Classifying and teaching Japanese verbs differently: A cognitive turn from “Aspect” to “Recognition”
日语动词教学分类与差异化策略研究：从“体”到“认”的认知转向

摘要

在日语动词教学中，如何帮助学习者理解动词的“体”特征及其在「～ている」等“体”标记中的体现是一个核心难题。传统的动词分类法，无论是二分法还是四分法，在解释时体现象时均存在一定的局限性。本文以工藤真由美（1995）的时体体系为基础，从体认语言学“现实-认知-语言”这一核心原则出发，依据动词在教学过程中所依赖的认知路径不同，将其重构为“体主导型”“认主导型”与“体认兼重型”三类，并分别为之设计差异化的教学策略。研究表明，日语动词教学不应停留在语法规则的传授，而应基于动词的语义特征与认知理据，引导学生从“互动体验”走向“认知加工”，实现从“体”到“认”的教学转化。

Abstract

In teaching Japanese verbs, a core challenge lies in helping learners grasp the aspectual properties of verbs and how these properties are realized in aspect markers such as -te iru. Conventional verb classification systems, whether binary or four-part, exhibit notable limitations in accounting for tense-aspect phenomena. Drawing on Kudo Mayumi’s (1995) tense-aspect framework and the “Reality–Cognition–Language” principle central to Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics, this paper reclassifies Japanese verbs into three teaching-oriented categories based on their dominant cognitive processing modes: aspect-dominant, cognition-dominant, and aspect-cognition balanced. For each category, corresponding differentiated teaching strategies are proposed. The study reveals that teaching Japanese verbs should not be confined to teaching grammatical rules alone. Instead, instructors should guide students in shifting from interactive experience to cognitive processing grounded in the semantic features and cognitive motivations of verbs, thereby effecting a pedagogical reorientation from aspect to cognition.