Table of contents
About the authorsxv
Preface
Acknowledgementsxix
Part I. Chinese
Spoken Chinese
Chinese characters: Hanzi
Meaning representation in characters
Sound representation by characters
History of education and literacy in China
Reforming spoken and written Chinese
School, and learning to read in Chinese
Summary and conclusions
Part II. Korean
Korean language
Hancha: Chinese characters
Han’g?l: Alphabetic syllabary
Learning and using Han’g?l
Why should Hancha be kept?
History of education and literacy in Korea
Summary and conclusions
Part III. Japanese
Japanese language
Kanji: Chinese characters
Kana: Japanese syllabary
R?maji: Roman letters
Why keep Kanji?
History of mass literacy in Japan
Learning and using Kanji and Kana
The Japanese educational system
Summary and conclusions
Part IV. Common issues255
Eye movements and text writing in East Asia
Reading and the brain
East Asian students in international tests
Logographic characters vs phonetic scripts
Afterthoughts
Glossary
Bibliography
Name index
Subject index
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