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Paper short abstract:

This search tool provides academic kanji words and expressions for all the kanji in the textbook GENKI. Examples are extracted from the Science and Engineering Spoken Japanese Corpus. The purpose of the tool is to help the learners for their academic kanji learning and their autonomous learning.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation introduces a search tool for kanji words and their example usage based on the kanji from the textbook "Genki". The purpose of the tool is to help the learners from basic level for their autonomous kanji learning.

Shiratori et.al (2014) examined how the kanji in the textbook "Genki" is used in the academic field and created specific kanji learning materials using the Science and Engineering Spoken Japanese Corpus. This study (Shiratori et.al, 2014) also suggested its pedagogical implication. Based on this study by Shiratori et.al (2014), the above referenced search tool was developed. The purpose of this tool is for the learners from basic level to study and learn academic kanji words and expressions on their own.

This search tool has a list of 317 individual kanji from the textbook "Genki." As a learner clicks a kanji, s/he can find its kanji words and expressions in the academic usage, the related reading, the meaning in English, Chinese, and Korean, and the level of the former JLPT. The words and expressions are modified to be short and clear for learners.

The current issues for learners to learn kanji in a Japanese university, especially science fields, are 1) limited classroom time for learning kanji, 2) mix level students class with learners of kanji background and non-kanji background, and 3) lack of academic kanji words and expressions in a basic level textbook. These situations cause learners to decrease their motivation.

In order to solve these problems, this search tool was developed. This tool can meet student's individual needs by allowing the students to learn kanji outside of the classroom. The tool provides academic kanji words and expressions for all the kanji listed in the textbook "Genki", thus the learners from basic level can learn and be aware of academic usage of kanji words and expressions. This search tool helps learners to develop their kanji learning and meet their individual goals.