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Kanji no satori Russell, Bruce David
Abstract
A translation of the title would read the "wisdom of Chinese-Japanese characters". The growth of Asian language instruction in British Columbia public schools has witnessed an unprecedented number of students enrolled in Japanese as a second language classes. For students with no prior experience with Chinese script the Chinese-Japanese characters, or kanji, can prove to be a barrier that limits progress in the written instruction and learning of Japanese. Current teaching methods such as those from Japan may continue to be in popular usage, but educators in British Columbia need to acknowledge that given the differences between the Japanese teaching environment and our own, classrooms attempting to establish interest in Japanese as a language of study require techniques that allow for the student to invest in their own learning process, particularly given the distance from the target culture. While the kanji have been long perceived as extremely difficult to learn and appreciate, I propose through a personal narrative that the characters can be appreciated by more students when it is recognized that the setting of the Canadian classroom and the students in it, can become participants in the intermingling of two languages generally considered to be vastly different, yet as revealed by the etymology of the kanji have very much in common. As human constructs, these characters may be deconstructed by students who then reconsider the inherent meanings of the intertext, the internal structure, of the kanji. With an appreciation of the multilayered context of the symbol explored in a familiar language, students may then apply their acquired knowledge and skill into newer intercultural contexts of Japanese and English. My conviction is that the kanji are central to a personal exploration of Japan. The very nature of the characters as moving, timeless symbols of human interpretation was considered in this study, as was the inherent pedagogical quality of their etymological structure. This personalized research was concerned with the re-writing and re-learning of written Japanese for the North American learner. The question was one of equipping the Japanese as a second language learner with a new perspective that will enable them to use the innately human view of language revealed by the kanji. Commentators on linguistics and semiology such as Roland Barthes and Julia Kristeva were cited in probing the symbolic foundations of language, and our ability to play with meanings we so often take for granted in communicating our ideas. Exposing the hidden and unused meanings within the characters is described as a valuable contextual experience, and a method, in combination with other classroom approaches, of instilling motivation to learn the target language.
Item Metadata
Title |
Kanji no satori
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
1995
|
Description |
A translation of the title would read the "wisdom of
Chinese-Japanese characters". The growth of Asian language
instruction in British Columbia public schools has witnessed
an unprecedented number of students enrolled in Japanese as
a second language classes. For students with no prior
experience with Chinese script the Chinese-Japanese
characters, or kanji, can prove to be a barrier that limits
progress in the written instruction and learning of
Japanese. Current teaching methods such as those from Japan
may continue to be in popular usage, but educators in
British Columbia need to acknowledge that given the
differences between the Japanese teaching environment and
our own, classrooms attempting to establish interest in
Japanese as a language of study require techniques that
allow for the student to invest in their own learning process, particularly given the distance from the target
culture.
While the kanji have been long perceived as extremely
difficult to learn and appreciate, I propose through a
personal narrative that the characters can be appreciated by
more students when it is recognized that the setting of the
Canadian classroom and the students in it, can become
participants in the intermingling of two languages generally
considered to be vastly different, yet as revealed by the
etymology of the kanji have very much in common. As human
constructs, these characters may be deconstructed by
students who then reconsider the inherent meanings of the
intertext, the internal structure, of the kanji. With an
appreciation of the multilayered context of the symbol
explored in a familiar language, students may then apply
their acquired knowledge and skill into newer intercultural contexts of Japanese and English.
My conviction is that the kanji are central to a
personal exploration of Japan. The very nature of the
characters as moving, timeless symbols of human
interpretation was considered in this study, as was the
inherent pedagogical quality of their etymological
structure. This personalized research was concerned with
the re-writing and re-learning of written Japanese for the
North American learner. The question was one of equipping
the Japanese as a second language learner with a new
perspective that will enable them to use the innately human
view of language revealed by the kanji. Commentators on
linguistics and semiology such as Roland Barthes and Julia
Kristeva were cited in probing the symbolic foundations of
language, and our ability to play with meanings we so often
take for granted in communicating our ideas. Exposing the
hidden and unused meanings within the characters is
described as a valuable contextual experience, and a method,
in combination with other classroom approaches, of
instilling motivation to learn the target language.
|
Extent |
4815304 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-01-24
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0086936
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
1995-11
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.