Acquisition of Japanese onomatopoeias

Onomatopoeic expressions are essential to Japanese, yet current textbooks\ud seldom introduce or mention them. An analysis was conducted on how those studying the Japanese language in the U.S. learn onomatopoeias. It specifically compared their\ud general language skills, experiences in Japan, and the duration of their studies in\ud Japanese. A variety of students learning Japanese were studied by using different tests for the purpose of categorizing levels of ability and background. The obtained results\ud suggest those with better Japanese, those who have studied longer, and those who have been in Japan longer have a better understanding of onomatopoeias. However, the length of time someone studies or stays in Japan has no relation with their general language skills. Implications from the current research include that onomatopoeias must be better incorporated into the Japanese learning curriculum for students to have a better general understanding of this very important aspect of Japanese language