Measurement of Reading Coprehension of Taiwanese Children in Japan in the Case of Chinese and Japanese Languages : A Comparative Analysis of Chinese and Japanese Native Speakers' Reading Comprehension

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  • 在日台湾人子どもの読解力の測定:中国語母語話者と日本語母語話者の読解力を比較分析する
  • ザイニチ タイワンジン コドモ ノ ドッカイリョク ノ ソクテイ チュウゴクゴ ボゴワシャ ト ニホンゴ ボゴワシャ ノ ドッカイリョク オ ヒカク ブンセキ スル

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Abstract

When reading sentences, we draw deductions by repeatedly reading parts such as conjunctive words in the sentences and directions. This paper targets 12 learners in Japan who are Taiwanese native speakers learning Japanese as the second language and examines their understanding of sentences and the parts in which they may have difficulties reading (depending on the ages at which Japanese learning must begin, the learners are divided into three groups: less than 7 years, 7–10 years, and more than 11 years old.). Firstly, the test of the reading comprehension of Chinese and Japanese was made. The reading comprehension questions of each language were divided into questions of “the reason,” “the connection,” “the explanation,” “the whole,” and “the directions.” The degree of sentence comprehension was compared with that of the native speakers of Chinese and Japanese by using each reading comprehension test of Chinese and Japanese. The result revealed that those who began learning Japanese at a higher age found it easier to maintain their reading comprehension of Chinese. In the case of Chinese reading comprehension, the questions of “connection,” “whole,” and “direction” are the most difficult while the questions of “connection” and “direction” are the most difficult in Japanese reading comprehension. Further, there is a positive correlation between the reading comprehension of Chinese and Japanese languages. In the case of Japanese comprehension, since the number of kanji words is high, the knowledge of learners' mother tongue such as Chinese may influence the reading comprehension. Thus, elder learners who have learnt Chinese vocabulary might have an advantage in comprehending the Japanese language. It was suggested that the degree of learning of Taiwanese children in Japan was low in comparison with that of the native speakers of the same grade in case of “the con-junction” and “the demonstrative,” where remarkable differences were observed between the two languages.

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