BA Sociology and Japanese

This is an advanced level language course which builds on skills acquired during a prior residence in Japan and which contains a pathway for students on the Modern Language with Business and Management (Japanese) Degree Programme: all students on MLBM must take this pathway.

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 students from outside Japanese Studies. 

Building on students’ prior learning including residence in Japan, it aims to broaden students’ vocabulary (in both spoken and written registers), hone their communication and analytical skills and deepen their understanding of grammar and communicative behaviour in Japanese society. There will also be translation exercises between English and Japanese in both directions.

further understand the nature of language learning and the level of skills required for advanced and professional use of Japanese.

understand themselves as advanced learners and be able to engage effectively with the appropriate resources to confirm understanding.
understand the issues involved in translating Japanese into appropriate English and vice versa.
 

express themselves orally on everyday matters and on a wide range of topics in the Japanese news relating to Japanese society, culture and events.
   
show proficiency in reading Japanese texts and viewing and hearing TV and other audio and video material in standard Japanese and recognize certain features of dialect in both speech and writing.

write stylistically appropriate Japanese prose.

have had practice translating into English and from English into Japanese, and mediating communication between the languages.

analyse complex Japanese text

mediate communication between Japanese and English

present with confidence to an audience in Japanese

Resit Assessment

Set text: 

Students NOT taking MLBM and doing the translation class will need:  

The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation (London: Routledge 2012) ISBN 978-0-415-48686-6 

Other texts will be notified to students at the start of the course.  

Students require in addition: 

1) A kanji dictionary 

2) A reference grammar of Japanese. The suggested one is in three volumes: 

Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (Tokyo: Japan Times 1986)  

Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar (Tokyo: Japan Times 1995) 

Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar (Tokyo: Japan Times 2007) 

3) Bilingual and monolingual dictionaries