Teaching Kanji at Swedish Universities. On Teaching Kanji, Learning Strategies, and How These Are Perceived by Teachers and Students of L2 Japanese in Sweden

Abstract

This thesis explores four different strategies of kanji instruction: mnemonic devices; rote learning; air writing; and morphological analysis. It also explores how these strategies are used in Swedish universities today, what the instructors think about them, as well as student perception of the techniques. Four instructors of kanji teaching at two different Swedish universities have been interviewed regarding their teaching methods. A survey on students learning Japanese at one Swedish university has also been conducted. Even though the results are not generalisable in a greater context – mainly because of the small sample size – the results show that it is both important and preferable by researchers, instructors, and students to have a variety of methods when learning kanji.