Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-selection of character input methods and perceived difficulty with romaji input, in order to gain insights for developing instructional approaches that alleviate difficulties with romaji input in the early stages of Japanese input instruction． Five different character input methods were taught to third graders at a public elementary school. Subsequently, each student used the method they had self-selected. A questionnaire on character input was administered before instruction, immediately after instruction, and again three months later. Changes in students’ input methods and perceived difficulty between the pre-survey and the delayed survey were analyzed according to the difficulty level reported in the pre-survey. When the perceived difficulty was high and the input method was changed, students reported a lower difficulty than in the pre-survey. Conversely, when the perceived difficulty was low and the input method was changed, students reported a higher difficulty than in the pre-survey. When students continued to use the same input method, their perceived difficulty did not change, regardless of their initial difficulty level. A follow-up study is planned to investigate which input methods students will continue to use and the extent to which they experience difficulty with them.
