Asia's Orthographic Dilemma

Asia's Orthographic Dilemma PDF Author: William C. Hannas
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824818920
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
With the advent of computers and the rise of East Asian economies, the complicated character-based writing systems of East Asia have reached a stage of crisis that may be described as truly millennial in scope and implications. In what is perhaps the most wide-ranging critique of the sinographic script ever written, William C. Hannas assesses the usefulness of Chinese character-based writing in East Asia today.

Asia's Orthographic Dilemma

Asia's Orthographic Dilemma PDF Author: William C. Hannas
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824818920
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book Here

Book Description
With the advent of computers and the rise of East Asian economies, the complicated character-based writing systems of East Asia have reached a stage of crisis that may be described as truly millennial in scope and implications. In what is perhaps the most wide-ranging critique of the sinographic script ever written, William C. Hannas assesses the usefulness of Chinese character-based writing in East Asia today.

Reading Japan Cool

Reading Japan Cool PDF Author: John E. Ingulsrud
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739135074
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
Japanese animation, video games, and manga have attracted fans around the world. The characters, the stories, and the sensibilities that come out of these cultural products are together called Japan Cool. This is not a sudden fad, but is rooted in manga—Japanese comics—which since the mid-1940s have developed in an exponential way. In spite of a gradual decline in readership, manga still commands over a third of the publishing output. The volume of manga works that is being produced and has been through history is enormous. There are manga publications that attract readers of all ages and genders. The diversity in content attracts readers well into adulthood. Surveys on reading practices have found that almost all Japanese people read manga or have done so at some point in their lives. The skills of reading manga are learned by readers themselves, but learned in the context of other readers and in tandem with school learning. Manga reading practices are sustained by the practices of other readers, and manga content therefore serves as a topic of conversation for both families and friends. Moreover, manga is one of the largest sources of content for media production in film, television, and video games. Manga literacy, the practices of the readers, the diversity of titles, and the sheer number of works provide the basis for the movement recognized as Japan Cool. Reading Japan Cool is directed at an audience of students of Japanese studies, discourse analysts, educators, parents, and manga readers.

The Writing on the Wall

The Writing on the Wall PDF Author: William C. Hannas
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812202163
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Students in Japan, China, and Korea are among the world's top performers on standardized math and science tests. The nations of East Asia are also leading manufacturers of consumer goods that incorporate scientific breakthroughs in telecommunications, optics, and transportation. Yet there is a startling phenomenon known throughout Asia as the "creativity problem." While East Asians are able to use science, they have not demonstrated the ability to invent radically new systems and paradigms that lead to new technologies. In fact, the legal and illegal transfer of technology from the West to the East is one of the most contentious international business issues. Yet Asians who study and work in the West and depend upon Western languages for their research are among the most creative and talented scientists, no less so than their Western counterparts. William C. Hannas contends that this paradox emerges from the nature of East Asian writing systems, which are character-based rather than alphabetic. Character-based orthographies, according to the author, lack the abstract features of alphabetic writing that model the thought processes necessary for scientific creativity. When first learning to read, children who are immersed in a character-based culture are at a huge disadvantage because such writing systems do not cultivate the ability for abstract thought. Despite the overwhelming body of evidence that points to the cognitive side-effects, the cultural importance of character-based writing makes the adoption of an alphabet unlikely in the near future.

A History of East Asia

A History of East Asia PDF Author: Charles Holcombe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110810777X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 495

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Book Description
Charles Holcombe begins by asking the question 'what is East Asia?' In the modern age, many of the features that made the region - now defined as including China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam - distinct have been submerged by the effects of revolution, politics or globalization. Yet, as an ancient civilization, the region had both an historical and cultural coherence. This shared past is at the heart of this ambitious book, which traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the twenty-first century. The second edition has been imaginatively revised and expanded to place emphasis on cross-cultural interactions and connections, both within East Asia and beyond, with new material on Vietnam and modern pop culture. The second edition also features a Chinese character list, additional maps and new illustrations.

The Chinese Writing System in Asia

The Chinese Writing System in Asia PDF Author: Yu Li
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000699064
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
The Chinese Writing System in Asia: An Interdisciplinary Perspective integrates a diverse range of disciplinary approaches in examining how the Chinese script represents and actively shapes personal and social identities in and beyond Asia. It is an ideal read for students and scholars interested in a broad and culturally rich introduction to research on the Chinese writing system. It can also serve as the main text of an undergraduate course on the subject. Key features of this volume include: Insights from studies of the Chinese writing system in linguistics, script reform and technology, gender, identity, literature, and the visual arts; Examples embedded in inquiries of the cultural history and contemporary society of Asia; Rigorous yet accessible discussions of complex concepts and phenomena that assume no prior knowledge of Asian languages or linguistics; Supplementary multimedia materials and resources, including instructional support, available online.

Handbook of Orthography and Literacy

Handbook of Orthography and Literacy PDF Author: R. Malatesha Joshi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113678134X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 1203

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Book Description
Until about two decades ago, the study of writing systems and their relationship to literacy acquisition was sparse and generally modeled after studies of English language learners. This situation is now changing. As the worldwide demand for literacy continues to grow, researchers from different countries with different language backgrounds have begun examining the connection between their writing systems and literacy acquisition. This text, which derives from a NATO sponsored conference on orthography and literacy, brings together the research of 70 scholars from across the world--the largest assemblage of such experts to date. Their findings are grouped into three parts, as follows: Part I, Literacy Acquisition in Different Writing Systems, describes the relationship between orthography and literacy in twenty-five orthographic systems. This section serves as a handy reference source for understanding the orthographies of languages as diverse as Arabic, Chinese, English, Icelandic, Kannada, and Kishwahili. Part II, Literacy Acquisition From a Cross-Linguistic Perspective, makes direct comparisons of literacy acquisition in English and other orthographic systems. The overall conclusion that emerges from these eight chapters is that the depth of an orthographic system does influence literacy acquisition primarily by slowing down the acquisition of reading skills. Even so, studies show that dyslexic readers can be found across all orthographic systems whether shallow or deep, which shows that dyslexia also has internal cognitive and biological components. Part III, Literacy Acquisition: Instructional Perspectives, explores literacy acquisition from developmental and instructional perspectives and ends with a look into the future of literacy research. This Handbook is appropriate for scholars, researchers, and graduate students in such diverse fields as cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, literacy education, English as a second language, and communication disorders.

Language Change in East Asia

Language Change in East Asia PDF Author: Thomas E. McAuley
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780700713776
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
This text adopts a wide focus on the range of East Asian languages, in both their pre-modern and modern forms, with sections on dialect studies, contact linguistics, socio-linguistics and syntax/phonology.

Superpower, China? Historicizing Beijing's New Narratives Of Leadership And East Asia's Response Thereto

Superpower, China? Historicizing Beijing's New Narratives Of Leadership And East Asia's Response Thereto PDF Author: Niv Horesh
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814619175
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
This book sets out to answer how China's rise can best be understood from both East Asian and Western perspectives. It also assesses the prospect of realignment away from the US hegemony in East Asia in light of persistent regional rivalries. Throughout the book, the authors show that for China's neighbours, as well as for its own intellectuals, historicizing the country's rise provides one way of understanding its current ascendant trajectory, on the one hand, and acute social problems, on the other.To which historical precedent should one turn? Did Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo get it right when he recently likened the contemporary Sino-Japanese relationship to that of Germany and Britain on the eve of World War I? Is Harvard Law School's Noah Feldman correct in his assertion that China and the United States are on the verge not of a Cold War but of a “Cool War,” in which a “classic struggle for power is unfolding at the same time as economic cooperation is becoming deeper? The authors examine these questions and also focus on other observations that becloud China's rise.

Chinese Industrial Espionage

Chinese Industrial Espionage PDF Author: William C. Hannas
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135952612
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
This new book is the first full account, inside or outside government, of China’s efforts to acquire foreign technology. Based on primary sources and meticulously researched, the book lays bare China’s efforts to prosper technologically through others' achievements. For decades, China has operated an elaborate system to spot foreign technologies, acquire them by all conceivable means, and convert them into weapons and competitive goods—without compensating the owners. The director of the US National Security Agency recently called it "the greatest transfer of wealth in history." Written by two of America's leading government analysts and an expert on Chinese cyber networks, this book describes these transfer processes comprehensively and in detail, providing the breadth and depth missing in other works. Drawing upon previously unexploited Chinese language sources, the authors begin by placing the new research within historical context, before examining the People’s Republic of China’s policy support for economic espionage, clandestine technology transfers, theft through cyberspace and its impact on the future of the US. This book will be of much interest to students of Chinese politics, Asian security studies, US defence, US foreign policy and IR in general.

Asian Translation Traditions

Asian Translation Traditions PDF Author: Eva Tsoi Hung Hung
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317640489
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
Translation Studies, one of the fastest developing fields in the humanities since the early 1980s, has so far been Euro-centric both in its theoretical explorations and in its historical grounding. One of the major reasons for this is the unavailability of reliable data and systematic analysis of translation activities in non-Eurpean cultures. While a number of scholars in the Western tradition of translation studies have become increasingly aware of this bias and its problems, practically indicates that the burden of addressing such defiencies and imbalances should be on the shoulders of scholars who are conversant with the non-Western translation traditions and capable of engaging in much-nedded basic research. This book brings together eleven scholars with expertise in different Asian translation traditions, who highlight language and cultural environments as well as perceptions and modes of operation often different from those in the Western tradition. Their contributions enhance our understanding of the various elements that influence the transfer of knowledge across cultures and provide invaluable data for the study of translation as a force for cultural development and cultural planning. Contributors include Eva Hung, Judy Wakabayashi, Lawrence Wong, Yoshihiro Osawa, Teresa Hyun, Keith Taylor, Rita Kothari, Doris Jedamski, Raniela Barbaza and Bill Cummings.