JAPANESE LANGUAGE 2

The course is one of the core courses of the Master's Course in Languages of Asia and the Mediterranean for Business and International Cooperation. It aims at:
a) develop the students' level of Japanese proficiency up to an upper-intermediate/advanced level through the study of the diverse registers of the Japanese language and specialistic texts;
b) provide the students with the methodological toolkit to conduct their research on primary sources in view of the completion of the Master's Thesis.

To this end, during classes and language training sessions, special attention will be paid on the one hand to the development of the students' listening and interaction skills in authentic contexts and on the other, on text reading, re-elaboration, and translation (and argumentation of the latter).

At the end of the course, the students are expected to
1. read and comprehend specialized texts (e.g., academic articles) in Japanese, making use of skim reading techniques.
2. write texts in the target language based on Japanese sources;
3. produce written texts in Japanese using technical and specialized language;
4. express their thoughts and ideas in Japanese with technological devices (such as Power Point presentations).

The course will also focus on the following aspects:
5. correct use of different linguistic registers in spoken Japanese;
6. comprehension of complex texts in Japanese;
7. re-elaboration in the target language (Italian or English).

Expected level at the end of the course: C1 (CEFR)

Students are expected to have at least a level of Japanese corresponding to JLPT 2 (or to CEFR B2l).

This module is articulated in three parts:
1. Lectures by Dr. Marco Zappa (30 hrs.). In this part of the course, students will read, analyse and discuss in class texts in the fields of Contemporary history, Politics and International Relations of Japan, using primary sources (research articles and monographs in Japanese) (see reading list). Students will be encouraged to do background research on authors and texts.
2. Lectures by Mrs. Suzuki Masako (28 hrs). Students will study Japanese linguistic registers (e.g. keigo, taigū hyōgen, etc.) and learn how to use them properly. Students will also learn how to practically use proper language registers (particularly, "business Japanese") in real-life situations. Two meetings will be devoted to the writing of a curriculum vitae in Japanese. A model CV will be uploaded on the teacher's Moodle page.
3. Lectures by Mrs. Utsumi Ayuko. This part will focus on the production of written texts in Japanese, and on the development of specific writing skills.

Besides the language instructor's teaching materials, the texts to be analyzed during the course will be academic, technical-administrative and journalistic in nature. Themes covered are: contemporary Japanese politics; Japan's international relations; Japan's environmental institutions and policies. We will read and analyze in class articles from the monthly "Sekai".

Texts will be uploaded on the course Moodle page at the semester start.
Additional teaching materials (press articles, video and audio materials) will be introduced by the instructor during the course.

The use of the following Japanese dictionary (available on the students' electronic dictionaries and online) is recommended:
Kōjien, (7th ed.) Tokyo: Iwanami
Sanseidō Web Dictionary (also available for smartphones) online at: http://www.sanseido.biz/
Weblio Kokugo Jiten, online at: https://www.weblio.jp/
Kotobank, online at: https://kotobank.jp/

The final score will be assigned based on the results of the single written and oral tests.
The exam is made of five parts.
- Writing and uploading a Japanese CV
- A grammar test (relational language);
- An essay in Japanese on a given topic;
- A comprehension test based on the texts presented in class;
- Speaking test with native speaking teacher.

written and oral

30-28:
The results of the individual exam components (written test, short essay, JP-IT comprehension test, and Japanese oral comprehension test) are overall excellent. The candidate demonstrates full mastery of relational language, is capable of writing a short essay on a chosen topic, and can argue convincingly and in an orderly manner. They can comprehend and contextualize an excerpt from a specialized Japanese text into the target language (Italian or English) excellently. Furthermore, they can understand a text and respond appropriately in both content and form to questions about it in Japanese.

27-25:
The results of the individual exam components (written test, short essay, JP-IT comprehension test, and Japanese oral comprehension test) are overall more than good. The candidate demonstrates a good command of relational language, is capable of writing a short essay on a chosen topic, and can argue convincingly and in an orderly manner. They can comprehend and contextualize an excerpt from a specialized Japanese text into the target language (Italian or English) satisfactorily. Furthermore, they can understand a text and respond appropriately, although with some difficulties in form, to questions about it in Japanese.

24-22:
The results of the individual exam components (written test, short essay, JP-IT comprehension test, and Japanese oral comprehension test) are overall more than sufficient. The candidate demonstrates a sufficient command of relational language, is capable of writing a short essay on a chosen topic, and can argue sufficiently. They can comprehend and contextualize an excerpt from a specialized Japanese text into the target language (Italian or English) at a sufficient level. Furthermore, they can understand the key concepts of a text and respond, albeit with some difficulties and not always appropriately, to questions about it in Japanese.

21-18:
The results of the individual exam components (written test, short essay, JP-IT comprehension test, and Japanese oral comprehension test) are overall sufficient. The candidate demonstrates a sufficient command of relational language, is capable of writing a short essay on a chosen topic, and can argue sufficiently. They can comprehend and contextualize an excerpt from a specialized Japanese text into the target language (Italian or English), although difficulties remain in identifying grammatical structures and sentence composition. Furthermore, they can understand the key concepts of a text and respond, with some difficulties and not always appropriately, to questions about it in Japanese.

The course is structured as a mix of traditional lectures and practical training sessions with the language instructors. During the lectures, students' active participation will be welcome.
It is highly recommended that students bring their laptops/tablets with suitable writing devices to class for Dr. Zappa's module.
Beside in-class work, students will be required to complete weekly tasks (individual or group work) such as translation, transcription of audio/video, presentation and report writing.