<p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att försöka determinera vilken effekt mer avancerade gameplaymoment i serious games har på inlärning. Bakgrunden går igenom nyckelbegreppen gameplay och varför mer avancerat gameplay kan leda till mer effektiva lärospel tack vare förbättrat flow. Skriftspråket kanji förklaras kort och de problem som människor som försöker lära sig det ofta stöter på.En studie har utförts med hjälp av fyra olika spel med syftet att lära ut kanji. Tre av dessa spel har designats så att de endast skiljer sig i hur avancerat deras gameplay är. Dessa spel har testats mot varandra för att se om de var olika effektiva på att lära ut kanji. Testpersoner fick efter de spelat igenom spelen och lärt sig 50 kanji utföra ett glostest för att visa på hur mycket de lärt sig. Den data som samlats in har analyserats och ingen signifikant skillnad i inlärningen mellan de olika spelen har visat sig.Slutsatsen pekar på att det går att implementera mer avancerat gameplay utan att negativt påverka inlärningen. Mer avancerat gameplay kan dock tillföra andra fördelar för användare i form av ökad motivation. Vissa testpersoner föredrog de enklare spelen så en annan slutsats blir att om det går att ge användare möjligheten att själva kontrollera nivån av gameplay så kan detta leda till den mest effektiva slutprodukten.</p>

Denna uppsats undersöker hur olika nivåer av gameplay i spel påverkar motivationen hos testpersoner som deltagit i en undersökning där de fått spela olika serious games framtagna med syfte att lära ut det japanska skriftsystemet kanji. Metoden för undersökningen är baserad på teorier och tidigare undersökningar av bland andra Owston, Wideman, Sinitskaya Ronda och Brown (2009), De Grove, Merchant och Van Looy (2009) och Csikszentmihalyi (1990). I undersökningen har 27 testpersoner fått testa tre olika spel med olika nivå av gameplay, och har sedan i ett frågeformulär fått redogöra för bland annat hur underhållande och utmanande de fann spelen. Resultatet av undersökningen är ickesignifikant, men visar ändå indikationer på att mer gameplay ger mer underhållning. Den största slutsatsen undersökningen ger är dock att olika varianter av gameplay är att föredra, då olika personer ofta har olika smak baserat på tidigare spelvana m.m.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att försöka determinera vilken effekt mer avancerade gameplaymoment i serious games har på inlärning. Bakgrunden går igenom nyckelbegreppen gameplay och varför mer avancerat gameplay kan leda till mer effektiva lärospel tack vare förbättrat flow. Skriftspråket kanji förklaras kort och de problem som människor som försöker lära sig det ofta stöter på.En studie har utförts med hjälp av fyra olika spel med syftet att lära ut kanji. Tre av dessa spel har designats så att de endast skiljer sig i hur avancerat deras gameplay är. Dessa spel har testats mot varandra för att se om de var olika effektiva på att lära ut kanji. Testpersoner fick efter de spelat igenom spelen och lärt sig 50 kanji utföra ett glostest för att visa på hur mycket de lärt sig. Den data som samlats in har analyserats och ingen signifikant skillnad i inlärningen mellan de olika spelen har visat sig.Slutsatsen pekar på att det går att implementera mer avancerat gameplay utan att negativt påverka inlärningen. Mer avancerat gameplay kan dock tillföra andra fördelar för användare i form av ökad motivation. Vissa testpersoner föredrog de enklare spelen så en annan slutsats blir att om det går att ge användare möjligheten att själva kontrollera nivån av gameplay så kan detta leda till den mest effektiva slutprodukten.

The present study investigates the effect of furigana on lexical inferencing. After completing a pretest to determine their knowledge of the target words, participants read a passage and completed a think-aloud protocol and questionnaire. The experimental group read a passage with furigana over all kanji words while the control group read a passage without furigana. The protocols were evaluated to determine the rate and quality of lexical inferences of 16 target kanji words. The results of the questionnaire were evaluated to determine participant perception of passage and kanji difficulty, self-assessed percentage of the story that was understood, and the degree to which they liked the story. It was found that the group with furigana made more correct inferences than the control group. It was also found that the furigana group perceived the kanji in the passage to be easier than the control group did. Furigana did not seem to affect the degree to which the participants liked the story, their perception of the difficulty of the story or the percentage of the story that they understood. Implications for theory and pedagogy are discussed.

This work focuses on creating an application to support Japanese character learning. It also contains a brief overview of Japanese writing's history and evolution. Based on the study of existing options, this work sets the requirements for the application. It discusses problems and tries to find possible solutions. Character recognition is an important part. The work describes chosen solutions and their implementations. It ends by demonstrating achieved results and discussing options for further development of the system.

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Research into kanji (Chinese characters used in Japan) learning and recognition has given rise to various theories on how kanji are learnt and identified by non-native learners of Japanese. However, an overall understanding of the underlying process by which they learn kanji remains unclear. The aim of this thesis was thus to produce a synthesis of kanji learning from cognitive outcomes and socio-cognitive behaviour to perceived strategies among learners of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL). This was examined through three separate but interrelated studies. The first study examined the use of kanji learning strategies and their perceived efficacy by JFL learners by means of a questionnaire. The second study examined the outcomes of identifying single kanji characters by means of a kanji identification task. Finally, the third study explored kanji learning behaviour in detail by examining affective factors, kanji attributes and the effect of instructional methods on six beginner JFL learners over a semester of kanji study. Analysis of Study 1 revealed three main categories of kanji learning strategies, namely, mnemonic, analytic and rote learning. On average, learners claimed that the strategies they used most were also most helpful. Despite their exposure to Chinese characters, the learners from Chinese backgrounds studying in Australia demonstrated similar preferences for kanji learning strategies to English first language (L1) learners, while learners from Sri Lanka showed preferences for different types of strategies to these two groups. Study 2 revealed that all learners performed better in matching kanji with their shapes than with their meanings or pronunciations (readings). Chinese L1 learners performed better than their alphabetic (English L1) or alphasyllabic (Sinhalese L1) counterparts in matching the meanings and shapes of kanji. Similarity, whether in shape, pronunciation or meaning, did impair the performances of all JFL learners. The findings of Study 3 underpin the need to develop individualised learning styles within the kanji classroom. Some learners collaborated with their study partner in finding solutions; some demonstrated abilities to recognise and assess their own learning behaviour, and others initiated and developed activities for learning kanji to varying degrees. In general, experiences of staying in Japan appeared to have produced negative impressions regarding kanji study. Moreover, asymmetries in reading and writing were prevalent among the learners. In spite of the varied instructional modes exercised on the learner groups, all learners were able to assess the strengths and weaknesses in each method and develop their own kanji-learning styles. Taken together, the three studies reported in this thesis all contributed to deepening our understanding of the kanji learning process of pre-intermediate and beginner JFL learners. These three studies constitute the starting point in the endeavour to propose a framework for kanji learning.

Research into kanji (Chinese characters used in Japan) learning and recognition has given rise to various theories on how kanji are learnt and identified by non-native learners of Japanese. However, an overall understanding of the underlying process by which they learn kanji remains unclear. The aim of this thesis was thus to produce a synthesis of kanji learning from cognitive outcomes and socio-cognitive behaviour to perceived strategies among learners of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL). This was examined through three separate but interrelated studies. The first study examined the use of kanji learning strategies and their perceived efficacy by JFL learners by means of a questionnaire. The second study examined the outcomes of identifying single kanji characters by means of a kanji identification task. Finally, the third study explored kanji learning behaviour in detail by examining affective factors, kanji attributes and the effect of instructional methods on six beginner JFL learners over a semester of kanji study. Analysis of Study 1 revealed three main categories of kanji learning strategies, namely, mnemonic, analytic and rote learning. On average, learners claimed that the strategies they used most were also most helpful. Despite their exposure to Chinese characters, the learners from Chinese backgrounds studying in Australia demonstrated similar preferences for kanji learning strategies to English first language (L1) learners, while learners from Sri Lanka showed preferences for different types of strategies to these two groups. Study 2 revealed that all learners performed better in matching kanji with their shapes than with their meanings or pronunciations (readings). Chinese L1 learners performed better than their alphabetic (English L1) or alphasyllabic (Sinhalese L1) counterparts in matching the meanings and shapes of kanji. Similarity, whether in shape, pronunciation or meaning, did impair the performances of all JFL learners. The findings of Study 3 underpin the need to develop individualised learning styles within the kanji classroom. Some learners collaborated with their study partner in finding solutions; some demonstrated abilities to recognise and assess their own learning behaviour, and others initiated and developed activities for learning kanji to varying degrees. In general, experiences of staying in Japan appeared to have produced negative impressions regarding kanji study. Moreover, asymmetries in reading and writing were prevalent among the learners. In spite of the varied instructional modes exercised on the learner groups, all learners were able to assess the strengths and weaknesses in each method and develop their own kanji-learning styles. Taken together, the three studies reported in this thesis all contributed to deepening our understanding of the kanji learning process of pre-intermediate and beginner JFL learners. These three studies constitute the starting point in the endeavour to propose a framework for kanji learning.

Kanji, the Chinese characters adopted to write the Japanese language, is often mentioned as one of the most difficult aspects of mastering said language. This is especially said about people from outside the Sinosphere i.e. PRC, Taiwan, North and South Korea, Japan and Vietnam. In the following thesis 12 students studying the Japanese language at Swedish universities were interviewed about their experiences when it comes to learning and being taught about kanji. A chapter summarizing some of the research that is relevant to this thesis is also included. Topics touched upon in this and the result chapter include the desire for more structured approach to kanji learning based on breaking down the characters into elemental components, spaced repetition (SRS), mnemonics.

This thesis describes the process of identifying design and imple- mentation guidelines for tablet based learning games focusing on the Japanese writing system which consists of multiple complex logo- graphic characters called kanji. The kanji system covers over 2000 different characters where each character has multiple readings. The characters can also be joined to form new words these are called kanji compounds. Through an iterative process of prototype design and creation, we developed and evaluated three game concepts and a dig- ital game artifact for tablet computers. The results of this research presents five design and implementation guidelines for tablet based learning games focusing on compound kanji which were identified through the results from three evaluations which were performed to- gether with participants that had a background in both interaction design and Japanese.