54
Languages and Literature of Japan and Korea
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course aims to broaden students’ linguistic and communicative skills, as well as their written and oral comprehension, interaction and production skills, in order to reach a pre-intermediate level of Japanese: JLPT N4 / CEFR A2-B1. Students will further develop their knowledge of pre-intermediate morphological, syntactic, lexical and pragmatic aspects of the language, so as to understand increasingly complex written texts and engage in increasingly articulated conversations. Particular attention will be paid to the pragmatic and contextual level. By the end of the second year, students will be expected to know and recognise the diversity of linguistic registers. They will also be expected to know the terminology required to describe linguistic phenomena with reference to the Japanese language.
APPLIED KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
Students will acquire the linguistic skills, strategies and tools needed to optimise their individual ability to interpret pre-intermediate texts in Japanese, engage in conversations on everyday topics, and express immediate needs, both in writing and in speech.
FURTHER EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Independent judgement
Students will be provided with the linguistic, critical and cultural tools needed to interpret texts or communicative situations in Japanese that involve issues related to everyday life in Japan or to exchanges with Japanese speakers.
Communication skills
Students will have developed the four language skills in an integrated manner: reading, listening, writing and conversation. They will also be familiar with the main morphosyntactic and lexical aspects of the level of Japanese covered in the course: JLPT N4 / CEFR A2-B1. In particular, they will be exposed to written and oral communicative situations in which they will also be required to demonstrate pragmatic and contextual skills.
Learning skills
Students will develop a study method that will enable them to continue deepening their knowledge of Japanese independently and with critical awareness.
Course Prerequisites
Japanese language 1
Teaching Methods
Interactive lectures with the instructor, including in-class exercises, text reading and linguistic commentary. Language practice sessions with the Expert Language Instructors, including grammar exercises, reading and writing of Chinese characters, text reading and comprehension, listening comprehension, and text writing. Additional e-learning activities and exercises will also be available through the Moodle platform. These activities are supplementary and do not replace the course.
It should be emphasised that ALL activities included in the course, both lectures and practice sessions, are COMPLEMENTARY and ESSENTIAL for achieving the stated objectives.
Assessment Methods
The examination consists of a language assessment test, comprising a written test conducted through Moodle and Microsoft Teams and an oral test conducted through Microsoft Teams, followed by an oral examination.
Online language assessment test via the Moodle and Microsoft Teams platforms (unless otherwise specified by the University): comprehension of written texts with true/false questions and open-ended questions; questions on syntactic and grammatical structures with multiple-choice and open-ended answers; writing and reading of kanji.
If the online written test is passed, candidates will take the conversation test with the Expert Language Instructor online, via Teams.
If the online written test is passed, the examination with the instructor, held in person, will consist of:
a. Dictation of several sentences in Japanese, to be written in kanji and kana.
b. Reading of a passage from the textbook WITHOUT furigana, with comprehension questions.
c. Questions in Italian involving linguistic commentary.
The language assessment test and the oral examination with the instructor take place on different days, BUT THE ORAL EXAMINATION MAY BE TAKEN ONLY IN THE SAME EXAM SESSION AS THE WRITTEN TEST.
Language of the examination: Japanese. In section 2.c of the oral examination, Italian may be used for translation and linguistic commentary; international students may use English or French for translation and linguistic commentary.
Assessment criteria:
The final grade, expressed out of thirty, is intended to assess the acquisition of the appropriate linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge, abilities and skills. The assessment criteria used to evaluate the knowledge and skills acquired are: knowledge of the topics in vocabulary, grammar and pragmatics of modern Japanese covered during the course; ability to read, analyse and summarise texts; coherence, accuracy and fluency in spoken language and appropriateness of the linguistic registers used; correct use of metalinguistic terminology.
Texts
TEXTBOOKS
- Banno E., Ikeda Y., et al., Genki 2. An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese (3rd ed.), Tokyo, The Japan Times, 2020 (NB: third edition only).
- Banno E., Ikeda Y., et al., Genki 2. An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese. Workbook (3rd ed.), Tokyo, The Japan Times, 2020 (NB: third edition only).
REFERENCE TEXTS
Recommended but not required for the final examination
- Recommended reference grammars
- J. Oue, A. Manieri, Grammatica d’uso della lingua giapponese, Milan, Hoepli, 2019.
- M. Mastrangelo, N. Ozawa, M. Saito, Grammatica giapponese, Milan, Hoepli, 2016.
- Supplementary manual for the study of characters
- W. Hadamitzky, Kanji e kana. Manual of Japanese writing and vocabulary, Norderstedt, BoD, 2018.
Contents
- Grammar:
- verb morphology; potential, volitional and desiderative forms; verbs of giving and receiving; benefactive constructions; passive, causative, causative-passive and imperative forms;
- auxiliaries with the -te form: oku, shimau, miru, aru, iru;
- constructions expressing permission, obligation, prohibition, advice, thanks and apologies;
- expressions of conjecture and reported speech; constructions with hazu;
- constructions with shi;
- counters; mo and shika; expressions of frequency;
- constructions with the second verb stem: yasui, nikui, kata; constructions with suru and naru;
- syntax: relative clauses; to iu; indirect questions; conditional, temporal, concessive and purpose clauses.
- Linguistic politeness: keigo.
- Vocabulary covered in the textbooks used for points 1 and 2.
- Kanji: character radicals; approximately 300 kanji for active use; approximately 600 kanji for passive recognition.
- Writing and reading skills: descriptive and expressive texts, letters and emails.
- Listening and speaking skills: communicative situations at A2 level.
Course Language
Italian, Japanese
More information
As this is a year-long course, students may not take the language assessment test before the end of the two semesters of their year of attendance. Students enrolled in the course for the 2026-2027 academic year will therefore be able to take the written examinations from June 2027 onwards. A passed language assessment test is valid EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE CORRESPONDING ORAL EXAMINATION IN THE SAME EXAM SESSION.