Course Syllabus

Course: JAPN 1020

Division: Humanities
Department: New Department
Title: Elementary Japanese II

Semester Approved: Summer 2021
Five-Year Review Semester: Summer 2026
End Semester: Spring 2027

Catalog Description: This course is a continuation of JAPN 1010 and provides additional exposure to the Japanese language and the cultures of Japanese-speaking peoples. It is designed for students who have completed JAPN 1010 with a C- or better, or for students with equivalent experience. During the course, students continue to develop basic oral and listening communication skills by participating in activities that require them to use Japanese in a variety of situations. As a result of developing these skills, they also acquire the ability to read and write Japanese at a basic level. Students learn to communicate about topics that are most familiar to them (e.g., self, family, home, school, daily and recent activities), and they learn to appreciate ways of life different from their own. This course is interactive with a focus on learner participation, basic conversation practice in Japanese, and additional focus on reading and writing. Successful completion of this course fulfills the foreign language requirement for the A.A. degree at Snow College.

General Education Requirements: Foreign Language (FL)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 5; Lecture: 5; Lab: 0

Prerequisites: Completion of JAPN 1010 with a grade of C- or better or equivalent experience.

Corequisites: None


Justification: This course satisfies the foreign language requirement for the Associate of Arts degree at Snow College. It is also a prerequisite for intermediate and advanced study of the language. Students are introduced to the language, cultures, and values of Japanese-speaking peoples. Learning Japanese, particularly in combination with studies in other fields such as art, music, philosophy, history, business, medicine, political science, social science and technology can provide a valuable and employable life resource.

General Education Outcomes:
1: A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Students learn the Japanese language and its linguist system at the elementary level as part of world languages. Students discuss Japanese cultures regularly to reflect on and analyze underlying similarities and differences between cultures by exploring the basis for cultural traditions and modern social phenomena. Students demonstrate fundamental knowledge of Japanese language and culture through in-class practice and discussions that include research on specific cultural topics.

2: A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students learn about Japanese cultures by reading and researching materials outside of class as well as in class, to deepen their knowledge about Japan. Students demonstrate their effective reading and researching abilities through their presentations and discussions in class.

3: A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Students learn a basic knowledge of linguistics by learning the Japanese language and diverse
social/cultural perspectives and skills of critical thinking by exploring Japanese cultures. Students demonstrate their knowledge, perspectives and skills through practice and discussions on languages and cultures in class.

4: A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Students analyze the linguistic differences between Japanese and English and discuss similarities and differences between the cultures of Japan and the US in class. These discussions enhance students' abilities to analyze and reason critically and creatively. Students demonstrate this ability through practice and discussions in class.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes:
1: Students produce and interpret oral and written language in various formats (e.g., informal conversation and descriptions). The instructor evaluates their performance in class and during oral assessments, and provides feedback on accuracy of expression and appropriate use of language and gestures. Students produce and interpret oral and written language in various formats (e.g., informal conversation and descriptions). The instructor evaluates their performance in class and during oral assessments, and provides feedback on accuracy of expression and appropriate use of language and gestures.


Student Learning Outcomes:
Interpretive Listening: Students will understand everyday Japanese words and phrases. They will be able to answer questions about themselves, their personal experiences, and their surroundings with greater capacity.  Students will demonstrate interpretive listening skills as they respond to in-class practice exercises and interact with each other, as well as perform oral tasks and exams. They will build upon those skills acquired in JAPN 1010 and demonstrate their abilities through responding to in-class practice exercises and interaction, as well as oral tasks and exams. (Students will begin to rely less upon repetition for comprehension and start to follow spoken Japanese at the high novice to intermediate low level.)

Interpretive Reading: Students will understand familiar words, phrases, and some more advanced sentences, building upon those reading skills acquired in JAPN 1010.  Students will demonstrate interpretive reading skills during in-class reading exercises, on homework assignments, and on written exams.

Interpersonal Spoken: Students will interact with each other using words, phrases, and some memorized expressions. They wil be able to answer simple questions on familiar topics and form questions to create a more realistic dialogue, while expanding the range of their ability beyond the beginner level. They will be capable of describing events not only in the present, but in the past as well, with the ability to speak with anticipation of future events, as well as conjecture upon things that would happen given a certain set of circumstances. Students will demonstrate interpersonal speaking skills by responding to in-class practice exercises and interactions, as well as oral tasks and exams.

Presentational Spoken: Students will provide information about themselves and their immediate surroundings using words, phrases, and some memorized expressions. They will also acquire information from others by forming proper sentences and questions, including topics that address events in the present, past, and future. Students will demonstrate presentational speaking skills through responding to in-class practice exercises, interactions, with each other, class presentations, oral tasks (speaking practice, discussion, etc.) and oral exams.

Presentational Written: Students will provide some basic information on familiar topics in lists, phrases, and memorized expressions.  Students will demonstrate presentational writing skills through practice assignments as well as writing exams, where expected output should demonstrate a higher level of proficiency than that which is required in JAPN 1010.

Cultural Opportunities: Students will seek opportunities to learn about and experience new cultures in class as well as outside of class. Students will report their extra-curricular efforts to experience new cultures outside of class on the semester evaluations.

Cultural Understanding: Students will demonstrate a basic knowledge of cultural traditions, customs, and values in Japan. Students will demonstrate cultural understanding during in-class presentations, discussions, and on exams.


Content:
Through lecture, one-on-one sessions with the instructor, class discussion, and activities, students will learn and demonstrate: Describing multiple events; making a polite request; asking for and granting permission; explaining reasons; offering help; progressive actions; physical attributes; purpose of movement; counting people; informal speech in the present and past tense; describing and quoting one’s thoughts; one’s abilities; the subject particle “ga”; describing people using verbs; present perfect in the negatives; comparison between two items or more; indicating the same item using “no”; expressing one’s intention; changes form the past; describing the means of actions; learning approximately 100 Chinese characters; cultural perspectives, diversity and daily life in Japan. This content is delivered through interactive lecture, multimedia presentation, partner and group work, and instructor modeling of concepts. This course addresses diverse issues during cultural lessons (e.g., Japanese tradition, education, housing, religions and festivals.)

Key Performance Indicators:
The following assessments will be used:

Written exams 10 to 25%

Oral Exams 10 to 25%

Practice Assignments 50 to 75%

Presentations 0 to 5%

Qyuzzes 0 to 20%


Representative Text and/or Supplies:
Banno, Eri and others (2011), Genki 1 Second Edition textbook and workbook: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese


Pedagogy Statement:
This course integrates a variety of learning activities that are based in second-language (L2) acquisition research and communicative language pedagogy, so that students receive multiple opportunities to practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the L2 every day. Instructors encourage all students to participate in a variety of ways and to discuss teaching practices and share study strategies that are more/less helpful for their learning. Instructors use teaching materials that show people from a variety of backgrounds (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, ability, class, etc.) who use the L2 for interpersonal communication and artistic expression.

Instructional Mediums:
Lecture

Maximum Class Size: 25
Optimum Class Size: 20