The Interpretation of an Old Japanese Five-line Poem with a Focus Group Method

摘要

The goal of the study is to find out how students are able to interpret poetic text without significant help of their teacher. A subject of their interest was an old Japanese five-line poem written by Lady Ise – Thread of Pearls. We used the semantic differential and focus group method (15 – 16 years old respondents) to determine the extent of their insight into the poem. A record of the discussion in the focus group showed a sufficient reader's receptiveness of this text from non-European culture.