Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 4 sessions / week, 1 hour / session
Textbooks
Jorden, Eleanor H., and Mari Noda. Japanese: The Spoken Language. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989, part 2. ISBN: 0300041888.
———. Japanese: The Spoken Language. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990, part 3. ISBN: 0300041918.
Soga, Setsuko. "Japanese Typescript." Part 3 in Japanese: The Spoken Language. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988, 1990. ISBN: 0300042825. (Supplement)
Additional reading materials may be distributed throughout the course.
Course Objectives
This course covers lessons 22 through 27 of Japanese: The Spoken Language. The goal of the course is to continue to build oral proficiency by expanding your knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. Class hours will be devoted to developing speaking skills in a variety of circumstances; making requests, invitations, apologies, suggestions, dealing with problems, expressing your opinions, etc. Grammatical and social appropriateness on your utterances will be stressed. Keep in mind that daily tape-work is essential.
As there is no fact (lecture) class in this course, all the class is conducted in Japanese.
Although more class time will be spent on speaking rather than reading and writing. This course also emphasizes developing reading and writing skills. Approximately 150 new kanji will be introduced and kanji quizzes will be given frequently. When reading is assigned, you must be familiarize yourself with the contents of the materials; and in class, you will be asked questions on the contents the materials. You are encouraged to use online dictionaries such as Popjisyo, and Rikai, when reading online reading materials.
Evaluation
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Daily Grade (Core Conversations Performance and Drills) | 25% * |
| Lesson Quizzes (5) | 25% ** |
| Oral Interviews (2) | 15% |
| Vocabulary Quizzes (10) | 10% *** |
| Kanji Quizzes (10) | 10% *** |
| Writing Assignments (5) | 10% |
| Class Participation | 5% |
* The four lowest daily grades will be dropped at the end of the term.
** The one lowest score will be dropped at the end of the term.
*** The two lowest scores of each category will be dropped at the end of the term.
Daily Grade
You should come to class having memorized assigned Core Conversations (CCs) thoroughly. You also must read the related Structural Patterns (SPs) in JSL, and try to use new patterns actively. Based on your performance on CCs and other activities involving the assigned CCs and Drills, you will be given a daily performance score:
- 10 = excellent performance
- 9 = clearly well prepared; strong performance with minor errors
- 8 = clearly prepared; fair performance
- 7 = evidently prepared but weak in major areas
- 6 = present, but evidently unprepared
- 0 = absent
Keep in mind that your performance on reading will be evaluated and recorded as part of your daily grade.
Exams and Quizzes
There are two interview tests and five Lesson Quizzes. A number of Vocabulary Quizzes and Kanji quizzes are given throughout the semester. Please note: No make-up quizzes or exams are given in this course.
Writing Assignments
Assignments are due at the beginning of the class. Submitting the assignments late will result in a deduction of 0.5 each day.
Attendance Policy
Because of the cumulative nature of language learning, it is essential that you attend all sessions and keep up with the course work on a daily basis. Please follow the online Weekly Schedule and come to class well-prepared. Missing more than five classes without valid excuses may result in failing the course.