Katakana Analysis

Katakana Word: ウバメガシ

ウバメガシ appears to be a Japanese scientific name - specifically, the scientific name of a plant known as "Quercus phylliraeoides A. Gray." I think that Katakana is used in this instance because it is not a very common word. It seems that technical terms, and scientific terms, are commonly written in Katakana rather than Hiragana. Perhaps this indicates that it is not an "original" Japanese word, and was in fact a word "made up" at a later date for the purpose of science. It could also be because it is a formal name, i.e. a proper noun. We often see this in the English language as well - often we find that scientific and proper names are words that are separate from our every day language/writing. Perhaps Katakana is used to distinguish this.

Katakana Word: ライス

ライス has a particularly interesting Katakana usage, especially since people also use ごはん to describe rice as well. For instance, when "curry rice" is written, it is カレ　ライス　as opposed to カレごはん. On a menu I found at みつわ Japanese Marketplace's 'Santoka Ramen Shop' in Edgewater, NJ , "rice with pork" was contrastingly written as チャーシュごはん. This could perhaps be because things such as curry rice are Japanese adaptations of other cuisines. While Japanese curry is its own distinct type, perhaps the fact that it draws influences/ideas from other food cultures is why it is written in Katakana. Thus, in this case, since of course curry is never served without rice (it is essentially one self-sustaining unit, sort of like a hot dog or hamburger), the whole word is written in Katakana. By comparison, the use of ごはん perhaps indicates something that is inherently/culturally native to Japanese culture/cuisine.

Regarding Katakana in Textbooks:

I think Katakana in textbooks is defined differently based on the target audience of the book. It is not especially relevant for authors to include distinctions such as scientific names, because these usages do not commonly arise in every day speaking - especially for the beginning Japanese language student. Evidently, in all the books mentioned, foreign words are the most important usage of Katakana. This is also the most common usage, it seems, in the Japanese language. The authors clearly want to present to the readers the most useful uses of Katakana, by bringing up topics such as onomatopoeia as one might see in Japanese ads or on TV. For any student ever wishing to travel to Japan and utilize their language skills there, it is clear that these everyday uses of Katakana are the ones that must be learned.