Announcing the long-awaited publication of:
Remembering Traditional Hanzi, Book 1, How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Chinese Characters
and
Remembering Simplified Hanzi, Book 1, How Not to Forget the Meaning and
Writing of Chinese Characters
by Timothy W. Richardson and James W. Heisig
******************************************************************************
Comments on a Dissertation Dealing with James W. Heisigfs Approach to
Kanji Memorization
by Timothy W. Richardson, Ph.D.
Brigham Young University--Hawaii
Introduction
The purpose of these brief comments is to provide an introduction to the work discussed in my dissertation, entitled: James W. Heisigfs System for Remembering Kanji: An Examination of Relevant
Theory and Research and a 1,000-Character Adaptation for Chinese. This dissertation was completed in 1998, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral degree I received from the University of Texas at Austin that same year.
My purpose in undertaking this research was, in essence, to find initial
answers to these two questions:
1. How strong is the theoretical and empirical justification for using a system such as Heisigfs (1986) as an aid to the learning of Chinese characters, especially in the early stages of language study?
2. How well can the system be adapted to Chinese for at least 1,000 high-frequency
characters?
These questions reflected (and reflect) my ongoing interest in the learning
of Chinese--I have no background in Japanese-- and, particularly, in the
enormous memory burden that confronts beginning, English-speaking students
who start down the path toward literacy in this language.
Answering the first question involved extensive investigation into three
main areas of theory and research:
1) that dealing with the underlying cognitive processes Heisigfs system
could be expected to involve;
2) that concerned with vocabulary acquisition (with particular attention
to the uniqueness of vocabulary learning for Chinese); and
3) that focused on the reading process itself.
Enormous literatures were involved. Answering the second question entailed
the creation of a unique list of 1,000 high-frequency Chinese characters,
and the subsequent integration of each character into a coherent Chinese
version of Heisigfs original work on the kanji.
The dissertation includes two important delimitations:
1) I made no attempt to deal with Heisigfs (1987) work on character pronunciations
in connection with either question above. My judgment was that such pronunciation
regularities as do exist in Chinese are not exploitable to a very helpful
degree.
2) I did not empirically test either Heisigfs system for the learning
of kanji or my Chinese adaptation of his system. My interest was that of
extending the examination of relevant theoretical and empirical issues
well beyond what is found in a more standard literature review, a process
that I hoped would, among other things, be useful for hypothesis generation.
Heisigfs System--Concerns and Objections
As many readers are undoubtedly aware, Heisig (1986) offers an gimaginative alphabet,h or an alphabet of images, one that he intends to be gas rigorous as a phonetic one in restricting each basic element to one basic valueh (p. 7). This alphabet is made up of gprimitive elements . . . . the fundamental strokes and combinations of strokes from which all the characters are built uph (pp. 7-8). Heisig starts by associating a few of these basic components with images and English definitions, which he calls keywords. These combine to form simple characters, each of which is also associated with an image and a meaning, and which may, in turn, be used as a component of more complex characters. This procedure is followed, with additional components being included as needed, until the most complex characters are built up.
The dissertation discusses in detail, and in connection with perspectives from the relevant literatures, many of the concerns and objections that have been, or might be, leveled at this approach to character memorization. Among these are objections to (and concerns about)
1. the use of mnemonic elaboration in general
2. the use of mnemonic elaboration with Chinese characters
3. the irregularities that exist in Heisigfs system
4. Heisigfs emphasis on characters, rather than on words
5. Heisigfs emphasis on the imaginal modality for memorization, as opposed to the verbal modality
6. Heisigfs emphasis on characters, rather than on reading
7. Heisigfs use of keywords, which some might consider to be inadequate indicators of meaning and inhibitory of cognitive flexibility
8. Heisigfs seeming obliviousness to the role of phonology in mediating lexical access
9. Heisigfs being an eoutsiderf--a philosopher, rather than a language
professional
Answers to the Research Questions
The above-mentioned concerns and objections (and their various sub-concerns),
as analyzed in the dissertation, fail to undermine the potential value
of Heisigfs work. In fact, the answer to the first research question mentioned
earlier is that the strength of the theoretical and empirical justification
for using a system such as Heisigfs (1986) for character memorization
seems to be very strong. As discussed at length in the dissertation, Heisigfs
system incorporates principles known to positively affect learning; it
makes sense in terms of the underlying cognitive processes it involves.
Furthermore, clear reasons exist for believing that metacognitive elements
built into the system will be helpful to a learner who has goals compatible
with its use, and that the system should, for such a learner, infuse positive
affect into the mammoth task of character learning. Finally, there are
persuasive reasons for believing that Heisigfs system has the potential
to help the learner more quickly establish high-quality orthographic representations,
which should allow both earlier and increased exposure to character texts,
and all the learning advantages that meaningful print exposure brings.
The answer to the second research question, about how well the system can be adapted for use with Chinese, is also positive. Clearly, there are difficulties here, but they are not insurmountable. The system can be fully adapted, although the number of changes and additions required will number well into the hundreds and beyond. There are some inevitable losses. The most unfortunate is the loss of the some of Heisigfs original stories. Some of these cannot be transferred to Chinese due to form differences between the Chinese characters and their kanji counterparts; others because they are specific to Japanese. Still, these losses, and others, provide opportunity for new creativity to show what can be done.
Importantly, the 1,000-character Chinese adaptation was never intended to be a usable final-form version. It was created only for the purpose of learning what adapting Heisigfs system for use with Chinese would entail. A version intended to be fully usable for Chinese should perhaps employ a set of 2,500 characters, or more, as an adaptation of this size would contain important economy-of-scale advantages over a smaller one. (I am currently working on an expanded adaptation.)
Conclusion
After having gone through the lengthy investigative process required for
the dissertation, I am persuaded that conscientious use of a Chinese adaptation
of Heisigfs system should enable at least some (perhaps many) learners
to markedly shorten the time it takes to gain literacy in Chinese. To me,
therefore, it seems unwise--especially for those of us who initially confronted
character memorization in more standard ways--to too hastily dismiss the
systemfs potential.
To order the dissertation, which includes the 1,000 character Chinese adaptation:
If in the U.S.:
The publication # (or UMI #) is 9838097.
Call toll-free: 1 (800) 521-0600 (ext. 7044).
Or write:
Dissertations: Customer Service
PROQUEST
300 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan? 48106
If outside the U.S.:
Again, the publication # (or UMI #) is 9838097.
Write:
Dissertations: Customer Service
International Department
PROQUEST
300 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan? 48106
U.S.A.
References
Heisig, J. W. (1986). Remembering the kanji I: A complete course on how not to forget the meaning and writing of Japanese characters (3rd ed.). Tokyo, Japan: Japan Publications Trading Co., Ltd.
Heisig, J. W. (1987). Remembering the kanji II: A systematic guide to reading Japanese characters. Tokyo, Japan: Japan Publications Trading Co., Ltd.