The Processing and Structure of Kanji and their Implications for Kanji Acquisition: a Theoretical Approach to Kanji Literacy

The following paper approaches the topic of learning Japanese logographic characters, known as kanji, from the perspectives of both linguistic processing and second language acquisition. Three existing methods of kanji learning are analyzed in relation to four proposed key criteria of kanji literacy, and research on kanji structure and processing are synthesized to achieve a stronger understanding of the relationships between kanji, the Japanese language, and literacy. Finally, the information from the first two sections is tied together and a novel method of kanji learning, which is consistent with the results and evidence regarding kanji learning and kanji processing, is proposed.