Daniel Hick and Dr. Masakazu Watanabe, Asian and Near Eastern Languages
The plight of the non-native missionary in Japan is adverse due to the extreme communication barriers that are encountered in every day life. Japanese is vastly different from Western languages. In the MTC missionaries receive sufficient training in the spoken language but are taught little or nothing about the written language. Therefore, upon entering the field of service, non-native missionaries are confounded by the written world that surrounds them.
There are three alphabets in the Japanese language. Two of which are relatively basic and can be mastered with moderate effort. The third alphabet is made up of thousands of characters called kanji and poses the most difficult challenge to missionaries because of the characters’ omnipresence and complex nature. Not only does each character have semantic content, but they can also have up to 20 different pronunciations relative to the context.
In most cases, after a missionary has thoroughly studied and memorized the discussions, language study comes to an abrupt halt. Usually, it is up to the missionary to decide the next direction that their language study will take. However, many missionaries get lost along the way and ultimately never take their study of Japanese to the next level: learning to read and write. Learning kanji will not only enable missionaries to use chalkboards while teaching, but they will also be able to use their flip charts, study guides and scriptures more effectively.
In setting out to make a comprehensive kanji-learning model for missionaries it was necessary to first pinpoint the goals of the model relative to the missionary’s needs and restrictions. I based the construction of these goals on my past experience as a missionary and according to the recommendations of mission presidents and missionary training center teachers that I conferred with.
There has been much research done to determine the methods that native Japanese employ to code and recall kanji. However, there is yet to be a conclusive, compelling model that incorporates the findings of these studies. I propose a cohesive, cumulative model that addresses the effective memorization and recall of kanji. The missionary’s goal is to achieve a basic understanding of kanji where he can independently build upon in the course of every day activities without tremendous amounts of ‘in house’ study.
According to previous studies, students should first develop basic oral skills before learning kanji 1. Then, when kanji is first introduced, students will learn radicals and their semantic elements, thereby forming a basis to learn more complex characters 2. The goal of the beginning process is not for students to code kanji through rote memorization, but for them to develop and obtain an analytical eye. As the students’ oral skills progress they will learn to recall kanji by their phonetic elements. When this occurs and familiarity increases, the student should change coding strategies to be more phonetically based, which primarily entails coding kanji by their readings. The ability to recognize a character’s semantic-based compositional elements will continue to remain as a tool to facilitate memorization.
I used the above research to develop a program that I am in the process of presenting and implementing in Japan. Of course, it is the mission presidents’ discretion whether or not they choose to allow their missionaries to take time in their schedules each day to use the program. Unfortunately, this is a factor that I am unable to control. However, along with the program instructions, a cover letter to the mission presidents have been enclosed that summarizes the benefits and value in studying kanji while encouraging them to implement the program and further the language study of missionaries in Japan.
The program for kanji study is based on the principles outlined in the research above and a simplified summary continues as follows:
Phase 1
• Study 30 radicals using effective mnemonics
• Learn 100 basic kanji (numbers, direction, names, simple verbs)
• Look for kanji in surroundings and apply knowledge in activities
Phase 2
• Focus on both Japanese and Chinese readings of kanji
• Learn more complex kanji (study discussions written in Japanese)
• Use opportunities to apply knowledge in deciphering unknown kanji
Due to the recent metamorphosis of certain missions in Japan it became necessary to postpone the implementation of the kanji-study program. I have confidence in the learning-model that I constructed and strongly desire that the mission presidents make use of my efforts on the missionaries’ behalf, thus not only benefiting them but the lives of those who they teach.
References
- Matsunaga, S. (1995). The role of phonological coding in reading kanji: A research report and some pedagogical implications. (Technical Report #6) Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
- Lu, M., Webb, J., Krus, D., & Fox, L. (1999). Using order analytic instructional hierarchies of mnemonics to facilitate learning Chinese and Japanese kanji characters. The Journal of Experimental Education, 67(4), 293-311.