Aims

(1) To consolidate the linguistic foundation with a view to further study.
(2) To provide students with sufficient target language competence and inter-cultural sensitivity for communicative interaction with native speakers and to enable them to cope with typical situations met during a potential period of study abroad.
(3) To continue to provide students with skills necessary to become better language learners.

Outline Of Syllabus

1. Grammar and speaking
We shall cover the grammatical points and exercises in each chapter. All points will be
explained through the analysis of sentence patterns (bunkei).
2. Listening and speaking
You will practice listening using listening materials uploaded on CANVAS and practice speaking various topics.
3. Reading
You will develop skills in ondoku (reading aloud) and dokukai (reading
comprehension).
4. Writing
You will develop skills in writing, using the grammatical points, sentence patterns, vocabulary and kanji studied in the previous chapters.

The module will be taught and assessed in Japanese and English.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Key grammatical structures, sentence patterns, vocabulary and kanji are practised using an integrated communicative approach. Oral and aural skills (i.e. speaking and listening) as well as writing and reading are practised throughout the course in task-based activities involving individual, pair and group work.

Vocabulary, grammar tests and kanji tests will take place every week and will be assessed.

In order to ensure that the above hours of independent guided study takes place, each contact hour is followed by homework assignments. Many derive from the compulsory workbooks accompanying the core textbook. Additional materials may be distributed in class and are considered an integral part of the homework assignments. There is a minimum homework submission requirement of 70%.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

- Knowledge of grammatical structures and vocabulary is assessed in all summative work.

- Writing skills of Japanese characters are deemed essential at this stage of learning and are assessed in the written assessments, including exams.

- Essay writing skills are assessed in all summative work.

- Knowledge of Kanji/vocab/sentence structurs and communication skills are assessed during the oral examination.

- Digital skills for creating effective presentation slides, public speaking skills and teamwork skills are assessed during the formative professional skills assessment.