This paper examines consonant-vowel syllabic spelling in Maya hieroglyphic writing, comparing it with Japanese writing, both of which use logo-syllabograms. The central aim is to suggest a new perspective that will contribute to building testable theories for Mayan hieroglyphic spelling rules. Two research questions addressed here are: 1) how does the ancient Maya spelling system work; and 2) what is the motivation behind the ancient Mayan people's choice and use of CV syllabograms and logo-syllabic writing. I will investigate these questions from the following perspectives: 1) linguistic approaches to logo-syllabic writing systems; 2) phonetics; 3) a native Japanese speaker's intuition; 4) relationships between spoken and written languages. By using linguistic theories and methods with anthropological comparative methods, I propose the hypothesis that a word-final vowel in Maya hieroglyphic writing represents either an echo-vowel, a part of grammatical morpheme, a paragogic vowel accounting for word-final syllabification, or an underspelled word-final consonant.

This thesis examines characters in Chinese and Japanese, including semantic shift. The writing system in China, Japan and a number of other nations whose script relates to characters, notably Korea, will also be discussed. By examining this "Character Cultural Sphere" in East Asia along with the historical and modern character standardizations and reformations, the role of Chinese characters proves to be essential. Furthermore, the thesis investigates semantic shifts of characters as windows on socio-cultural change in two given areas, namely "disorder" to "order" and "natural" to "artificial, manmade". One major aim is to explore shifts of meanings (semantic shifts), that can provide a commentary on the changes in societal and cultural values. The results reveal that the pattern of semantic shifts between China and Japan is considerably similar. Regarding "natural vs manmade" the overall trend shows that in both China and Japan, more characters acquired the meaning of "artificial, manmade" as time goes by, reflecting the changes in society. Regarding "disorder vs order", while the percentage of characters relating to "disorder" remained relatively stable in these two countries, the percentage of characters relating to "order" saw an undeniable increase - more than double in both Chinese and Japanese - showing that in both countries, the overall societal trend was obviously towards more "order" while "disorder" continues to exist. These results give quantitative data regarding the pattern of evolution of Chinese and Japanese societies, particularly Chinese, and provided an insight through written scripts into the evolution of human beings and civilizations. Also, because of its length, the main database of the research, the table of 2,500 common-use characters with commentary, is attached after the bibliography as an appendix.

The challenges in learning pinyin, the romanized Chinese orthography, faced by 5-to-7-year-olds, have received little attention. This study represents an attempt to better understand learning an alphabetic writing system from the viewpoint of the alphabetic principle, in the context of the Chinese language, by examining both reading aloud and spelling, with a particular focus on spelling. To detect the challenges, a pinyin syllable-type test (STT) was developed, in which syllables were classified into seven spelling types guided by the alphabetic principle, where there is a letter-sound correspondence. Syllables of all the lengths under each type of spelling pattern were given to two age groups, 6-year-old first-grade pupils and 7-year-old second-grade pupils, at the start of their school year. The sample consists of a total of 192 pupils. In spelling, the STT reveals that challenges appear when the spelling type departs from the alphabetic principle. The results show that the hardest type of spelling is not the type containing the longest syllables, but a type one-half of that length, for which the correspondence between letters and sounds is abridged, but explicitly taught. In contrast, the latter type poses no problem in the reading-aloud test, where the results show little variation between the spelling types. Comparing the students' performance on the STT shows an order of challenges among the seven types emerging in the first grade. This order is confirmed in the second grade in some types but not others. The pupils' raw data reveal not only what is challenging but also why it is so. Along with an indication of the influence from the local speech, the data also point to the effect of the teaching method, which is more or less uniform all over China. Thus, there is a possible application of the findings to a larger population.

Submitted by WALKIRIA GONÇALVES REGANHAN null (profwalkiria@hotmail.com) on 2016-08-20T17:58:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE - Educação REGANHAN W G - 2016.pdf: 5487616 bytes, checksum: d68fd0839b0a0b9f67f6ffedde24599f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-08-23T20:20:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 reganhan_wg_dr_mar.pdf: 5487616 bytes, checksum: d68fd0839b0a0b9f67f6ffedde24599f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-23T20:20:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 reganhan_wg_dr_mar.pdf: 5487616 bytes, checksum: d68fd0839b0a0b9f67f6ffedde24599f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-10 / O ensino do aluno com paralisia cerebral deve atender ao currículo escolar e, para que a aprendizagem aconteça, sabe-se que se faz necessário um ensino sistematizado, o qual irá garantir a aquisição do Sistema de Escrita Alfabética. Objetiva-se, com este estudo, analisar os efeitos de um programa de alfabetização voltado para a prática pedagógica do professor do Atendimento Educacional Especializado, nos avanços das hipóteses de escrita do aluno com paralisia cerebral. Os participantes desta investigação foram duas alunas com paralisia cerebral matriculadas no 3º ano do Ensino Fundamental e uma professora-pesquisadora. O estudo foi realizado em uma Escola Municipal do interior de São Paulo. A pesquisa foi dividida em dois estudos denominados Estudo 1: Desenvolvimento e análise de um programa de alfabetização para alunos com paralisia cerebral escolarizados e Estudo 2: Efeitos de um programa de alfabetização para aquisição do sistema de escrita alfabética de alunos com paralisia cerebral. O Estudo 1 teve como objetivo elaborar, sistematizar e analisar um programa de alfabetização para alunos com paralisia cerebral. Foram efetuadas filmagens e registros em diário de campo de um programa com atividades de escrita elaboradas pelo professor-pesquisador, a partir do nível de escrita das alunas. Os dados das filmagens e do diário de campo foram transcritos e categorizados. Considerou-se que o professor é responsável por um ensino sistematizado sobre a aquisição do Sistema de Escrita Alfabética, com base em um planejamento adequado às necessidades acadêmicas e características funcionais do aluno com paralisia cerebral. No Estudo 2, buscou-se verificar os efeitos do programa de alfabetização na evolução das hipóteses de escrita das crianças com paralisa cerebral. Para a coleta de dados, utilizaram-se três instrumentos: a) protocolo de registro do desempenho do aluno, durante a realização da sondagem; b) tabela de desempenho do aluno, em relação à compreensão do Sistema de Escrita Alfabética e c) programa de alfabetização. Para análise dos dados obtidos, estes foram exportados para gráficos e fez-se uma análise visual. Neste estudo, verificou-se que os alunos com paralisia cerebral são capazes de avançar nas hipóteses de escrita e adquirir conhecimento sobre o sistema de escrita alfabética, seguindo o que é proposto no currículo escolar, dentro de um contexto com práticas de leitura e escrita. Conclui-se que o ensino sistematizado pode favorecer a aprendizagem da escrita pelo aluno com paralisia cerebral. / The teaching of the student with cerebral palsy must meet the school curriculum, and so that the learning can be achieved, it is necessary a systematized teaching which will ensure the aquisition of the Alphabetical Writing System. This study aims to analyse the effects of a literacy program aimed at the pedagogical practice of the teacher from the Specialized Educational Service, in the advances of the hypothesis of writing of the student with cerebral palsy. The participants of this study were two students with cerebral palsy enrolled in the 3rd grade of Elementary School, and a teacher-researcher. The study was conducted in a municipal school from the state of São Paulo. The research was divided into two studies: Study 1: Development and analysis of a literacy program for educated students with cerebral palsy, and Study 2: Effects of a literacy program for aquisition of the alphabetical writing system of students with cerebral palsy. The study 1 aimed to develop, systematize and analyze a literacy program for students with cerebral palsy. Filming and field journal register of a program with writing activities created by the teacher-researcher from the writing level of the students were made. The data from the filming and the field diary were transcribed and categorized. It was considered that the teacher is responsible for a systematized teaching about the acquisition of the Alphabetical Writing System, from proper planning to academic needs and functional characteristics of the student with cerebral palsy. In study 2, it was sought to evaluate the effects of the literacy program in the evolution of the writing hypothesis of the children with cerebral palsy. Three instruments were used in collecting the data: a) registration protocol of the student performance during the conduct of the poll; b) performance table of the student related to the understanding of the Alphabetical Writing System; c) literacy program. The registered data were exported to graphics, and a visual analysis was carried out in order to analyse them. In this study, it was stablished that the students with cerebral palsy are able to progress in the writing hyphotesis, and acquire knowledge about the Alphabetical Writing System, according to what is proposed in the school curriculum, in a context with reading and writing practices. It was concluded that the systematized teaching can promote the learning of writing by the student with cerebral palsy.

In today’s world of rapid technological development one cannot deny the importance of collaborative writing systems. Besides many advantages of a collaborative writing system the major one is to allow its end users to work in collaboration with each other without having to physically meet. In the past various researches has been carried out for the usability evaluation of collaborative writing systems using the think aloud protocol method however there is no study conducted on the comparison of different usability evaluation methods in the context of collaborative writing systems. In this thesis work the authors have tried to find the limitations and capabilities of think aloud protocol and co-discovery learning methods in the context of a collaborative writing system called ZOHO, as well as the usability evaluation of ZOHO using think aloud protocol and co-discovery learning methods. The authors found various usability errors in ZOHO. Apart from this the authors also observed the two usability evaluation methods when they were used for usability evaluation of ZOHO. The authors found that both the methods have its’ own benefits and drawbacks. While the co-discovery learning method was fast enough, it was expensive in terms of human resource. On the other hand think aloud protocol method was slow to perform but there was less human resource used. Both the usability methods found almost the same usability errors. / In this thesis work the primary objective was to figure out the limitations and capabilities of think aloud protocol and co-discovery learning methods in the context of ZOHO; a collaborative writing system. Apart from this the secondary objective of this thesis was to conduct the usability evaluation of ZOHO and to find out what makes ZOHO ineffective, inefficient and unsatisfactory. The authors carried out usability tests on ZOHO using the think aloud protocol and co-discovery learning methods. After the tests results’ analysis the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction level of ZOHO was figured in section 7.2.1, 7.2.2 and 7.2.3 while the usability problems that make ZOHO ineffective, inefficient and unsatisfactory are discussed in section 7.2.4 of this thesis. Apart from the usability of ZOHO, the authors were also able to identify strong and weak points of the think aloud protocol and co-discovery learning methods when used for the usability evaluation of a collaborative writing system. They found that think aloud protocol testing is better if the evaluator is cost cautious or if he is looking for a detailed usability problems but does not cares about the time taken by the test. However if the evaluator cares about the test time and he cares less about the cost in terms of participants required for the test then he should use the co-discovery method for testing a collaborative writing system.

The current study investigated the influence of the Swedish writing system on the mental representation of temporal succession in adult Swedish speakers. The hypotheses predicted that the temporal succession should follow the direction of the Swedish writing system among the tested participants, and that there would be some variation in the group due to individual reading habits. The results of the experiment showed that a majority (approximately 85 %) of the participants did follow the direction of the writing system, such that they had a preference for a direction from left-to-right, while the rest of the participants had a preference for opposite right-to-left direction. The quantitative calculations revealed that the variables of age and the frequency of reading novels accounted for the variation in the sample. The hypothesis that the majority of the participants represented temporal succession in accordance with the directionality of the Swedish writing system was therefore confirmed, as well as the hypothesis that there would be a possible variation due to individual reading habits.

Contemporary Japanese possesses three major types of words, (1) kango (Sino-Japanese words), (2) wago (Japanese native words), and (3) gairaigo (loanwords), and each word type is associated with three types of scripts, (1) kanji (Chinese characters), (2) hiragana, and (3) katakana. Kanji are a set of logographic/ideographic scripts, and both hiragana and katakana are phonetic syllabaries. Kanji are used for presenting kango and wago, while some wago are written only in hiragana. Katakana are used for presenting gairaigo. Moreover, katakana are unconventionally used to write kango and wago for the purposes of emphasis and so forth. This paper extensively examines katakana words including gairaigo as well as kango and wago written in katakana unconventionally. Many observers have commented that katakana words are increasing in Japanese writings. However, there is little empirical data to prove their increase in such writings. This dissertation pursues this question by hypothesizing that katakana words have been increasingly used in Japanese writings. Together with providing evidence of their increase, this dissertation captures differences in katakana word usage between different publication outlets, namely, magazines and newspapers as well as television commercials. In order to investigate these issues, a research project is conducted where vocabularies from the three types of media are collected on computer databases. The increase of katakana words in Japanese writings poses a problem to foreign learners of Japanese whose L1 is English. As reported in various research including Chikamatsu (1996), the learners generally experience difficulty in processing and comprehending katakana words. From the learners’ perspective, the increase of katakana words in Japanese writings means that the learners need to know more katakana words than ever before to read Japanese writings. Meanwhile, native readers of Japanese also express some difficulty with katakana words, as illustrated in the recent survey results by the National Institute for Japanese Language and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. Both governmental agencies found that many Japanese had the experience of being unable to understand the meaning of some gairaigo. Their difficulty seems to partially be caused by the increase of gairaigo in Japanese writings. From the native readers’ perspective, the increase of gairaigo means that new gairaigo are continuously introduced in such writings, some of which are not deeply rooted in Japanese gairaigo inventory but have been introduced relatively recently, with the ensuing result that many people do not know the meaning of such words. Although it is clear that both foreign learners and native readers of Japanese have difficulty with katakana words due to the increase of such words, to date no linguistic analysis has been conducted to account for reasons of their difficulty. Thus, this dissertation examines such reasons, and then offers some suggestions as to how to make gairaigo more comprehensible from the point of view of script policy and pedagogical practice. And ultimately, some conclusions regarding the role of katakana in the Japanese orthographic system will be discussed in the light of the history of the Japanese language and its writing system.

No description available.

This study investigates the kanji learning strategies used by learners of Japanese from two non-logographic orthographic backgrounds within the Sinosphere (Korean and Vietnamese), and alphabetic-language-based backgrounds, and how the three groups compare to each other. The study utilised data analysis techniques on data collected from 40 Japanese language learners via an online survey, and semi-structured interviews with four learners from Korea and Vietnam. The study found that Korean and Vietnamese learners benefit from first language kanji knowledge when learning to recognise Japanese kanji (particularly among Korean learners), and that common and preferred kanji learning methods differ between groups, with learners of alphabet-language backgrounds preferring methods from the planning learning and evaluating learning metacognitive strategies categories; and Korean and Vietnamese learners preferring association cognitive and planning learning metacognitive methods.

The hP’ags-pa script was created in the late 13th century (the early Yuan dynasty) which was intended to transliterate all the languages of the Mongol empire such as Tibetan, Uyghur and Chinese into a single writing system. Among all the Chinese hP’ags-pa materials, the primer Bǎijiā xìng 百家姓 [Surnames of the Hundred Families] (BJX) offered us extensive hP’ags-pa syllables and their corresponding Chinese characters. The BJX in hP’ags-pa script has four editions that are currently known to scholars. A careful comparison and examination of the four editions of the BJX text reveals three main types of errors in hP’ags-pa syllables: (1) The misuse of similar-looking letters; (2) Pure clerical errors; and (3) Errors in the transliteration of variant pronunciations. The variant transliterations in the C edition provide some clues to sound changes, including (1) The devoicing of voiced stops and fricatives and (2) The loss of the bilabial nasal coda [m]. Aside from the variant transliterations, the majority of errors are purely graphic and reflect a lack of knowledge about the writing system. An examination of the use of the hP’ags-pa script in the BJX text suggests several potential reasons for the failure of the script to come into common use. These include: (1) A misconception of the nature of the hP’ags-pa writing system; (2) An ineffective learning approach; (3) The discrepancy of phonological categories and phonetic values; and (4) The non-adaptability to the Chinese language.