BA French 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.

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.

The curriculum helps students hone their communication and analytical skills and deepen their understanding of grammar and communicative behaviour in Japanese society with a focus on broadening their vocabulary (in both spoken and written registers) on a wide range of subjects related to their fields of interest. There will also be translation exercises in both directions between English and Japanese. 

This is a course in 3 sections supported by independent study. All students take section A. MLBM students must take section B and all other students take either section B (with permission of the convenor) or section C. Students may (with the written permission of the convenor) attend both section B and section C classes but must register on and fully attend one or the other.

Students are also expected to be able to analyse and articulate their learning needs and make progress through independent study although this is not formally assessed.

A Expressing Yourself in Japanese (2 hours)

B Business Japanese (required for students on MLBM, optional for students on other programmes in place of C) (2 hours)

C Japanese-English Translation: Skills and Issues (required for students not taking B) (2 hours)

4 hours of tutorials per week (including some group and pair-work)  

All students have access to the Language Centre and should use its resources regularly. 

All students are advised to participate in learning partnerships with Japanese students where possible and there are plans to introduce Japanese exchange students on campus to the final year students in Japanese Studies. 

Enhanced understanding of the characteristics of the Japanese language and its usage.

Increased knowledge and skills to monitor and improve students’ own oral and written output.

Further understanding of the skills required for advanced and professional use of Japanese.

Understanding of issues around translation, possible solutions to them and ways to apply them in various situations (e.g. every-day conversations, business scenes, translating prose or newspaper articles, academic contexts etc.).

• Ability to engage effectively with the appropriate resources to confirm their initial understanding of Japanese.
• Understanding of the issues involved in translating Japanese into appropriate English and vice versa.
• Ability to write an essay or report which develops an argument systematically with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detail.  
• Ability to express their opinions with some grounds for argument, consider the different perspectives of other people, and contribute to discussions in a productive way by proposing solutions or compromises. 
   

• Oral expression on everyday matters and on a wide range of topics in the Japanese news relating to Japanese society, culture and events.  
• Ability to explain articulately and in detail the content of research while showing data, etc., and respond flexibly to questions.  
• Proficiency in reading Japanese texts and viewing and hearing TV and other audio and video material in standard Japanese and becoming able to recognize certain features of dialect in both speech and writing.
• Writing stylistically appropriate Japanese prose.
• Translation from Japanese into English and from English into Japanese, and mediating communication between the languages.

• Analysis of complex Japanese text.
• Mediation of communication between Japanese and English.
• Presentation to an audience in Japanese.
• Accounting for and sustaining an opinion in discussion by providing relevant explanations, arguments and comments.
• Writing essays or reports which develop an argument systematically with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detail.  

Resit Assessment

Set text:

Students  doing the translation class will need the following two texts, both of which are available as e-books through the library catalogue:  

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

Judy Wakabayashi, Japanese-English Translation: An Advanced Guide (New York: Routledge 2020) ISBN 978-0367863340

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

All students are advised to use the following materials for their own self-study. They are available in the Academic English Centre Library.  

小川誉子美、庵功雄 他『上級　日本語文法演習（シリーズ）』スリーエーネットワーク                                                              （⇒全7巻：指示詞・接続詞、複文、テンス・アスペクト、待遇表現、ボイス、モダリティ・終助詞、「は」と「が」、複合格助詞、とりたて助詞など）

増田アヤ子(2011)『マンガで学ぶ　日本語上級表現使い分け１００』アルク

岡本牧子、氏原庸子　他(2008)『比べてわかる日本語表現文型辞典』Jリサーチ出版

目黒真実（監修）(2008) 『生きた例文で学ぶ　日本語表現文型辞典』アスク出版

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)