Japanese II (121-3-20)

Instructors

Yumi Shiojima
8474912764
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Office 4-349
Office Hours: Varies quarter to quarter, please check with instructor.

Meeting Info

University Hall 218: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM

Overview of class

Japanese II (JAPANESE 121-1, 2 and 3), sequel to Japanese I (JAPANESE 111), is a yearlong course that covers the second half of college level elementary Japanese and prepares students for intermediate Japanese (JAPANESE 211). In this course, students will continue developing the four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) and learn various aspects of Japanese culture and society through readings, video viewing, written assignments, and in-class activities. The emphasis will be on developing the skills necessary to use auxiliary verbs and complex sentences to express subtle differences in meaning and accuracy appropriate to the given contexts. Students will also practice cohesively describing their experiences and summarizing a story that they heard, read, or watched. Careful and thorough review and preparation for each class session are required. With consistent oral and written feedback from the instructor, students will enhance their language and cultural awareness, leading to increased understanding, appreciation, and utilization of the target language, to become autonomous learners.

Registration Requirements

Students must pass the preceding course with C- or above, or must be placed into the course by the departmental placement test.

Learning Objectives

The year-end proficiency goal of Japanese II is for the students to reach the Intermediate-Mid level defined by the American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines and A2 - B1 defined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR). Upon the satisfactory completion of the course, students will be able to handle various types of more complex daily conversational situations and passages.

Teaching Method

This course is conducted mostly in Japanese. Class hours are spent mainly on oral proficiency development, and written assignments are given for reading and writing proficiency development.

Evaluation Method

Class participation and performance, assignments, quizzes, oral and written examinations, and essays

Class Materials (Required)

Oka, M. et al. (2022). TOBIRA II: Beginning Japanese. Tokyo: Kuroshio Publishers. ISBN 978-4-87424-900-0.

Class Materials (Suggested)

Kodansha's Essential Kanji Dictionary. Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN 978-1568363974; Endo-Hudson, M. (1994). English Grammar for Students of Japanese. Ann Arbor: The Olivia and Hill Press. ISBN 978-0934034166; Makino, S. & Tsutsui, M. (1989). Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. Tokyo: The Japan Times. ISBN 978-4789004541.

Class Attributes

Prerequisites apply, see description

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Prerequisite: Students must have passed Japanese 121-2 with at least a C- or be placed in according to placement test results. Prerequisite: Students must have passed Japanese 121-2 with at least a C- or be placed in according to placement test results.