Kanji Learning Activities in Classroom based on Bloom’s Taxonomy

Abstract

There are three types of Japanese characters: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. All among three types of Japanese characters, Kanji are being said to be one of the most difficult for Japanese learners, especially those from countries that do not use Kanji because Kanji are ideographs which have more than one meaning and sounds in one character. Teaching Kanji in the traditional way by writing Kanji repeatedly or memorizing sounds and meaning at the same time is a burden for learners and causes stress that leads to a decline in motivations for studying Japanese. If the teacher understands the levels of intellectual behavior, for example, Bloom’s Taxonomy, they will be able to teach Kanji effectively and achieve their goals. At present, there are a diversity of resources in teaching and learning Kanji in the form of books, textbooks or the Internet. The teacher should use those learning activities for meeting learning outcomes. The activities content can be separated to the origins of Kanji, Kanji shape, Kanji sounds, the meaning of Kanji and the usage of Kanji. These five content can be considered to formulate a conceptual skill in different intellectual behaviors. Moreover, those activities can be used in the classroom as a teaching exercise, a revision exercise or measurement tools used to assess learning Kanji.