Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

Students with prior knowledge may seek exemption. The least ability that students are required is to read and write all hiragana and katakana characters. Students are expected to be able to recognise 140 kanji words when they start LPJ1201.

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

The aim of the course is to provide students with:

i. The skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking, reinforced and expanded beyond the stereotypical, predictable situations that are presented at lower levels through regular exposure to authentic materials;
ii. An awareness of linguistic accuracy and the ability to monitor their language output accordingly;
iii. An ability to deal with the situations that they are most typically likely to encounter when working or studying abroad;
iv. An ability to apply the language they know to their personal experience;

This is the first part of a Japanese Lower Intermediate course designed with the non language specialist in mind. The module covers the four skills: writing, reading, speaking and listening. At the end of the module, students will have gained a body of vocabulary and grammatical structures sufficient to allow them to communicate orally and in writing with confidence at a near-intermediate level (A2 going into B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

Outline Of Syllabus

•       Talk about yourself (Give a few details such as the meaning of your name, hobbies, past experiences etc.)
•       Describe about someone (Give your first impression of someone you do not know/ Describe someone's clothes and physical appearance)
•       At a restaurant (seating, read a menu, talk about your recommended dish, order a meal)
•       Eating (Tell a friend the appropriate order to do thing in when having a meal / Make a presentation about how to eat a particular dish from your country.)
•       Trip (Describe a sigtseeing spot / Give advice for a trip based on personal experience / Talk about the transportation)
•       Tour (Talk about a tour you are interested / Comment on a tour you went on / Read a questionnaire about a tour)
•       Volunteering (Ask your friend to help as a volunteer / Respond to a request for help / Ask questions related to instructions you heard at a staff meeting / Write down the information necessary to register as a volunteer)
•       On the day of an event ( Ask / Say at reception the time and venue of an event / Ask / Say at reception how an event is going / Make a simple speech as the MC at an event)
•       New Year's Holidays (Talk about what you do during the holidays / How you spent your holidays / Read and write a New Year's greeting card.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

All areas of grammar, vocabulary and background knowledge related to the skills listed below.

Intended Skill Outcomes

Reading

Can read approximately 190 kanji words.
Can understand short texts on familiar matters of a concrete type which consist of high frequency everyday language.
Can understand basic types of standard routine letters (enquiries, orders etc.) on familiar topics.
Can find specific, predictable information in everyday material such as advertisements and menus.
Can understand everyday signs and notices: in public places, such as restaurants and museums.
Can understand regulations, for example safety, when expressed in simple language.

Writing

Can write about everyday aspect of his/her environment, e.g. people, places, a study experience in linked sentences.
Can write short descriptions of events, past activities and personal experiences.
Can write short personal letters or e-mails.

Speaking

Can tell a story or describe something in a simple list of points.
Can describe everyday aspects of his/her environment e.g. people, places, a study experience.
Can give short descriptions of events and activities.
Can describe plans and arrangements, habits and routines, past activities and personal experiences.
Can use simple descriptive language to make brief statements about and compare objects and possessions.
Can give a short, rehearsed presentation on a topic, pertinent to his/her everyday life.
Can interact with reasonable ease in structured situations and short conversations.
Can manage simple routine exchanges without undue effort; can ask and answer questions and exchange ideas and information on familiar topics or on topics of interest.
Can express how s/he feels in simple terms.
Can discuss what to do next, asking and responding to suggestions.
Can make him/herself understood in an interview and communicate ideas and information on familiar topics.

Listening

Can generally understand clear standard speech on familiar matters directed at him/her, provided s/he can ask for repetition or reformulation from time to time.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

1. Teaching in the language seminars will focus on communication skills. Grammar will be taught systematically to enable students to produce and manipulate the foreign language. Use of the target language will be made as much as possible to develop listening skills. All four skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking are fully integrated in the language seminars and associated work and preparation, and will be tested equally.

2. Independent learning and learner autonomy are further developed through online guided tasks, pair and group work, assessment preparation and completion, and self-study at home, via the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and in the Language Resource Centre. Particular initiative is expected from students, e.g. course participants will be asked to contribute their own materials to the classes and activities.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The portfolio will help students assess their progress and identify their strengths and areas for improvement. It will test student’s ability to communicate effectively, identify relevant information and produce a structured text in the target language.

General Notes

N/A