Linguistics of East Asian Languages
Code: 101540 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2500244 East Asian Studies | OB | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Sara Rovira Esteva
- Email:
- sara.rovira@uab.cat
Teachers
- Makiko Fukuda
- Sara Rovira Esteva
- Ester Torres Simon
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
None.
This course mainly uses Catalan and, secondarily, Spanish as vehicular language.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The aim of this subject is to introduce students to fundamental encyclopedic knowledge of issues related to two of the main languages of East Asia: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. On successfully completing this subject, students will be able to:
- Assimilate and understand the principles that govern language variation in East Asian languages.
- Identify, analyse, differentiate, summarise and explain the principles that govern language variation in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
- Determine the values, beliefs and ideologies expressed in oral and written texts in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
- Apply linguistic, cultural and thematic knowledge to the analysis and comprehension of written texts in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
- Apply knowledge of the values, beliefs and ideologies of East Asia to understand and appreciate written texts in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
- Develop a critical way of thinking and reasoning, and communicate effectively, both in their own languages and a third language.
- Develop autonomous learning strategies.
Competences
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
- Identifying, analysing, differentiating, summarising and explaining the principles of linguistic variation in the languages of East Asia.
- Knowing and comprehending the principles of the linguistic variation in the languages of East Asia.
- Working in teams in an international, multilingual and multicultural context.
Learning Outcomes
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
- Identifying, analysing, differentiating, summarising and explaining the principles of linguistic variation in the languages of East Asia.
- Identifying, differentiating and using the different linguistic genres.
- Recognizing the various dialects.
- Working in teams in an international, multilingual and multicultural context.
Content
The course is structured in three parts: China, Japan, and Korea.
China:
- Diachronic and synchronic view of Chinese writing
- The origins and evolution of Standard Chinese in the different Chinese communities
- Introduction to contemporary Standard Chinese
- The languages of China
- The current sociolinguistic situation in the different Chinese communities
- Chinese and scientific and technical progress
- Our interactions with Chinese
- Chinese and its linguistic neighbours
Japan:
- History of the formation of the Japanese language
- Some features of the contemporary Japanese language
- Languages in Japan
- Language ideologies of Japan
- Sociolinguistic issues of the Japanese language
- Language policies of Japan
- Diversity of the Japanese language
- Japanese among other languages of the world
Korea:
- History of Korean language formation
- Characteristics of contemporary Korean language and writing
- Sociolinguistic issues
- Language policies
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Critical discourse analysis | 4 | 0.16 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3 |
| In-class debate | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3 |
| Magistral lessons | 45.5 | 1.82 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Recommended readings | 10.5 | 0.42 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Preparation of exercises proposed by the lecturers | 16 | 0.64 | 2, 1, 4, 3 |
| Recommended readings | 18 | 0.72 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3 |
| Reviewing of already taught contents | 50 | 2 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3 |
The course consists of two parts, one on Japan and the other on China, with 13 sessions each (including assessment), 2 sessions devoted to Korea, plus a final session for an overall assessment of all the course’s content, including the three parts.
Training activities are divided into directed, supervised, autonomous, and assessment activities. In the time spent on directed activities, the lecturers will explain the most important content of each unit, based on reading materials previously recommended to students. This will be the ideal time to clarify any general doubts.
Activities
Learning activities are organised into three categories based on the degree of student autonomy involved:
- Directed activities: carried out according to a set timetable and in the presence of a lecturer (lectures, critical discussions on reading materials, debates on the issues examined in class).
- Supervised activities: carried out under the supervision of a lecturer or tutor (recommended readings, critical discussions on reading materials, debates on the issues examined in class).
- Autonomous activities: carried out by students without supervision, requiring them to organise their own time and work, either in groups or individually (preparing new materials, reviewing previous materials, reading recommended texts).
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.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final test comprising the three parts (Korea, Japan and China) | 40% | 1 | 0.04 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 3 |
| Test with open questions about the Chinese part | 30% | 1 | 0.04 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3 |
| Test with open questions about the Japanese part | 30% | 1 | 0.04 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3 |
Continuous assessment
Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing various tasks and tests. These activities are detailed in the table of this Study Guide.
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.
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. Under no circumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for. In case of retaking, maximum grade will be 5 (Pass).
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 student involved will be given a final mark of “0” for the subject. Assessment activities in which irregularities have occurred (e.g. plagiarism, copying, impersonation) are excluded from recovery.
Single assessment
This subject may be assessed under the single assessment system in accordance with the terms established in the academic regulations of the UAB and the assessment criteria of the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting.
Students must make an online request within the period established by the faculty and send a copy to the teacher responsible for the subject, for the record.
A single assessment will be carried out in person on one day during week 16 or 17 of the semester. The Academic Management Office will publish the exact date and time on the faculty website.
On the day of the single assessment, teaching staff will ask the student for identification, which should be presented as a valid identification document with a recent photograph (student card, DNI/NIE or passport).
Single assessment activities
The final grade for the subject will be calculated according to the following percentages:
- Exam covering China: 30%
- Exam covering Japan: 30%
- Test including the three parts (China, Japan and Korea): 40%
Grade revision and resit procedures for the subject are the same as those for continual assessment. See the section above in this study guide.
Bibliography
JAPAN
Backhaus, Peter. 2005. “Signs of multilingualism in Tokyo — a diachronic look at the linguistic landscape”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 175/176: 103-121.
Coulmas, Florian. 1989. The writing systems of the world. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Coulmas, Florian. 2013. Sociolinguistics. The Study of Speakers' Choices. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fukuda, Makiko. 2008. “Colonias japonesas en el extranjero: miniatura de la sociedad japonesa”. Inter Asia Papers, 3. Bellaterra: Institut d’Estudis Internacionals i Interculturals; Grup de recerca INTER-ASIA, Bellaterra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Goelbel Noguchi, Mary.; Fotos, Sandra. (eds.). 2001. Studies in Japanese Bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Goodman, Roger. 1993. Japan’s International Youth.The Emergence of a New Class of Schoolchildren. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Gottlieb, Nanette. 2009. Language and Society in Japan. 3rd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gottlieb, Nanette. 2011. Language Policy in Japan. The Challenge of Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hagerman, Craig. 2009. “English Language Policy and Practice in Japan”, The Journal of Osaka Jogakuin University, 6: 47-64.
Hashimoto, Kayoko. 2000. “'Internationalisation' is 'Japanisation': Japan's foreign language education and national identity”, Journal of Intercultural Studies, 21(1): 39-51.
Kanno, Yasuko. 2003. Negotiating bilingual and bicultural identities: Japanese returnees betwixt two worlds. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Lee, Yeounske. 2009. The ideology of kokugo: nationalizing language in modern Japan. University of Hawaii Press.
Maher, John.; Yashiro, Kyoko. (eds.). 1995. Multilingual Japan. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Maynard, Senko K. 1997. Japanese communication: language and thought in context. University of Hawaii Press.
Onishi, Takuichiro. 2009. “Dialectology in the National Institute for Japanese Language”, Dialectologia, 2: 37-50.
CHINA
Abbiati, Magda. 1992. La Lingua Cinese. Venecia: Cafoscarina.
Bisang, Walter. 2006. "Southeast Asia as a Linguistic Area." Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics. K. Brown (ed.). 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 587-595.
Casas-Tost, Helena; Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2009. "Orientalism and Occidentalism: Two Forces Behind the Image of the Chinese Language and Construction of the Modern Standard." Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 4(2): 107-21.
Casas-Tost, Helena; Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2008. "Orientalismo y Occidentalismo: Dos fuerzas subyacentes en la imagen y la construcción de la lengua china." Inter Asia Papers, 2: 1-25.
Casas-Tost, Helena; Rovira-Esteva, Sara (Eds.). 2015. Guia d’estil per al tractament de mots xinesos en català. Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura. Biblioteca tècnica de política lingüística, 2. ISBN: 978-84-393-9241-5. DOI: 10.2436/15.8040.02.1. En línia: http://www.gencat.cat/llengua/BTPL/xines.
Chang, Raymond; Chang, Margaret Scrogin. 2001. Speaking of Chinese. A Cultural History of the Chinese Language. New York etc.: W.W. Norton.
DeFrancis, John. 1986. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Gao, Mobo C. F. 2000. Mandarin Chinese. An Introduction. Melbourne, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
García-Noblejas, Gabriel. 2012. China,Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Gu, Yueguo. 2006. "Chinese." Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics. Keith E. Brown (ed.). 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 343-350.
Handel, Zev J. 2025. Chinese characters across Asia. How the Chinese Script came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. Washington: University of Washington Press.
Hannas, William. C. 1997. Asia's Orthographic Dilemma. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Hannas, William. C. 2003. The Writing on the Wall: How Asian Orthography Curbs Creativity. Univ of Pennsylvania Pr.
Huang, Xingtao. 2023. A Cultural History of the Chinese Character "Ta (她, She)". Invention and Adoption of a New Feminine Pronoun, Oxon, New York. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Kane, Daniel. 2006. The Chinese Language. Its History and Current Usage. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing.
Martínez Robles, David. 2007. La lengua china: historia, signo y contexto. Una aproximación sociocultural. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
Moore, Oliver J. 2000. Chinese. Univ of California Pr.
Norman, Jerry. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press.
Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2015. "Chinese Linguistics in Spain: Historical and Institutional Review." Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics Online. Brill.
Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2006. "La lingüística no tiene quien le escriba o 10 años de soledad. Condiciones para la investigación en lingüística china en España: historia reciente y perspectivas (Cap. 3)." La investigación sobre Asia Pacífico en España. Granada 2006. P. San Ginés (ed.). Colección Española de Investigación sobre Asia Pacífico (CEIAP), 1 ed. Granada: Editorial de Granada, pp. 55-75.
Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2010. Lengua y escritura chinas:Mitos y realidades. Barcelona: Edicions Bellaterra.
KOREA
Cho, Sungdai; Whitman, John. 2020. Korean: A linguistic introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lee, Kimoon; Ramsey, S. Robert. 2011. A history of the Korean language. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Lee, Kimoon. 2006. (1ª edició 1961). Gukeosa-gaeseol. Seoul: Taehaksa.
Ruhlen, Merritt. 1994. The Origin of Language: Tracing the Evolution of the Mother Tongue. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Song, Jaejung. 2006. The Korean language: Structure, use and context. London and New York: Routledge.
Yeon, Jaehoon. 2012. Korean dialects: A general survey. The languages of Japan and Korea. London and New York: Routledge. Pp. 168-185.
Software
No specific software will be used.
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |