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Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 19:2 (1996) ► pp.139–151

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The role of sound in reading kanji and kana

A review

 | The University of Queensland
Published online: 1 January 1996
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.19.2.07say
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.
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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. DOI logo
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. DOI logo
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. DOI logo
Toyoda, Etsuko & Tim McNamara
2011. Character recognition among English‐speaking L2 readers of Japanese. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 21:3 ► pp. 383 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 14 november 2025. 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.

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