Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese: <strong>Revised edition</strong> (Studies in Written Language and Literacy)

The book describes how the three East Asian writing systems - Chinese, Korean, and Japanese - originated, developed, and are used today. Uniquely, this book: (1) examines the three East Asian scripts (and English) together in relation to each other, and (2) discusses how these scripts are, and historically have been, used in literacy and how they are learned, written, read, and processed by the eyes, the brain, and the mind. In this second edition, the authors have included recent research findings on the uses of the scripts, added several new sections, and rewritten several other sections. They have also added a new Part IV to deal with issues that similarly involve all the four languages/scripts of their interest. The book is intended both for the general public and for interested scholars. Technical terms (listed in a glossary) are used only when absolutely necessary. Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese 1 Editorial page 2 Title page 3 LCC data 4 About the authors 15 Preface 17 Acknowledgements 19 1. Introduction 21 How many Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese? 21 How are the three peoples related? 22 Languages of the world 24 Phoneme, syllable, onset-rime, and body-coda 25 Morpheme and word 27 Types of writing systems 28 Writing systems, their development and interrelations 30 Scripts and literacy: A preview 34 Chinese, Korean, and Japanese in Roman letters 36 A few words about experiments on reading 37 How the book is organized 38 Part I. Chinese 39 China and Chinese 39 2. Spoken Chinese 41 Standard language and “dialects” 41 Sound system 42 Morphemes: Words or word parts 45 Constructing two-morpheme words 47 Why compound words? 49 Foreign loan words 50 Full words, empty words, and classifiers 52 Sentence structures 54 3. Chinese characters: Hanzi 57 Beginning of characters 57 Evolution of characters’ styles 59 Chinese calligraphy 63 Six categories of characters 65 Number of characters 68 Strokes and shapes of characters 70 Complex vs simple characters 72 4. Meaning representation in characters 76 Pictographs and indicators 76 Radicals and semantic radicals 77 Characters tell stories 80 Compound words and idioms 83 Characters for abbreviations 86 Chinese numerals 87 Chinese personal names 88 Magical quality of characters 91 Characters understood across times and places 92 5. Sound representation by characters 95 A character’s sound 95 Phonetic radicals 97 Polyphonic, unpronounced, or homophonic characters 100 Phonetic loans and Fanqie 102 Phonetic scripts for Chinese 103 6. History of education and literacy in China 105 Confucianism and Confucian classics 105 The civil-service examination system 109 Chinese world views 112 Invention of paper and printing 115 Books and publications 117 Traditional and pre-1949 education 123 In women ignorance was virtue 126 History and degrees of literacy 128 7. Reforming spoken and written Chinese 132 Mandarin and Putonghua (common speech) 132 Literary vs vernacular language 134 Rationalizing the Chinese writing system 136 How characters are simplified 138 Romanization, Zhuyin Fuhao, and Pinyin 141 Computerizing Chinese characters 145 Keep or abandon characters? 148 8. School, and learning to read in Chinese 150 Primary and secondary schools: Growing, if unequally 150 Tertiary education 152 Should preschoolers be taught to read? 154 How Hanzi are taught to preschoolers 155 Teaching Hanzi (and English) in Chinese-speaking regions 156 How Hanzi are taught in school in China 158 Semantic radicals and phonetic radicals 161 Phonological awareness 163 Morphological (and phonological) awareness 165 Visual and orthographic processing 167 Developmental dyslexia or reading difficulty 170 Summary and conclusions 173 Part II. Korean 175 Korea and Koreans 175 9. Korean language 177 Speech sounds and syllables 177 Korean native words 179 Sino-Korean (S-K)words 180 Native words vs Sino-Korean words 182 European (and Japanese) loan words 185 Numerals and classifiers 186 Content words, grammatical morphemes, and sentences 187 Speech levels and honorifics 189 10. Hancha: Chinese characters 192 Hancha adoption 192 Complicated Hancha use in the past 193 Hancha use in the present 196 Misguided attempts to abolish Hancha 198 11. Han’gŭl: Alphabetic syllabary 200 Creation and adoption of Han’gŭl 200 Han’gŭl as an alphabet 202 Han’gŭl syllable blocks 206 Varied shapes and complexity of syllable blocks 209 Linear vs packaged arrangement of Han’gul letters 210 Changes in Han’gŭl since its creation 212 Was Han’gŭl an original creation? 214 Han’gŭl, an alphabetic syllabary or alpha-syllabary 217 12. Learning and using Han’gŭl 219 Teaching Han’gŭl as an alphabet or a syllabary 219 Preschoolers learn Han’gul 220 Schoolchildren learn to read in Han’gul 222 Instruction in Han’gŭl spelling 223 Han’gŭl spelling vs romanized spelling 226 Phonological awareness and salience of syllable 228 Morphological awareness 232 Visual skills 236 Poor readers in Han’gul 237 13. Why should Hancha be kept? 243 Advantages of Hancha 243 Disadvantages of not knowing Hancha 247 Korean personal names 248 Hancha-Han’gŭl mixed vs all-Han’gŭl text 251 Hancha teaching in secondary school 253 Streamline and keep Hancha 254 14. History of education and literacy in Korea 256 Civil service examination in Korea 256 Traditional education 257 Modern education 259 Education in S. Korea today 261 Printing and publications 266 Mass literacy 270 Summary and conclusions 273 Part III. Japanese 275 Japan and Japanese 275 15. Japanese language 277 Speech sounds, syllables, and moras 277 Composition of Japanese vocabulary 280 Japanese native vs Sino-Japanese (S-J) words 280 European and English loan words 283 Numerals and classifiers 286 Content words and grammatical morphemes 287 Sentence structures 288 16. Kanji: Chinese characters 291 Indigenous Japanese scripts? 291 Introduction and spread of Kanji 292 Kanji uses in different times 294 Kanji readings: On/Chinese and Kun/Japanese 296 Two-Kanji words: Readings 298 Kanji, Hancha, and Hanzi compared 300 17. Kana: Japanese syllabary 304 Kana: Origin and development 304 Kana graphs: Number and order 306 How to use Kana 308 Furigana or annotating Kana 310 Katakana for foreign loan words 312 18. Rōmaji: Roman letters 314 Rōmaji for European words and foreigners 314 Rōmaji styles: Hepburn, Japanese, and Cabinet 316 Should Rōmaji replace the Japanese scripts? 318 Disadvantages of Rōmaji 320 19. Why keep Kanji? 323 Kanji differentiate homophones 323 Meanings of Kanji words are grasped well 325 Kanji for compound words 326 Kanji for technical terms and abbreviations 329 Kanji stand out in mixed-script text 331 Kanji for personal names 333 Disadvantages of Kanji 334 Typing and word processing 336 Kanji use declined and then stabilized 337 20. History of mass literacy in Japan 342 Early limited literacy 342 Dawn of mass literacy 343 Mass literacy after World War II 346 History of books and publications 348 Manga! Manga! 351 21. Learning and using Kanji and Kana 353 Preschoolers acquire reading 353 Kana and Kanji teaching in school 355 Textbooks for reading instruction 358 Kanji vs Kana: Naming and extracting meaning 360 How well are Kanji read and written? 363 Dyslexia or poor reading in Japanese 366 22. The Japanese educational system 372 Primary and secondary school: Overview 372 Preschool and primary school 375 Middle and high school 376 Tertiary education 377 Japanese education: Problems and promises 378 Summary and conclusions 381 Part IV. Common issues 383 23. Eye movements and text writing in East Asia 385 Eye movements in reading English text 385 Eye movements in Chinese reading 387 Eye movements in Japanese and Korean reading 389 Conventions in writing/reading directions 392 Punctuation marks and spacing 394 Prose and paragraph structure 397 24. Reading and the brain 400 Human brain: Structures and functions 400 Brain processing when reading in Roman alphabets 403 Brain processing when reading in East Asian scripts 406 25. East Asian students in international tests 415 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 415 Top Ten in the 2006, 2009, and 2012 assessments 416 PISA results: Some details 418 Factors that may not influence achievement 419 Factors that influence achievement sometimes 420 Factors that may matter 422 26. Logographic characters vs phonetic scripts 425 Logography, alphabet, and syllabary 425 Direct vs indirect access to meaning and sound 426 Words in logography vs phonetic script: Reading aloud 427 Logography vs phonetic script: Meaning extraction 429 Flexible routes to sounds and meanings of words 431 Logography vs phonetic script: Remembering 433 Logography vs phonetic script: Learning to read 435 Alphabet vs logography for science 436 Effects of scripts and literacy on cognition 438 Afterthoughts 441 Glossary 443 Bibliography 459 Name index 483 Subject index 491 SWLL 14 Introduction -- Spoken Chinese -- Chinese Characters: Hanzi -- Meaning Representation In Characters -- Sound Representation By Characters -- History Of Education And Literacy In China -- Reforming Spoken And Written Chinese -- School, And Learning To Read In Chinese -- Korean Language -- Hancha: Chinese Characters -- Han'gŭl: Alphabetic Syllabary -- Learning And Using Han'gŭl -- Why Should Hancha Be Kept? -- History Of Education And Literacy In Korea -- Japanese Language -- Kanji: Chinese Characters -- Kana: Japanese Syllabary -- Rōmanji: Roman Letters -- Why Keep Kanji? -- History Of Mass Literacy In Japan -- Learning And Using Kanji And Kana -- The Japanese Educational System -- Eye Movements And Text Writing In East Asia -- Reading And The Brain -- East Asian Students In International Tests -- Logographic Characters Vs Phonetic Scripts. Insup Taylor, M. Martin Taylor. Revision Of Writing And Literacy In Chinese, Korean, And Japanese / Insup Taylor And M. Martin Taylor, C1995. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The book describes how the three East Asian writing systems-Chinese, Korean, and Japanese- originated, developed, and are used today. Uniquely, this book: (1) examines the three East Asian scripts (and English) together in relation to each other, and (2) discusses how these scripts are, and historically have been, used in literacy and how they are learned, written, read, and processed by the eyes, the brain, and the mind. 0In this second edition, the authors have included recent research findings on the uses of the scripts, added several new sections, and rewritten several other sections. They have also added a new Part IV to deal with issues that similarly involve all the four languages/scripts of our interest. 0The book is intended both for the general public and for interested scholars. Technical terms (listed in a glossary) are used only when absolutely necessary This text is part of a series which aims to advance insight into the multifaceted character of written language, with special emphasis on its uses in different social and cultural settings. This edition focuses particularly on writing in Chinese, Korean and Japanese.