DEVELOPMENT OF A WEBSITE-BASED KAO MATCHING GAME LEARNING MEDIA FOR JLPT N4 KANJI

Abstract

This study was motivated by the high failure rate of Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N4 examinees (50.5%), indicating difficulties in kanji mastery. Learners also faced challenges in memorizing kanji readings and meanings, limited practice opportunities, and a lack of interactive learning media. Therefore, this study aimed to develop the KAO website as a learning medium for N4-level kanji and evaluate its feasibility and learner responses.

This study employed the Research and Development (R&D) method using Thiagarajan’s 4D model, covering the Define, Design, and Develop stages. The participants were 27 students from the Japanese Language Education Study Program at Universitas Negeri Surabaya and 19 learners from LPK Ohayou Central Java. Data were collected through online questionnaires using Google Forms. The developed product was the KAO website, an online learning medium for N4-level kanji. The results showed that the material expert validation score reached 100%, while the media expert validation score was 98.96%, both categorized as highly feasible. Learner responses were also highly positive, with scores of 99.26% and 97.5%, resulting in an average of 98.38%. These findings indicate that the KAO website is highly feasible and effective as a learning medium for improving learners’ understanding of N4-level kanji.