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2022/2023

Language III: Modern Japanese

Code: 101570 ECTS Credits: 12
Degree Type Year Semester
2500244 East Asian Studies OB 2 1
2500244 East Asian Studies OT 4 1

Contact

Name:
Makiko Fukuda
Email:
makiko.fukuda@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

Catalan (Makiko Fukuda) and Spanish (Tomoko Umemoto) are the second language of instruction of the subject.

Teachers

Tomoko Umemoto

Prerequisites

 Specifically, this subject requires prior knowledge obtained through the following subjects: Language I and Language II.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The objective of this subject is, on the one hand, to consolidate the basic language competences acquired through Language I and II so that students can begin to apply them; and, on the other hand, to continue to develop knowledge and understanding of the graphic, morphological, lexical, semantic and syntactic structure of the Japanese language (equivalent to A2.1). To that end, it is important that students have assimilated the content they worked on in the previous subjects (Language I and II), knowledge of which is necessary to continue learning on the degree programme (A2.1; A2.2; B1).

Competences

    East Asian Studies
  • Apply knowledge of East Asian culture in order to be able to communicate.
  • Developing self-learning strategies.
  • Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
  • Produce oral texts in one of the languages of East Asia.
  • Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  • Solving problems of intercultural communication.
  • Understand oral texts in one of the languages of East Asia.
  • Understand texts written in one of the languages of East Asia.
  • Write texts in one of the languages of East Asia.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply knowledge of lexis, morphosyntax, texts, rhetoric and linguistic variation.
  2. Apply strategies to produce oral texts for different contexts and for specific communicative purposes.
  3. Apply strategies to produce written texts for different contexts and for specific communicative purposes.
  4. Apply strategies to understand oral texts from various different contexts.
  5. Apply strategies to understand written texts from various different contexts.
  6. Apply strategies towards acquiring knowledge of East Asian culture in order to be able to communicate.
  7. Deal with interferences between the working languages.
  8. Developing self-learning strategies.
  9. Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
  10. Identify the need to activate knowledge of East Asian culture in order to be able to communicate.
  11. Integrate cultural knowledge to solve problems in communication.
  12. Possess knowledge of East Asian culture in order to be able to communicate.
  13. Produce oral texts for different contexts and for specific communicative purposes.
  14. Produce oral texts that are appropriate to the context and linguistically correct.
  15. Produce written texts for different contexts and for specific communicative purposes.
  16. Produce written texts that are appropriate to the context and linguistically correct.
  17. Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  18. Solving problems of intercultural communication.
  19. Understand the communicative intent and the meaning of oral texts from various different contexts.
  20. Understand the communicative intent and the meaning of written texts from various different contexts.

Content

-Continue enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the morphological, lexical, semantic, and syntactic structure of the Japanese language.

-Know variations in the Japanese language (written language/spoken language; men’s speech/women’s speech).

-Enhance the basic linguistic and cultural knowledge necessary in various everyday scenarios (describe a state, ask for or provide a detailed explanation, ask for advice or instructions, make excuses, etc.).

-Enhance vocabulary in various subject areas.

-Understand short and simple instructions/questions and answer them using simple constructions or affirmations.

-Verbally express intentions, assumptions, purposes, etc., in various everyday scenarios.

-Read short and simple didactic texts and written material from everyday life, such as notices, posters, etc., to extract essential information. Read more complex and extensive texts with the help of a dictionary.

-Write short texts in formal or informal styles explaining a certain topic (e.g., my day-to-day life; my hometown etc.) or describing a personal profile, a place, etc.

-Students will learn some 125 new kanji

 

Methodology

Students will work on the grammatical content of Minna no nihongo II, from lesson 26 to 37.

To achieve the established objectives, this subject mainly involves practical classes. Each unit, in principle, is organised into three steps, so that students can gradually develop their language skills: 

1. Introduction

2. Practice

3. Development

 

Activities

Learning activities are organised into three categories based on the degree of student autonomy involved:

  • Directed activities:

The essential points of each unit’s content will be explained and different types of exercises carried out.

  • Supervised activities:

Supervised activities include the tasks that students carry out outside the classroom. All these tasks must be handed in to the lecturer before the specified deadline. No tasks will be accepted after the deadline.

  • Autonomous activities:

Autonomous activities include preparing new material (carefully reading instructions, looking up the meaning of new vocabulary, etc.), doing exercises, and reviewing previous content.

This subject also includes the study of kanji as an autonomous activity, although classroom time will very occasionally be spent looking at kanji that require additional explanation. Students will work on the content of Basic Kanji Book vol. 2.

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Listening comprehension 10 0.4 1, 4, 19, 10, 11
Oral communication exercises 15 0.6 1, 4, 2, 6, 19, 10, 11, 14, 13, 18, 12
Oral/written grammar exercises 20 0.8 1, 5, 4, 3, 20, 16, 14, 13
Theory (new content explanation) 30 1.2 1, 3, 8
Type: Supervised      
Listening comprehension exercises 10 0.4 1, 4, 19, 10, 11
Reading comprehension exercises 17 0.68 1, 5, 6, 20, 8, 10, 18, 17, 9
Written expression exercises 20 0.8 1, 3, 16, 15, 7
Written grammar exercises 15 0.6 1, 5, 8
Type: Autonomous      
Autonomous study 150 6 8

Assessment

Assessment is continuous. Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing tasks and tests. Task deadlines will be indicated in the course schedule on the first day of class. 

Assessment activities 

Fulfillment of the subject’s objectives will be assessed as follows: 

- Quizzes (Grammar and vocabulary: 15%*3 = 45%, Kanji: 2,5%*6 = 15%): 60% 

- Exercises (written exercises:20%, oral exercises:20%): 40% 

 Quizzes on grammar and vocabulary and kanji will be conducted after every three and two lessons, respectively.

 

Related matters

The above 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, whether published 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.

More information: http://www.uab.cat/web/study-abroad/undergraduate/academic-information/evaluation/what-is-it-about-1345670077352.html 

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Grammar and vocabulary quizzes 45% (15% each) 10 0.4 1, 5, 3, 8, 16, 15
Kanji quizzes 15% (Various) 3 0.12 5, 8
Oral exercises 20% 0 0 1, 5, 4, 2, 6, 19, 10, 11, 14, 13, 18, 17, 12
Written exercises 20% 0 0 1, 3, 20, 10, 11, 16, 15, 7, 18, 12, 9

Bibliography

1.Textbooks

     Minna no nihongo shokyū II, 3A Network, Tokyo 2012.

     Basic Kanji Book vol.2. Bonjinsha, Tokyo 2015. 

2.Dictionaries

(1) Spanish-Japanese

  • エンデルレ書店『西和辞典』(Seiwa jiten, Editorial Enderle Book Co.,Ltd.)
  • 三省堂『西和辞典』(Crown Diccionario español-japonés, Sansedo)

(2) Japanese-Spanish

  • 白水社『和西辞典』(Diccionario japonés-español, Hakusuisha)
  • 三省堂『クラウン和西辞典』　(Crown Diccionario japonés-español, Sansedo)

 (3) English-Japanese

  •  KENKYUSHA: 『ふりがな英和辞典』Kenkyûsha’s Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary

 (4) Japanese -English

  •   THE JAPAN FOUNDATION: Basic Japanese-English Dictionary

 (5) Kanji

  •  KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL: The Kodansha’s Kanji Learner’s Dictionary.

3.Reference books 

  • HIROSE, M. Effective Japanese Usage Guide. A Concise Explanation of Frequently Confused Words and Phrases. Kodansha.
  • MAKINO, S.; TSUTSUI, M.  A Dictionary of intermediate Japanese Grammar. 『日本語文法辞典・中級編』TheJapan Times.
  • BERNABÉ, M. Japonés en viñetas. Norma Editorial, Barcelona, 1998.
  •  MATSUURA, J. i PORTA, L. Nihongo, Japonés para hispanohablantes, Bunpô.Herder, Barcelona, 2000.
  • NAKAZAWA, Y. Manual de japonés básico para hispoanohablantes. Pearson Editorial Japan, Tòquio. 2008.

4. Websites of interest

(1) Online dictionaries

(2) Grammar exercises

(3) Exercises on vocabulary, conversations, grammar, etc.

(4)  Tool for reading comprehension

Software

No specific software will be used.