This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Undergraduate Handbook 2025-2026 (archived)

Module JPNS2012: JAPANESE LANGUAGE 2B

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (Japanese)

JPNS2012: JAPANESE LANGUAGE 2B

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	2	40	Available in 2025/2026	None.	Durham

Pre-requisites

Japanese Language 1B (JPNS1012) or equivalent qualification, subject to decision by the module's language coordinator.

Corequisites

None.

Excluded Combinations

Any CFLS coded Japanese Language modules.

Aims

To further develop linguistic skills acquired at Level 1 across the full range of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
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)
The teaching and resources in this module reflect a commitment to linguistic and cultural diversity. It positions the richness of the Japanese-speaking world at the core of its syllabus’

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.
On completion of the course, students will be able to present a clear argument in the target language in both oral and written form.
Students will gain the ability to present information and /or construct an argument effectively in the target language.

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

The course involves highly 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.
The end-of-year written examination will take place in person, on campus.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours	Attendance Monitored
Language Classes	80	4 per week	1 hour	80	Yes
Listening Comprehension	20	1 per week	1 hour	20	Yes
Conversation	20	1 per week	1 hour	20	Yes
Preparation and Reading				280
Total				400

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting
Continuous Assessment	20%	Continuous Assessment of Written Skills		75%
Continuous Assessment	20%	Continuous Assessment of Aural Skills		25%
Written Examination	45%	Grammar, Composition & Translation Exam (in person)	3 hours	100%
Oral Examination	20%	Oral Exam (in person)	10 minutes	100%
Aural Assessment	15%	Listening Comprehension (in person)	1 hour	100%

Formative Assessment

In addition to weekly exercises (kana/kanji & vocabulary), as specified by the teachers, there will be formal formative assessments: Listening Comprehension test and / or Comprehension/Translation test. These will be recorded.

Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.