Beyond right and wrong: an innovative approach to teaching Japanese particles using animation

The appropriate selection of particles is critical in Japanese as it is often the particles, rather than the word order, that determine the function of words in a sentence, and consequently, the meaning of the sentence. However, students often face difficulty in competently handling particles mainly due to their unfamiliarity with the spatial cognition of Japanese. It is difficult to teach this through translation into English. This paper reports on the conceptualisation and development of three prototype online exercises designed as a supplemental tool for teaching particles. The exercises encourage students to 'feel' the nuances of each particle by connecting their choice of particles to the visualisation of the sentence using interactive animation. The paper also reports on feedback from users of the prototype that identifies areas of improvement for the final product.