Course Title: Japanese 1

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Japanese 1

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

LANG1407

City Campus

Postgraduate

365H Global, Urban and Social Studies

Face-to-Face

 Sem 1 2024,
Sem 2 2024

Course Coordinator: Dr Maho Fukuno

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 0448

Course Coordinator Email: maho.fukuno@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: B37. L5 .041

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None. 


Course Description

This course caters for students who would like to start learning Japanese at University. It will introduce you to Japanese language and culture and assist you to develop in four different modes of Japanese Language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing. You will explore the links between language and culture and familiarise yourself with the pronunciation system of Japanese and the formation of the 3 Japanese scripts. You will explore the norms and values of Japanese society and behaviour as expressed in and reflected by the language. The course will equip you with some basic knowledge of cross-cultural communication issues and lays the foundation for further Japanese study. 


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course will complement the RMIT capabilities you are developing in your program.


Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Communicate in oral Japanese effectively in basic social contexts, including greetings, introductions, describing past, present and future events and location.
  2. Read and write simple passages in these contexts using hiragana, katakana and very basic kanji.
  3. Communicate effectively in Japanese and demonstrate awareness of some uses of registers in different contexts.
  4. Read, interpret and comprehend simple authentic spoken, written and multimedia Japanese materials.
  5. Implement and evaluate some language learning strategies and techniques to develop your language skills and demonstrate independent learning.
  6. Investigate and critique aspects of the Japanese culture and examine the relationship between culture and language.
  7. Describe your own cultural values and norms and make comparisons to the Japanese ones, and develop your knowledge of and critical perspective to cross-cultural communication issues and challenges. 


Overview of Learning Activities

You will be able to work in pairs and small groups to develop your language skills. Oral exercises will provide you with opportunities to practise your spoken Japanese while you will use listening exercises to analyse features such as pronunciation to improve your listening skills.

Cultural understanding and the relationship between language and behaviour will be introduced and discussed. Various role-plays, exercises and games are employed to expose potential difficulties, which may arise in cross-cultural communication.

Class exercises are supported by language exchange sessions with native speakers, where appropriate. We will be doing many pair and group activities in which you are expected to participate actively and to use only Japanese. Therefore, regular class attendance is important to support your learning.


Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems. 

You may need to access a prescribed text and a recommended Language dictionary. Multi-media teaching and learning resources and tools will also be used and made available through our online systems which you can access at myRMIT/studies. 

There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal. 


Overview of Assessment

Assessment Tasks

You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes.  

Assessment Tasks  

Assessment Task 1: Progressive Assessments 50% 

Homework Revision tasks 5% CLO2, CLO4, CLO5  

Written tasks 35%  CLO2, CLO4, CLO5

Speaking task 10% CLO1, CLO3, CLO5

Assessment Task 2: Final Assessment 50% 

Written, communication and analytical tasks (e.g. presentations, discussion, interviews): CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, CLO4, CLO5, CLO6, CLO7 

Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.  

If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.  

Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions.