BA Sociology and Japanese

Residence abroad support

We offer dedicated financial support packages of up to £2,000 for residence abroad students, based on household income.

You will be automatically assessed for this, based on your Student Finance financial assessment - you just need to make sure you apply for a financial assessment in the academic year in which your residence abroad will take place.

RWS Brode Scholarship

You may be eligible for this scholarship if you fulfill the following conditions:

• your qualifications were achieved at a state-funded school in the UK;
• your total household income does not exceed £60,000 (as verified by the Student Loan Company);
• you achieve high marks in your A-levels (or equivalent qualifications), usually AAB or above;
• you apply to (and remain on) either a single honours Language course, or a dual-language course.

Awards will be made according to a sliding scale, benefitting those who have achieved the highest marks relative to backgrounds.

You will be automatically assessed for this after you have registered on your degree.

You simply need to make sure you allow the University access to your records when applying for your student lLoan (we cannot otherwise assess your eligibility).

Bursaries and Scholarships

• Find out more from student finance
• Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
• Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
• Many students work part-time or complete a student internship

This is an intermediate learners’ level language course which teaches the skills of reception (reading and listening) and production (speaking and writing) in Japanese, and translation of the material learned into English. There is a pre-requisite of post-Intermediate skills (such as those taught on JAPA51031).

Alongside classroom-based study, independent study is also key. Students will be required to reflect on their own learning and to improve their language learning skills with the help and support of their teachers. Working with a Japanese language partner or partners is strongly encouraged.

Available on: BA Japanese Studies and Combinations involving Japanese with other languages and area studies degrees and BA Modern Language with Business and Management etc. 

Not available as a free choice – but if the level is appropriate the convenor may exceptionally admit an external student.

Building on students’ prior learning, it aims to broaden students’ vocabulary (both spoken and written), hone their translation skills and deepen their understanding of grammar. There will also be speaking exercises to acquire communication strategies, and translation exercises between English and Japanese.

This is a course based around a textbook supplemented with additional material and supported by independent study. 

8 hours of tutorials per week (a combination of formal grammar teaching, writing skills, reading, and in-class practice and tests of reading, writing, listening and speaking with exercises (including group and pair-work)). There will be weekly assignments.  

There are timetabled office hours for all staff teaching this unit who are available for consultation.  

All students have access to the Language Centre and should use its resources regularly. All students are strongly encouraged to participate in learning partnerships with Japanese students where possible.

By the end of this course students should be able to:

• demonstrate a sure grasp of approximately 650 characters and 3500 vocabulary items, and know the standard grammatical patterns of intermediate Japanese.

By the end of this course students should be able to: 

• understand themselves as developing learners and be able to engage effectively with the appropriate resources to negotiate understanding.

By the end of this course students should be able to:

• express themselves orally in more advanced role-plays and dialogues on everyday matters and on a wide range of topics relating to Japanese society
• show developing proficiency in reading Japanese texts and viewing and hearing TV and other audio and video material in standard Japanese
• write stylistically appropriate Japanese prose, as well as translate Japanese into appropriate English
• make a presentation and engage in discussion on a topic of interest
• use dictionaries (including monolingual dictionaries) effectively.

By the end of this course students should be able to:  

• show developing confidence in interacting with native speakers.

Assessment task	Formative or Summative	Weighting within unit (if summative)
Written examination at the end of semester 2	Summative	55%
Oral examination at the end of semester 2	Summative	20%
Regular revision exercises (5%) and coursework (5%)	Summative	10%
Portfolio of reading and translation texts	Summative	15%

 

Resit Assessment

Assessment task

Written Exam (75%)

Oral Exam (25%)

Feedback method	Formative or Summative
Feedback on progress with language learning is provided to students through regular tests of vocabulary and kanji, through corrected versions of written work, through comments on the portfolio and through feedback on exams.	Summative
Students are also able to consult individually with language tutors in their office hours.	Formative

 

Set texts:

The set textbook is Tobira Gateway to Advanced Japanese, along with its two accompanying workbooks, Grammar Power and Power Up Your Kanji.  

1. Tobira Gateway to Advanced Japanese: Learning Through Content and Multimedia (Tokyo: Kurosio 20092010) (ISBN-10: 4874244475 / ISBN-13: 978-4874244470)
2. Grammar Power: Exercises for Mastery (Tokyo: Kurosio 2012) ISBN 978-4-87424-570-5  
3. Power Up your Kanji: 800 Basic Kanji as a Gateway to Advanced Japanese (Tokyo) (ISBN-10: 4874244874 / ISBN-13: 978-4874244876)

Recommended texts:  

Makino and Tsutsui, A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (The Japan Times, 1992), ISBN: 978-4789004541.

Group Jamashii, Nihongo Bunkei Jiten (Kuroshio Shuppan) グループ・ジャマシイ（編著）『日本語文型辞典』くろしお出版 (Japanese, English, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese versions are available).