An Introduction to The National Language Research Institute: A Sketch of its Achievements
Third Edition(1988)/ HTML Version(1997)

[contens]| [previous]| [next]

II.4.11 Research on the Acquirement of Chinese Characters by Middle School Students

(Report 36, 1971. 895 pages)
The purpose of this research was to investigate the number of Chinese characters that students can, as well as actually do, learn by the end of compulsory education, the way in which students learn them, the nature of the learning process, and factors of background, in order to contribute to the improvement of such education and educational policies. Since it was necessary to determine the actual situation in regard to the learning of characters by Middle School students, the following investigations were carried out from 1964 to 1967. 1) The learning activities of a small number of typical students was observed during their three years in Middle School. 2) Students were tested in ability to read and write the 1,850 to~yo~ Chinese characters plus 1,000 other characters. (in the latter, reading only.) 3) In the reading tests, all 3,122 of the accepted readings of the to~yo~ Chinese characters were tested. 4) In order to determine the validity and reliability of the results, an equivalent test was given to another group of students in the same year of Middle School. 5) In investigating the factors affecting the learning of Chinese characters, the intelligence, personality, achievement, and language behaviour of the students, as well as the teaching of characters at school and the use of characters in student textbooks, were determined and analyzed. 6) A supplementary investigation of the nature of the instruction and learning activities for Chinese characters at school was made at designated schools willing to cooperate in the project. Report 36 is divided into two parts, one concerning the research project itself and the other containing the materials, as indicated in the following outline. Part I The Research Project Section 1. Outline of the Research Section 2. Research on the Realities of Learning Chinese Characters Section 3. Research on the Basic Factors of Learning Chinese Characters Section 4. A Case Study- Acquirement of Chinese Characters by One Girl Student during her Three Years' Course Section 5. Investigation into the Realities of Guidance in Learning Chinese Characters in Middle School Part II Materials Section 1. Research on the Appearance of Chinese Characters in the Textbooks for Middle School Section 2. A Table of the Appearance of Chinese Characters in Textbooks (To~yo~ Chinese Characters excepting Educational Chinese Chracters) Section 3. A List of Words Presented as a Test for the Investigation of Ability in All To~yo~ Chinese Characters. Section 4. Bibliography of Research on the Realities of Learning Chinese Characters. The following topics are dealt with in the report. 1. The number of Chinese characters learned by the end of compulsory education. 2. Problems in the reading and understanding of Chinese characters. 3. The Chinese characters that were correctly written by students. 4. The chances of learning non-to~yo~ Chinese characters. 5. The process of learning Chinese characters. 6. The relationship between general school study and the learning of Chinese characters. 7. The relationship between the use of Chinese characters in textbooks and the learning of them. 8. Problems in the learning of Chinese characters as seen in test results. 9. Individual factors in the learning of Chinese characters. 10. Similarities and differences in the results for the experimental (individual observation) and control groups, especially as related to problems in learning. 11. The use of Chinese characters in textbooks. 12. The teaching process of Chinese characters in the Middle School. This project was conducted by ASIZAWA Setu and NEMOTO Kesao. MURAISI Syo~zo~ and NAKAMURA Akira participated in the project. The report was written by ASIZAWA Setu, NEMOTO Kesao, and NAKAMURA Akira.

[contens]| [previous]| [next]