is an analysis of two kanji workbooks. The purpose of thesis is to make suggestions for improvement in L2 kanji text-/workbooks through comparison of L2 and L1 kanji text-/workbooks. Also, to expand the research field regrading kanjitextbooks. As there is almost no research in this field, hopefully this analysis could contribute to the unexplored research field. The research is based on previous studies regarding kanji workbooks and textbooks aimed at L2 learners. Richmond (2005) is the main theoretical framework, his study goes into depth regarding common practices and beliefs in kanji textbooks. General information about L1 learner’s environment and general L2 textbook-/workbooks are collected from Riekkinen (2015)’s master’s thesis. The workbooks have been analyzed through three methods. Hirayama and Takahashi (2013)’s essay and the Nine steps of instruction by Gagné (1986) is the backbone for the main analysis on structure of the two workbooks. Hayashi (2011)’s essay on kanji-related elements is used to determine what information regarding the characters is presented and what is not. Lastly, Richmond (2005)’s article is used to analyze example sentences found in the two books. Despite the two workbooks being similar in style, there are some interesting differences. In structure and style, they are quite similar, though the workbook for L2 learners goes more into detail with greater focus on understanding the materials inside. The results of this essay could probably be used to show that workbooks aimed at L2 learners have progressed over the years. However, the L2 book lacks much when it comes to eliciting performance, which is something that need more research in the future.