science

Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese

Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese rather than just read about it. In short: Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese (Victor Mair uses the acronym WLCKJ) is a 1995 book by Insup Taylor and M. Martin Taylor, published by John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Key takeaways

Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese (Victor Mair uses the acronym WLCKJ) is a 1995 book by Insup Taylor and M. Martin Taylor, published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. Kim Ainsworth-Darnell, in The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, wrote that the work "is intended as an introduction for the Western reader to the writing systems of East Asia." William C. Hannas of Georgetown University described it as "the first sustained treatment of writing in East Asia." Nobu Akamatsu of Kochi University stated that the book was intended for "novices from various backgrounds" rather than academics with extensive experience related to East Asia. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy wrote that the book was not only intended for "the general public" but also for "academic readers". Kathryn Allen of the University of Reading wrote that the comparing of the writing systems of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean was the more important aspect than the overview of the languages. In 2014 a revised version was published.

Background Insup Taylor, who was born in Korea, and employed by the University of Toronto, is in the psycholinguistic field. She studied East Asian languages and did the bulk of the work. She has fluency in both Korean and Japanese. The co-author is her husband. The book used primary sources written in each of the three languages as well as ones in English.

Contents The book has an introductory chapter about linguistics and writing systems. Beyond that, it has a section on each of the three languages: Chinese is in Part 1, Korean is in Part 2, and Japanese is in Part 3. Each section has an initial chapter with background information on the language, followed by one or more chapters about writing systems for that particular language and discussion on why each system still uses Chinese characters; each also has a bibliography for that section. The book does not have information on dialects. On Vietnam it mentions the country on a single page but has no further discussion. The section on Korean also discusses the role of Hangul, and of Hanja (spelled "Hancha"), as well as attempts to completely discontinue the latter and why such never happened. The section on Japanese also discusses hiragana and katakana, as well as mora and its role in haiku. The book has information from experiments in the psycholinguistic field. It also includes anecdotes and quotes. The book argues that Koreans should again begin to use Chinese characters.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese

In research: Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1995 non-fiction books, Language acquisition, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese in simple terms?

Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese (Victor Mair uses the acronym WLCKJ) is a 1995 book by Insup Taylor and M. Martin Taylor, published by John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Why does Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese.