SEKOLAH MENENGAH KEBANGSAAN PUTRAJAYA PRESINT 11(1)

JALAN P11J/1, PRESINT 11,

62250 PUTRAJAYA

KAJIAN TINDAKAN KONVENSYEN PENDIDIKAN PUTRAJAYA 2021

SUGUNA DEVI A/P PEARIASAMY

THE PROVERB ‘NANA KOROBI YA OKI’ HELPED STUDENTS TO OVERCOME

CHALLENGES IN MASTERING HIRAGANA

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 THE PROVERB ‘NANA KOROBI YA OKI’ HELPED STUDENTS TO OVERCOME
CHALLENGES IN MASTERING HIRAGANA

Prepared By:

Suguna Devi peariasamy

SMK Putrajaya Presint 11(1)
Jalan P11j/1, Presint 11,
62250 Putrajaya
g-76423356@moe-dl.edu.my

ABSTRACT

In Malaysia, the lockdowns in response to COVID19 have interrupted conventional schooling,

with nationwide school closure lasting for more than 12weeks have taken a toll on student’s
confidence and motivation. During this period, students who lack motivation and engagement to
learn independently are at risk of falling behind. This study aims to look at student’s
performance in mastering basic 46 Hiragana characters after introducing and emphasizing the
Japanese proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” that speaks about the Japanese concept of resilience.
The instrument used for this study consisted of pre-test and post-test of basic 46 Hiragana
characters in Japanese writing. The Japanese proverb was introduced and emphasized
repeatedly as a pre-lesson activity for about 5 minutes in every Japanese language class during
face-face teaching and learning and home-based teaching and learning (online and offline
approach) for two months. 31 Form 1 students are respondents in this study. The findings
reveal that all 31 students showed drastic improvement in post-test scores after introducing and
emphasizing the Japanese proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki.” The students have successfully
mastered the basic 45 Hiragana characters on their own without any pressure. Students
showed a positive attitude towards learning; they became self-directed and motivated, plus
boosted most of the online class attendance up to 100%.

Keywords: Proverb, Motivation, Self-Directed, Confidence, Engagement

1.0 BACKGROUND
Schools are constantly facing educational challenges in 21st-century teaching and learning (Moe,
2013; Mansor & Masran, 2021; (OECD, 2020), especially during the COVID19 pandemic plaguing the
world. In Malaysia, the lockdowns in response to COVID19 have also interrupted conventional
schooling, with nationwide school closure lasting at least 12weeks. While the educational community
has made concerted efforts to maintain learning continuity during this period, school students have
had to rely more on their resources to continue learning remotely, online, or on television, Hsu,
(2021). Students who lack resilience and engagement to learn on their own are at risk of falling
behind. Therefore, it is important to develop strong attitudes towards learning that can help students
overcome some potential challenges posed by online learning, such as remaining focused during
online classes or maintaining sufficient motivation (Basilaia & Kvavadze, 2020). While it is unlikely that
one single agent or event will dramatically alter a student’s motivation to learn or positively impact all
of your students, it is important to acknowledge that student motivation is dynamic. A teacher can
create classroom conditions that encourage engagement and motivation to learn on various levels
through behavior, course design, and teaching practices. Positive attitudes towards learning, self-
regulation, and intrinsic motivation to learn, play an important role in improving performance at school
in general (Nguyen, 2021; Pokhrel & Chhetri,2021). Still, maybe specifically more important should
online learning continue. The Japanese proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” (literally: seven falls, eight
getting up) speaks about the Japanese concept of resilience. No matter how many times you get
knocked down, you get up again. Just keep getting up and trying again.

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1.1 TEACHING AND LEARNING REFLECTION
In the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, every child is encouraged to learn an additional
language by 2025. Many students already learn additional languages apart from Bahasa Malaysia
and English, which equip them well for entering the workforce in a globalizing world. The ministry
aspires every child to be encouraged to learn an additional language from primary through to
secondary school. The Japanese language is one of the foreign languages introduces in secondary
schools nationwide. I teach Form 1Al Khalili Japanese subjects. Throughout my observations during
the face-to-face teaching and learning process after the school reopens, I found that students had
difficulty reading and writing the basic 46 Hiragana characters. According to Hasegawa (2018).
Learning to read and write the Japanese language is not an easy task. For the non-Japanese
speaker, this can be a struggle and a challenge. Some schools in Malaysia offer children the
opportunity to learn Japanese as a foreign language.

Consequently, Japanese as a foreign language unit is offered in secondary schools in Malaysia.

Before the students return to school for the face-to-face lesson, they were taught to write the basic 46
Hiragana characters in online classes during the home-based teaching and learning period. After
guiding the students on reading and writing the basic 46 Hiragana characters online, I shared video
guides and self-drilling quizzes to help students memorize. Students were asked to practice reading
and writing independently since home-based online teaching and learning made it difficult for me to
drill the students on recognizing and memorizing the basic 46 Hiragana characters. During the 2.0
home-based online learning and teaching period, I repeatedly reminded and guided students to
practice reading and writing. Many worksheets were also given for students to practice and enough
time to practice. My teaching approach merely focused on self-directed learning. I expected all Form 1
students to master the basic 46 Hiragana characters on their own. Unfortunately, when the students
returned to school for face-to-face teaching and learning, I found that almost all did not master the
basic 46 Hiragana characters. They return to school knowing nothing about the basic 46 Hiragana
characters. I was puzzled and shocked when almost all 1Al-Khalili students could not read and write
the basic 46 hiragana writing at all.

1.2 DATA COLLECTION

This study was based on the reflections of a language teacher with 20 years of experience teaching
and assessing secondary school students in Japanese as a foreign language. Using a qualitative
approach and set of a diagnostic tests as pre-test and post-test to collect data. I also observed
students’ reactions (Frey, 2018; Fullana, Burriel & Fernandez, 2013). The test comprises of basic 46
Hiragana characters. The same questions paper was used for both pre-test and post-test. The test
was administered during the Japanese language teaching and learning session in a 1Al-Khalili class
of SMK Putrajaya Presint 11(1). The printed copies of the test papers were distributed to the students
at the beginning of the intervention, which was administered for 30 minutes. Later, at the end of the 8th
intervention session, the post-test was administered using the same test paper for 30 minutes. The
students’ scores were then multiplied to make a percentage.

2.0 STUDY FOCUS

The main focus of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the use of the ‘NANA KOROBI YA
OKl” proverb in mastering the basic 46 Hiragana characters among 1Al-Khalili students of SMK
Putrajaya Presint 11(1). In addition, this study looks at whether the “NANA KOROBI YA OKI”
intervention could help 1AL-Khalili students be more confident, feel secure, and not hesitant to read
and write the basic 46 Hiragana characters.

3.0 OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH QUESTION

1. To ensure students master all the basic 46 Hiragana characters in Japanese writing.
2. To ensure students are confident, feel secure, and not hesitant to read and write the basic 46

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 Hiragana characters.

4.0 TARGET GROUP

All 31 Form 1AL-Khalili students of SMK Putrajaya Presint 11(1)

5.0 PANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

5.1 PLANNING

During 2.0 home-based teaching and learning early this year, students did not focus on online classes
and did not master the basic 46 Hiragana characters. Although students showed interest in learning
Japanese to communicate, for the writing part, only 4 out of 31 students were always committed,
showed interest in learning the basic 46 Hiragana characters during home-based teaching and
learning online classes. After returning to school for face-to-face teaching and learning after the
Movement Control Order (MCO) in April this year, I found that students took more time to read and
write the basic 46 Hiragana characters. In addition, students’ reactions in the class showed they felt
difficult, insecure, and hesitant to read and write the basic 46 Hiragana characters. Although I
reminded the students to memorize multiple times, the students did not practice during the 2.0 home-
based teaching and learning. Instead, the students showed less enthusiastic faces.

Hence, I decided to find ways to help them. Mitchell (2014) suggested there should be flexible,
relevant, and adjustable to meet the needs of the learners. Educators are expected to pitch their
content to the needs of the individuals in a growingly diverse classroom. Such diversity in classrooms
would mean that teachers would have to consider the different rates of learning, and therefore
adaptations become necessary (Mitchell, 2014). Motivation needs to be concerned about by every
teacher. It may be difficult for teachers to sustain the motivation of students. However, teachers can
sustain students’ interests through positive reinforcement, according to Jere Brophy (1987), a leading
researcher on student motivation and effective teaching. Student motivation to learn is an acquired
competence developed through general experience but stimulated most directly through modeling,
communication of expectations, and direct instruction or socialization by others, specifically by parents
and teachers (OECD, 2021).

First, decided to confirm the number of students who mastered 46 letters of Hiragana. A diagnostic
test (pre-test) was administered during face-to-face teaching and learning. Scores showed almost all
the students did not master the basic 46 Hiragana characters. It shocked me, and I realized the
students had no confidence, felt blur and were quiet when I questioned them about memorizing the
basic 46 Hiragana characters. I decided to raise my student’s self-confidence first through the
Japanese proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” Seven times fall, eight times wake up, which means no
matter how many times we fail in something, we must rise from that failure and not give up. According
to Mitchell (2014), educators could enhance the accessibility of learners to the curriculum by making
modifications, substitutions, omissions, and compensation to the curriculum. Tomlinson (2014)
stressed the importance of differentiating classroom teaching based on the diversity of students and
their differing needs. Tomlinson (2014) further rationalized that content educators would access
learning in differentiating classrooms, motivating and engaging learners. In addition, it would make the
learning experiences relevant as the content considers the students’ interests, readiness, and learning
profile. In the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, it has been specified that “Teachers will work
with them and their parents to set their learning targets. Teachers will also encourage them to be
advocates for themselves to understand what learning styles work best for them; hence, I decided to
assimilate the proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” into the Japanese curriculum. Figure 1 below shows the
Japanese proverb used as an intervention for this study.

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 Figure 1: Japanese Proverb

5.2 IMPLEMENTATION

Every time I entered the class for teaching and learning, I started the lesson with this proverb and
explained how the Japanese people practice this proverb in their daily lives. I tell the students short
stories and relate them to the challenges people face and succeed after multiple failures. I linked this
proverb to a real-life situation. In every lesson, I take about 5 minutes to instill confidence in 1Al-Khalili
students. On the first day of the intervention, the students were unsure what I was talking. The
proverb was something new to them, but after the second and third time of intervention, the students
starting giving some responses regarding the proverb. I continued with the intervention and repeatedly
related the proverb to the concept of resilience the Japanese people practice. Gave them many
examples of how Japan remain strong despite constant natural disasters like earthquake. Tsunami,
typhoons. I kept relating the proverb to many other success stories to create an enthusiastic
environment to the students through the Proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki.” Slowly, I related the proverb
to the challenges they face in memorizing the basic 46 Hiragana characters and challenged the
students to master the basic 46 Hiragana characters.

During the 2.0 face-to-face teaching and learning, students were also asked to create a digital poster
to picture their goal for the Japanese Language subject and share it with all their classmates via
WhatsApp. This action was carried out for one month (a total of 8 lessons) during the face-to-face
teaching and learning after students return to school due to Movement Control Order in early 2021. At
last, after the intervention, I repeated the same diagnostic test. Figure 2 and 3 below shows digital
posters created by 1Al-Khalili students.

Figure 2 Digital Posters Created by 1Al-Khalili Students

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Figure 3 Digital Posters Created by 1Al-Khalili Students

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6.0 FINDINGS

From the observation, after introducing the proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” to 1Al-Khalili students
repeatedly in 8 face-to-face teaching and learning sessions consecutively. I noticed some changes in
the 1Al-Khalili students’ behaviour. The students were more enthusiastic, took the initiative to read
and write the basic 46 Hiragana characters. The students were more active, more confident, felt
secure, and did not hesitate to participate in the Japanese class activities. They even started to read
and write words from the characters immediately after the intervention. Some students boldly asked
me when they were unsure about their writing and reading of Hiragana characters correctly. There
were also times when some students take a longer time to read. When I asked them, “why still can’t?”
Finally, I heard a student said… ”sensei Nana Korobi Ya Oki”…All other mates supported by clapping
their hands. I was very excited and happy to hear this proverb uttered by my students. They have
applied the proverb to the right situation in their life. The post-diagnostic test score results showed
that almost all 1Al-Khalili students had mastered more than 80% of the basic 46 Hiragana characters
well. In addition, test scores showed a sharp increase. In addition, almost all students scored more
than 60 marks in their post-test, plus, all of them passed their Hiragana test fairly well. The four
students who have mastered the basic 46 Hiragana characters earlier got 100 marks in their post-test.
Table 1 below shows the pre-test and post-test scores.

Table 1 Pre-test and Post-Test of Basic 46 Hiragana Character Scores

1 AL-KHALILI BASIC 46 HIRAGANA CHARACTERS TEST

STUDENT PRE-TEST POST-TEST

STUDENT 1 07 63
STUDENT 2 1 65
STUDENT 3 11 68
STUDENT 4 9 63
STUDENT 5 0 60
STUDENT 6 5 92
STUDENT 7 10 63
STUDENT 8 80 100
STUDENT 9 1 74
STUDENT 10 85 100
STUDENT 11 6 65
STUDENT 12 0 63
STUDENT 13 0 67
STUDENT 14 4 76
STUDENT 15 7 62
STUDENT 16 3 75
STUDENT 17 0 69
STUDENT 18 5 62
STUDENT 19 79 100
STUDENT 20 1 71
STUDENT 21 1 62
STUDENT 22 0 78
STUDENT 23 4 71
STUDENT 24 9 67
STUDENT 25 7 94
STUDENT 26 1 60
STUDENT 27 33 100
STUDENT 28 6 71
STUDENT 29 1 74
STUDENT 30 1 63
STUDENT 31 0 72

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7.0 REFLECTION
Motivation, one of the leading problems in education, is an ongoing issue for teachers. Motivation is
important because it highly contributes to achievement.“There are three things to remember about
education. “The first one is motivation. The second one is motivation. The third one is motivation,” a
quote by Terell H.Bell.This intervention brought positive outcomes to my students. I felt more
motivated and enthusiastic in using this proverb and kept emphasizing the proverb in all my teachings
and learning sessions consecutively, including during home-based teaching and learning. I am sure
this proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” has had some psychological impact on my students facing
Japanese language challenges. Student writing also looks neat and has fewer errors. I intend to use
this intervention continuously in all online or offline teaching and learning sessions, home-based or
face-to-face teaching and learning processes for students to always be enthusiastic and confident in
the Japanese Language. The findings helped me realize that students need continuous support
psychologically to face many challenges in the teaching and learning process.

Students need teacher intervention to progress in studies, especially during school closures where
home-based teaching and learning precedes. Immediate intervention is one effective way for students
to succeed in learning. In a learning environment, developing motivation is a difficult task for the
teacher, considering that every student learns differently and is diverse in their ways. But students
expect the teacher to guide and encourage them in a constructive manner (Nguyen, 2021). Teachers’
instructional choices can make a positive impact on student motivation. “In the formal world of the
classroom, teachers hold an extreme position of power” (Lazawski & Hulleman, 2016). Therefore,
teachers play a vital role in influencing student’s motivation. “Effective schools and effective teachers
are those who develop goals, beliefs, and attitudes in students that will sustain a long-term
involvement and that will contribute to quality involvement in learning” (Dawan, 2020). The
intervention helps to solve academic challenges and boosts their confidence level to proceed to the
next level. Staying connected with the proverb by sharing the students’ thoughts and goals through
digital picture presentations also helped students. The proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” intervention
improved students’ behaviour and academic outcomes during the lockdown and normal times.

The intervention indirectly improved 1Al-Khalili students’ attendance issues in 3.0 home-based
teaching and learning online Japanese Language classes. As a result, 1Al-Khalili students are more
focused, cooperating, and handing in their assignments accordingly. After the “Nana Korobi Ya Oki“
intervention, the behavioural change in 1Al-Khalili students eases my home-based teaching and
learning process. Furthermore, the intervention “Nana Korobi Ya Oki solved my students’ problem in
mastering the basic 46 Hiragana characters in Japanese writing. Also, the intervention helped my
students to be more confident, feel secured, and not hesitant to read and write the basic 46 Hiragana
characters.

8.0 SUMMARY

The proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” intervention had successfully overcome the problem of 1 Al-Khalili
student in mastering basic 46 Hiragana characters in the Japanese Language. Furthermore, the
motivation through the proverb “Nana Korobi Ya Oki” successfully increased the enthusiasm and
confidence of 1Al-Khalili students in learning the Japanese language. This approach helped 1Al-
Khalili students to be more self-directed learning approach. The proverb “Nana Korobi Yao ki” has
boosted the motivation to help 1Al-Khalili students overcome mastering the basic Hiragana characters
during the Covid19 pandemic plaguing the world now. When students face problems in studies,
teacher intervention will have a greater impact on students’ learning. This study has highlighted the
challenges and problems new Japanese Language learners face in mastering the basic Japanese
writing Hiragana through the reflections of a teacher with more than 20 years of teaching experience
in the subject area. The information obtained from the reflections can help create an awareness of the
problems experienced by students with disabilities undertaking Japanese courses in higher
educational institutions, especially those facing obstacles in writing Kanji scripts. Specific
modifications to course design and delivery have been recommended here to meet individual student
needs.

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Furthermore, the reflection helps inform the current body of knowledge relating to writing Kanji script,
especially about the necessity to consider students with disabilities who wish to study Japanese as a
foreign language and equip themselves with alternative strategies based on their individual needs.
Based on the findings, the proverb “ Nana Korobi Ya Oki” has boosted the intrinsic motivation of 1A-
Khalili students. The interference of motivation boosted the students’ confidence level and helped
them progress positively (Yoke, 2018) in academics(Lazowski & Hulleman,2016). Conclusively, the
COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in school closures worldwide and triggering unprecedented
challenges for education systems. Its impact, particularly on home-based teaching and learning, may
be long and resurging. Students need constant motivation in many ways to overcome challenges in
learning amid the pandemic (Harnett, 2016).

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