Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2014-2015 (archived)

Module JPNS2012: JAPANESE LANGUAGE 2

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (Japanese)

JPNS2012: JAPANESE LANGUAGE 2

Type Open Level 2 Credits 40 Availability Available in 2014/15 Module Cap None. Location Durham

Prerequisites

  • Japanese Language 1 (JPNS1012) or equivalent or an equivalent qualification, subject to decision by the module’s language coordinator

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • • Japanese Stage 1 (MLAN1151), Japanese Stage 2 (MLAN1161) or Japanese Stage 3 (MLAN1171).

Aims

  • To develop further linguistic skills acquired at Level 1 across the full range of reading, writing, listening and speaking and achieve a level equivalent to JLPT N4-N3.
  • To prepare students for living abroad in terms of language, practical knowledge, and cultural competence.

Content

  • Weekly sessions devoted to the following:
  • Grammar
  • Translation from Japanese into English and comprehension (reading)
  • Translation from English into Japanese and composition (writing)
  • Kanji writing
  • Audio-Visual Comprehension (listening)
  • Oral (speaking)

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • Students will extend their basic vocabulary to a level commensurate with Level 2 study and complete the process of familiarisation with more complex grammatical structures, extend their knowledge of kanji, and become exposed to a greater diversity of registers, including honorific and plain forms, and text-types.
Subject-specific Skills:
  • Students will develop skills in translation (from Japanese into English and English into Japanese), in producing more sophisticated spoken and written Japanese, and in processing aural and visual material in the target language.
Key Skills:
  • Students will begin to develop the ability to work independently within a prescribed framework and across a range of differentiated tasks.
  • Students will gain the ability to research and present information and /or construct an argument effectively both orally and in writing.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • The course involves differentiated modes of teaching, appropriate to the specific skills being developed.
  • A grammar lecture will set the context for a series of skills-based sessions, including small-group oral sessions, each focused on one or more of the four particular skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
Grammar Lectures 21 weekly 1 hour 21
Translation andComposition Practice 21 weekly 1 hour 21
Text Reading and Comprehension 21 weekly 1 hour 21
Kanji Workshop 21 weekly 1 hour 21
Listening Comprehension 21 weekly 1 hour 21
Oral Practice 21 weekly 1 hour 21
Preparation and Reading 274
Total 400

Summative Assessment

Component: Written Examination 1 Component Weighting: 30%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Grammar & Comprehension Exam 2 hours 100% Yes
Component: Oral Examination Component Weighting: 15%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Oral Examination 15 minutes 100% Yes
Component: Listening Comprehension Component Weighting: 15%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Listening Comprehension 1 hour 100% Yes
Component: Written Examination 2 Component Weighting: 40%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Composition & Translation Exam 3 hours 100% Yes

Formative Assessment:

In addition to weekly exercises as specified by the teachers there will be formal formative assessments as below. Apart from the 10 minute weekly vocabulary / writing tests, these will be given a formal mark which will be recorded; marked scripts will be returned to students as below: Vocabulary/ kanji & kana test Weekly 10 mins Peer marked for instant return; Grammar & Composition test TW10 1 hour TW11; Listening Comprehension test TW14 1 hour TW15; Oral TW16 10 mins TW17; Comprehension/Translation test TW19 1 hour TW20 ________________________________________


Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University