Course Description
This course is designed for students who have little or no knowledge of Japanese. It is aimed at developing basic oral and written communicative skills through the study of vocabulary, grammar, and culture. Japanese is spoken in class as much as possible.
Course Content
Systematic introduction of:
- Basic syntactic structures
- Basic lexicon
- Elements of kanji
- The phonological system of Japanese
- Some aspects of Japanese culture.
Learning Activities
The functional-communicative approach is used.
Classroom activities may include: presentation of material by the instructor, practice in pairs and small groups, listening comprehension, audio-visual presentations, task-based conversation practice, and student presentations.
Conversation labs in small groups with a Native Language Assistant.
Means of Assessment
Written Evaluations
(May include but not limited to writing and reading exercises, chapter tests, paragraph writing, written homework, preparation, Final Written Exam) |
60% |
Oral Evaluations
(May include but not limited to oral tests, oral presentations, listening comprehension, conversation lab, attendance, preparation, class participation, Final Oral Exam) |
40% |
No single evaluation will be worth more than 20%.
Learning Outcomes
The student will be expected to demonstrate proficiency in Japanese at the basic level in:
- Aural comprehension of simple discourse.
- Reading comprehension of simplified texts, both in Romanized and Japanese letters (hiragana and katakana and a minimum of 50 kanji).
- Speech delivery, such as extending greetings, asking simple questions and giving replies, describing eventsin present and past tenses, making simple requests, and asking for permissions.
- Written expression, such as short paragraphs and dialogues, using hiragana, katakana and kanji.
- Understanding target cultures.
Textbook Materials
A beginner-level Japanese textbook such as:
- Banno et al. GENKI: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese I.
- The Japan Times.
- Accompanying workbook and audio materials