The multidimensionality of Japanese kanji abilities

Abstract

the aim of this study was to identify the cognitive structures of kanji abilities in the Japanese general population and to examine age and cohort effects on them. From a large database of the most popular kanji exam in Japan, we analyzed high school graduation level data of 33,659 people in 2006 and 16,971 people in 2016. Confirmatory factor analyses validated the three-dimensional model of kanji abilities, including factors of reading, writing and semantic comprehension. Furthermore, the age effect on writing, and correlations between writing and semantic dimensions, were different between 2006 and 2016, suggesting reduced writing ability and stagnation in integrated mastery of kanji orthography and semantics in current-day Japanese adults. These findings provide the first evidence of the multidimensional nature of Japanese kanji abilities, and age/cohort differences in that dimensional structure. The importance of the habit of handwriting for literacy acquisition is discussed.Writing systems can be broadly divided into phonographic and logographic scripts. In the former, a letter is mapped onto a sound unit, as in English. In the latter, a character is mapped onto a meaning unit, as for Chinese. Japanese uses both systems in combination, namely kana and kanji. Each kana letter represents one mora, a sub-syllabic unit of sound in Japanese, with highly regular and consistent letter-sound correspondence. In contrast, kanji characters usually have multiple pronunciations, which can also be written with more than one kana letter. The correct pronunciations of Japanese kanji words are determined by context and at the whole-word level, in a similar manner to English exception words, unlike the Chinese logographic writing systems. Kanji characters are used for content words (i.e. most nouns, or the roots of most verbs, adjectives, or adverbs), whereas kana letters are mainly used for inflectional endings, postpositions, or conjunctions. A single kanji character or more than two in the so-called compound words, occasionally accompanied by kana suffixes, can represent a word. Many homophones in the Japanese language are represented with the exact same kana letters but have different meanings, and can be discriminated by writing in kanji. In addition, unlike kana or alphabetical letters, kanji characters vary in visual complexity from simple characters such as the kanji カ to very complex ones like 鬱 (u-tsu, depression), both of which are designated as daily-use kanji by the Japanese government.Considering the unique properties of kanji, including multiple pronunciations, semantic values, and variability in visual complexity, it is assumed that the abilities to master and manage Japanese kanji would be multidimensional as for overall language ability 1,2 . However, the dimensional structure, whether uni-or multidimensional, has not been established. Given the higher prevalence of problems in literacy acquisition in kanji than in kana among Japanese children 3 , understanding the functional components of Japanese kanji abi...

Cognitive underpinnings of multidimensional Japanese literacy and its impact on higher-level language skills

“…From the 12 levels of difficulty provided by Kanken, ranging from the easiest (Level 10) to the most difficult (Level 1, including Pre-2 and Pre-1), we employed the Level Pre-2 exam paper (mastery of 1951 daily-use kanji: high school level). Additionally, considering the possible ceiling effects in the Reading subtest 27 , we also conducted that subtest from the Level 2 exam paper (mastery of all 2136 daily-use kanji; high school graduation level). The results showed that only one participant achieved a perfect score on the Level 2 Reading subtest, whereas six participants did so on that of Level Pre-2.…”

“…Thus, this conversion from kanji characters to kana letters is usually used in kanji education in Japan. Each correct item was given a score of 1, adding up to a maximum of 30 (0–30) 27 .…”

“…The Writing subtest required the participants to write a correct kanji word that was written as marked kana letters in each of 25 sentences. Each correct item was given a score of 2, adding up to a maximum of 50 27 .…”

“…In the Compounds Meaning subtest, the participants were required to choose one option that represented the meaning of each of five sentences from ten four-character kanji compounds in subtest 4. Each correct item was given a score of 2, adding up to a maximum of 10 27 .…”

“…In recent decades, the rapid spread of digital writing devices such as computers and smartphones 39 has drastically reduced the frequency of handwriting 40 , resulting in a dimension-specific reduction of kanji writing accuracy in Japanese adults 27 . When using these devices, we first write with kana letters and then convert them into kanji words by choosing one option from many homophones.…”