Using the Analysis of Newspaper Kanji Frequency Rates in Material for Informatics Instruction

Abstract

The author and his colleagues have been trying to develop personal computer software which can identify, classify and calculate the frequency of Kanji found in various texts. As of this report, they are improving the software's capability to classify Kanji into one of three categories : (1) primary school level (the 1,008 most commonly-used Kanji), (2) secondary school level (the next 939 most commonly-used Kanji), and (3) other (infrequently-used Kanji). Using this program, the frequency of Kanji used on the front pages of two different newspapers over a period of eight days was analyzed. The results showed : (1) From 30% to 50% of the total number of characters used in the sample were Kanji. (2) Lower grade level Kanji was used more frequently that was those of the upper grades. (3) On an average, only 9% of the total text consisted of secondary school level Kanji. (4) And, only 1% of the total consisted of Kanji from the infrequently-used category. The results for both newspapers were similar. In conclusion, the authors believe that newspaper text can be used as one source of sample sentences for Japanese wordprocessor practice in informatics instruction at the elementary and secondary levels.