Article published In:
Australian Review of Applied LinguisticsVol. 19:2 (1996) ► pp.139–151
The role of sound in reading kanji and kana
A review
Japanese and Chinese are often labelled as difficult-to-learn languages, due to the fact that their written forms use logographic characters. Students of Japanese frequently have an aversion to learning Chinese characters – called kanji – claiming that they are ‘too difficult’ or that there are 4too many’ of them. This paper aims to examine the role of sound in reading Japanese script Major arguments for semantic vs phonological identification will be examined with a view to determining the relative importance of phonological processes in reading kanji and kana, and to see if any conclusions can be drawn which may assist the teaching of kanji to learners of Japanese as a second language.
References (15)
Cohen, A. (1990) Language learning. New York, Heinle and Heinle.
Feldman, L. and M. Turvey (1980) Words written in kana are named faster than the same words written in kanji. Language and Speech 23,2: 141–147. 
Geschwind, N. (1971) Dyslexia. Science 1971,173:190.
Hung, D. and O. Tzeng (1981) Orthographic variations and visual information processing. Psychological Bulletin 90,3:377–414.
Koda, K. (1987) Cognitive strategy transfer in second language reading. In J. Devine et al. Research in reading in English as a second language. Washington, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
(1989) Effects of L1 orthographic representation on L2 phonological coding strategies. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 18,2:201–222.
(1990) The use of L1 reading strategies in L2 reading. SSLA 121: 393–410.
Miller, R.A. (1987) Chinese script in Korea and Japan. Asian and Pacific Quarterly of Cultural and Social Affairs 19,260:1–18.
Morton, J. and S. Sasanuma (1984) Lexical access in Japanese. In L. Henderson (ed.) Perspectives from cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and linguistics. Hillsdale, N J., Erlbaum.
Mou, L. and N. Anderson (1981) Graphemic and phonemic codings of Chinese characters in short-term retention. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 17,6:255–258.
Perfetti, C. and S. Zhang (1991) Phonological processes in reading |Chinese characters. Journal of Experimental Psychology 17,4:633–643.
Saito, Y. (1992) Effects of relational deletions in Japanese texts. In C. Kinzer, et al. Literary research, theory and practice: Views from many perspectives. Chicago, The National Reading Conference.
Saito, Y., M. Inoue, and Y. Nomura (1979) Information processing of kanji (Chinese characters): The close relationship between auditory and visual aspects. Psychologia 221:195–206.
Sasanuma, S. (1975) Kana and kanji processing in Japanese aphasics. Brain and Language 21:369–383.
Twine, N. (1991) Language and the modern state – The reform of written Japanese. London, Routledge.
Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Matsumoto, Kazumi
2013. Kanji Recognition by Second Language Learners: Exploring Effects of First Language Writing Systems and Second Language Exposure. The Modern Language Journal 97:1 ► pp. 161 ff. 
Rose, Heath
2013. L2 learners' attitudes toward, and use of, mnemonic strategies when learning Japanese kanji. The Modern Language Journal 97:4 ► pp. 981 ff.
Rose, Heath & Lesley Harbon
2013. Self‐Regulation in Second Language Learning: An Investigation of the Kanji‐Learning Task. Foreign Language Annals 46:1 ► pp. 96 ff.
Toyoda, Etsuko & Tim McNamara
2011. Character recognition among English‐speaking L2 readers of Japanese. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 21:3 ► pp. 383 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.