Addressing Diverse Needs in Society: Development and Testing of a Written Japanese Simplification System

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24320096
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese language education
• Research Institution: Tokyo International University
• Principal Investigator: KAWAMURA YOSHIKO 東京国際大学, 言語コミュニケーション学部, 教授 (40214704)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MAEDA JOYCE 東京国際大学, 経済学部, 教授 (90275800) ; KITAMURA TATSUYA 甲南大学, 知能情報学部, 教授 (60293594) ; MIWA JOUJI 岩手大学, 工学部, 准教授 (60125664) ; KANENIWA KUMIKO 立教大学, ランゲージセンター, 教育講師 (60733772)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 読解支援 / やさしい日本語 / 自動書き換えシステム / 共生社会 / Web上の支援ツール / リーディングチュウ太 / 日本語弱者 / 漢字熟語

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The research outlined here describes the development and testing of a Japanese language simplification system available on the Web that re-writes standard Japanese into more accessible language. The need to simplify written Japanese has emerged due to the growing linguistic and cultural complexity of society. These members may include learners of Japanese as well as the linguistically disadvantaged. Linguistically disadvantaged members in society may include elderly Japanese L1 speakers, young children, and people who use Japanese as a foreign or second language. All of these groups encounter difficulty with the large number of kanji used in formal written Japanese and an increasing number of foreign loan words written in kana. The tools developed in the present project are available on the Web through the Tutor Japanese Reading Support System free of charge.

Free Research Field

日本語教育