A student-centred Japanese language course builds learner self-determination and strengthens communication skills.
An advanced Japanese language program at UNSW engages with manga and anime to improve students’ language skills and cultural knowledge.
Manga are Japanese comics and graphic novels; anime is Japanese animation with distinctive, historically hand-drawn graphics. Both attract large domestic and international audiences.
Today they are written for all ages and genres, from children’s adventure to dystopic fantasy, romance and psychological thriller.
Manga and anime offer invaluable insights into colloquial Japanese language and contemporary popular culture, says Dr Sumiko Iida from UNSW’s School of Humanities & Languages.
“More than entertainment, they demonstrate authentic Japanese lifestyles, idiomatic phrases, fashion, food, games and other customs,” says the senior lecturer and convenor of Japanese and Korean Studies.
“When students engage with these complex semiotic resources, they make meaning through text, image and sound, improving both their reading and listening comprehension but also their cultural understanding.”
Dr Iida is an expert in teaching and learning with and about Japanese popular culture, examining manga and anime fandom, informal learning through pop-cultural consumption, and representations of gender in gaming.
She developed the course Learning Japanese through Manga and Anime, originally designed and taught by UNSW Honorary Senior Lecturer Dr William S. Armour from 2005-2013.
The research-led elective targets advanced-level learners of Japanese majoring or minoring in Japanese Studies. UNSW Japanese Studies celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025.
Students read a manga together in class and pursue personalised goals through an individual project on a manga or anime of their choice.
“This movement from teacher- to student-led learning as the course progresses helps scaffold learner agency and self-determination,” Dr Iida says. “Learning with manga and anime engages the students’ imagination and enhances their communication skills.”
The course moves beyond grammar-translation methods and bilingual glossaries employing an interdisciplinary and fun approach to learning Japanese.
“It draws on media studies paired with applied educational linguistics to provide students with the skills to analyse the text and unpack the cultural context,” Dr Iida says.
Students participate in interactive lectures and tutorials, exploring Ano hi mita hana no namae o bokutachi wa mada shiranai or Anohana: The flower we saw that day (Anohana).
The 2011 coming-of-age anime turned manga tells the story of a group of estranged friends who reunite when the ghost of their childhood friend appears seeking help to reach the afterlife.
“Anohana was a major hit in Japan and among international anime fans. It also helped popularise anime pilgrimage tourism in Chichibu, Saitama, attracting visitors from both Japan and overseas,” says Dr Iida.
“The characters’ ages are close to the students’, helping students position themselves in the story and the characters’ way of thinking.”
Students summarise the story, including the characters’ emotional arcs, and examine its socio-cultural context. Anohaha draws on real-world issues and places in contemporary Japan, motivating students to learn more about these.
They work together in small groups to prepare and perform an interpretation of a scene for the class. “Students are encouraged to take risks, to embrace the performative element of learning another language.
“Through creative engagement and language performance, they demonstrate enhanced language and cultural comprehension as well as pronunciation, intonation and fluency.”
Dr Iida, originally from Kyoto, Japan, grew up reading shoujo manga, marketed for young female readers. She has watched the explosion of interest in manga and anime over her lifetime.
Today many of her students enjoy manga and anime. However, her research with UNSW Honorary Senior Lecturer Dr William Armour reveals that even those with advanced Japanese language proficiency engage through translations.
“This is perhaps because the visual and linguistic elements of manga and anime can be challenging to decipher,” she says.
“Texts in manga are not bound by formal Japanese grammar rules, so their linguistic irregularities can become obstacles for story appreciation.”
A typical example is the use of onomatopoeia. “This includes words that imitate sounds as well as words that vividly express movements, appearances, conditions, emotions and sensations.
“This makes it a distinctive and highly expressive feature of the language. Not all of these words can be translated to other languages.”
For example, しーん(shin) indicates complete silence, and わくわく(wakuwaku) refers to a feeling of excited anticipation.
“These elements, alongside techniques, such as metaphor, add layered meaning. Without understanding them, readers of translated versions may not fully grasp the author’s intention.”
Students learn how to decode the various techniques of manga and anime, such as how framing, character gaze and time flow shape the story.
The course engages with Japanese academic texts to decipher how different elements, for example, voice, gesture, visual and linguistic choices, contribute to fictional worldbuilding.
“Characters’ outer and inner voices as well as the author’s voice are represented visually,” Dr Iida says. “For example, volume and tone are depicted through different font types and sizes or the shape of speech bubbles.
“But there are also embedded effects, for example, the choice of using different written scripts to deepen characterisation and context.”
Written Japanese uses four systems or orthographies: kanji (characters representing words and sounds, many drawn from Chinese); hiragana (typically for native Japanese words); katakana (typically for foreign words); and romaji, which uses the English (or Latin) alphabet.
For example, ‘coffee’ in Japanese is typically written in katakana (コーヒー), which is used for words of foreign origin. When it is written in hiragana (こおひい or こーひー), it can give the impression the speaker does not fully understand the word and is simply reproducing its sound.
When it is written using kanji (珈琲), readers may perceive it as old-fashioned, classical or nostalgic in tone. This word is rarely written in rōmaji (kōhī), but when it is, it may suggest a context involving non-native speakers trying to interpret the sound. In this way, an author’s choice of script can add nuance to characterisation.
Anime also uses sound, characters’ voices and background music to create immersive realities.
“The numerous subtitled versions provide a useful learning resource to enhance students’ listening skills, such as pronunciation and intonation, and aid their understanding of the narrative.”
Centring students’ language needs and interests is central to driving strong learning outcomes, Dr Iida says. Her own decision to learn English was driven by her passion for progressive rock and a chance opportunity to meet her rock idol.
“I was less than twenty and I couldn’t speak English at the time, so I was singing his song, and he was singing along with me. At that moment, I thought I have to study English to try to understand what they’re singing about.”
In UNSW’s course, students select their preferred title (anime or manga or both) for their individual project. They identify their unique learning goals and design the action plan to achieve these.
“Student goals can be linguistic, practical or personal, and these are often very specific,” Dr Iida says. “A student might want to learn children’s speech style or the vocabulary used within hospitality.”
Students sometimes choose to focus on jargon related to their future career, for example, better understanding global affairs, business or diplomatic contexts, she says.
“Some students pursue personal areas of interest, such as, examining an author’s representation of historical wars or learning more about ancient Japanese poems.”
For their final assessment, they produce, present and reflect on an original work they have created in response to their project. “These too are highly personal and can be very creative,” Dr Iida says.
“We’ve had a cooking demonstration video, hand-drawn spin-off manga and fictitious character diaries, quiz videos and blogs. One student created a digital leaflet to introduce a diplomatic current affair.”
Learning with Japanese popular culture delivers a learning experience that is both effective and fun, she says. “Manga and anime provide an engaging platform for students to take charge of and improve on their unique language needs.”
UNSW School of Humanities & Languages
Dr Sumiko Iida
Pillar 7: Advance economic and social prosperity
