Japanese kana alphabet retention through handwritten reflection cards

Abstract This study outlines how handwritten reflection cards lead to the retention of the Japanese kana alphabets. Handwriting is said to help improve retention of the Japanese alphabets. Currently, in-person classes provide most of the materials and assignments via the university’s Learning Management System (LMS), and students have the choice to complete assignments digitally or handwritten. In the fall term of 2023, a group of beginner-level international students of a 30-period course produced assignments digitally. Handwriting was limited to in-class activities, and students lacked practice and fluency in both reading and writing skills. From the latter half of the course, 5-min reflection cards about each class were implemented. Students were allowed to write in English, Japanese (Japanese script or romaji), or a mixture of both. The author provided feedback, encouragement and suggestions regarding the content and the chosen script. This study indicates that students moved from relying on English to using a mixture of English and kana alphabets with gradually more Japanese than English. The analysis focuses on the switch from English to the target language alphabets, in-sentence switching styles and the relation to test scores. The gathered evidence suggests that regular real-life target language output can promote kana retention and fluency.