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2020/2021

Foreign language and translation C2 (Japanese)

Code: 101398 ECTS Credits: 9
Degree Type Year Semester
2500249 Translation and Interpreting OB 2 2
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Ayumi Shimoyoshi
Email:
Ayumi.Shimoyoshi@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
(jpn)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

Besides Japanese, Catalan and Spanish will also be used in class.

Teachers

Jordi Mas Lopez

Prerequisites

This subject builds on the knowledge acquired through the subject Language and translation C1.

At the beginning of the course students must be able to:

  • Recognise the basic graphic and lexical system and understand basic written expressions related to their specific, immediate environment.
  • Use the basic graphic and lexical system and produce basic written expressions related to their specific, immediate environment.
  • Produce and understand short oral texts and hold a simple conversation.
  • Pronounce and distinguish between the phonemes and syllables of Standard Japanese.
  • Grasp the basic principles of writing: character structure; decomposition into different elements (radicals, phonetic parts); stroke order, number and types.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The function of this subject is to consolidate the development of students’ basic communication skills in Japanese to prepare them to translate from the language into their mother tongue.

All the subject’s credits are for language learning.

At the end of the subject students should be able to:

  • Understand written texts about everyday topics.
  • Produce written texts on everyday topics.
  • Understand information in short, simple oral texts about everyday topics related to their specific, immediate environment.
  • Produce very short, simple oral texts on everyday topics related to their specific, immediate environment.

Competences

  • Producing oral texts in a foreign language in order to interpret.
  • Producing written texts in a foreign language in order to translate.
  • Understanding oral texts in a foreign language in order to interpret.
  • Understanding written texts in a foreign language in order to translate.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying graphic, lexical and morphosyntactic basic knowledge.
  2. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying graphical, lexical, morphosyntactic and textual basic knowledge.
  3. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying graphical, lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge.
  4. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying phonological, lexical and morphosyntactic basic knowledge.
  5. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying phonological, lexical, morphosyntactic and textual basic knowledge.
  6. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of verbal texts of several fields: Comprehending the sense of short and simple written texts about subjects related to the immediate environment.
  7. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of several fields: Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of a diverse typology of written texts about general topics from a wide variety of fields and registers.
  8. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of several fields: Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts about general topics.
  9. Implementing strategies in order to produce verbal texts from different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Implementing strategies in order to produce really short and simple verbal texts about topics related to the immediate environment.
  10. Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts of different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts about general topics.
  11. Implementing strategies in order to understand verbal texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to comprehend information of short and simple verbal texts about the immediate environment.
  12. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to comprehend a diverse typology of written texts of a certain complexity about general topics from a wide variety of fields and registers.
  13. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to comprehend written texts about general topics.
  14. Producing verbal texts that are appropriate to their context and possess linguistic correctness: Producing really short and simple verbal texts about topics related to the immediate environment.
  15. Producing written texts that are appropriate to their context and possess linguistic correctness: Producing written texts about general topics with linguistic correctness.

Content

Students will thoroughly study lessons 22 to 28 of the textbook Shokyū Nihongo Vol.2 and carry out exercises posted on the Virtual Campus. The subject’s materials are intended to develop reading and oral comprehension and written and oral expression skills. Its content is designed to develop not only students’ language skills but also their pragmatic, textual and sociocultural skills, as well as their ability to learn independently and in groups.

Phonetic content

  • Improving the pronunciation of Japanese sounds
  • Correcting common pronunciation errors; consolidating prior knowledge

Lexical content

  • Reinforcing vocabulary acquired previously
  • Learning about 380 new words
  • Calligraphy: elements of characters, radicals and strokes
  • Formation and etymology of characters

Grammatical content

  • Learning to use new common structures (passive, causative, formal and colloquial language, comparisons, assumptions and hypotheses, etc.)
  • Learning new conjunctions for forming compound sentences
  • Consolidating the knowledge acquired through reading

Communicative and sociocultural elements

  • Writing formal and informal letters
  • Personal diary
  • Tourism, festivities, daily life, educational system

Methodology

Students will carry out the following types of activities:

Directed activities

  • Lectures
  • Oral expression and comprehension exercises
  • Grammar exercises, individually or in small groups
  • Practice of new grammar points and lexicon
  • Role-play exercises
  • Correction of homework 

Supervised activities

  • Grammar and translation exercises to be done at home
  • Supervised reading assignments
  • Oral comprehension and expression exercises to be done at home and in class

Autonomous activities

  • Calligraphy practice
  • Reading, preparing and reviewing new texts and grammar points
  • Exercises for dossiers and others set by the lecturer
  • Oral comprehension practice
  • Review of content studied previously
  • Review and consolidation of all vocabulary
  • Translation exercises

Note: Students must spend at least 20 hours studying each unit, including supervised and autonomous activities (preparing, practising by doing exercises, and reviewing). Given the content and the structure of the subject, it is important that students attend class regularly, and essential that they spend time each week preparing new materials, doing exercises and reviewing materials seen previously. It is assumed that they will do so in order to keep up with the pace of the subject. Some classes involve the flipped classroom approach. 

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Exercises 10 0.4 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 11, 7, 8, 6
Lecture 30 1.2 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 11, 7, 8, 6
Reading and oral comprehension activities 10 0.4 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 11, 7, 8, 6
Written and oral production activities 10 0.4 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 10, 9, 15, 14
Type: Supervised      
Supervision and review of exercises 10 0.4 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 11, 7, 8, 6
Supervision and review of reading, oral and writing activities 20 0.8 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 11, 7, 8, 6
Type: Autonomous      
Preparation of reading comprehension activities 20 0.8 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 10, 7, 8, 15
Preparation of written and oral production activities 40 1.6 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 10, 9, 15, 14
Study of new characters and new lexical and syntactic structures in each lesson 60 2.4 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 7, 8

Assessment

All information on assessment, assessment activities and their weighting is merely a guide. The subject's lecturer will provide full information when teaching begins.

Review

When publishing final marks prior to recording them on students' transcripts, the lecturer will provide written notification of a date and time for reviewing assessment activities. Students must arrange reviews in agreement with the lecturer.

Missed/failed assessment activities

Students may retake assessment activities they have failed or compensate for any they have missed, provided that those they have actually performed account for a minimum of 66.6% (two thirds) of the subject's final mark and that they have a weighted average mark of at least 3.5. Under no circumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for.

The lecturer will inform students of the procedure involved, in writing, when publishing final marks prior to recording them on transcripts. The lecturer may set one assignment per failed or missed assessment activity or a single assignment to cover a number of such activities.

Classification as "not assessable"

In the event of the assessment activities a student has performed accounting for just 25% or less of the subject's final mark, their work will be classified as "not assessable" on their transcript.

Misconduct in assessment activities

Students who engage in misconduct (plagiarism, copying, personation, etc.) in an assessment activity will receive a mark of “0” for the activity in question. In the case of misconduct in more than one assessment activity, the students involved will be given a final mark of “0” for the subject.

Students may not retake assessment activities in which they are found to have engaged in misconduct. Plagiarism is considered to mean presenting all or part of an author's work, whetherpublished in print or in digital format, as one's own, i.e. without citing it. Copying is considered to mean reproducing all or a substantial part of another student's work. In cases of copying in which it is impossible to determine which of two students has copied the work of the other, both will be penalised.

Note: Assessable work submitted after the established deadline will not be accepted. If a student misses an on-site assessment activity due to a medical emergency, they must provide a certificate from the medical centre at which they have been treated. Under no other circumstances will it be possible for them to carry out the activity at a later date. Students must provide notification and justification of their absence no later than 48 hours after the activity’s scheduled time.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Grammar tests 40 6 0.24 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 10, 7, 8, 15
Kanji and vocabulary tests 20 3 0.12 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 10, 7, 8
Kanji, vocabulary, and grammar exercises 20 2 0.08 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 10, 7, 8, 15
Oral production and comprehension assessment activities 10 2 0.08 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 11, 9, 7, 8, 6, 14
Written production and comprehension assessment activities 10 2 0.08 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 10, 7, 8, 15

Bibliography

  • Shokyû Nihongo (II). Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Sanseido, Tokyo, 2010.
  • Japanese Kanji & Kana: A Complete Guide to the Japanese Writing System. Wolfgang Hadamitzky and Mark Spahn. Charles E. Tuttle, Tokyo, 2012. Kanji self-study materials in English.
  • Japanese-Spanish dictionary. Masatake Takahashi (ed.). Hakusuisha, Tokyo, 1980. 68,370 entries.
  • Spanish-Japanese dictionary. Kazuhiro Kuwana, et al. Shogakkan, Tokyo, 1991. Approximately 70,000 entries.
  • A Dictionary of BasicJapanese Grammar. The Japan Times, Tokyo, 1986. Dictionary of grammar with explanations in English.
  • http://www.rikai.com: a page that offers help reading texts and web pages in Japanese thanks to a digital logogram reading system.
  • http://www.kotoba.ne.jp/: lists of resources for translation.
  • http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp
  • http://www.traduccionexpress.com/diccionario_japones-espanol.html
  • http://jisho.org/words

Additional bibliographic references will be provided via the Virtual Campus.