54
Languages and Literature of Japan and Korea
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, the student will be able to read and write the two phonetic syllabaries (hiragana and katakana) as well as approximately 180 characters (kanji). Additionally, they will have acquired a basic vocabulary and fundamental syntactic-grammatical structures that will enable them to understand simple texts and engage in basic conversations.
KNOWLEDGE AND APPLIED COMPREHENSION SKILLS
The course aims to provide students with the knowledge and methodological tools necessary for the correct writing of individual Japanese characters and the ability to produce and understand written and oral texts. Thanks to the vocabulary and syntactic-grammatical structures presented during the course, students will be able to decode written comprehension passages with ease and engage in conversations with native speakers on general topics.
ADDITIONAL EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Autonomy of Judgment
By the end of this first year, students will already be able to recognize different linguistic registers, which require the use of various forms of certain parts of speech, such as verbs or adjectives, depending on the context. In particular, they will learn the fundamental rules of Japanese pragmatics, which often involve implied communication and require listeners to deduce meaning from the speaker’s message. Students will therefore be able to correctly interpret the various elements of verbal, paraverbal, and non-verbal communication.
Communication Skills
Students will be able to talk about themselves in a simple manner, recount past experiences, express intentions and desires, ask for information and permissions, and share opinions on everyday life topics.
Learning Skills
Teachers will provide students with useful information on study methodologies to ensure that what is learned in the classroom during lessons is retained through independent study at home. The detailed structure of the textbooks will be explained during the initial lessons conducted by the Italian instructor, enabling students to make the best use of these tools and apply them appropriately to their individual needs.
Course Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Teaching Methods
The year-long course includes one weekly lecture with an Italian instructor and four language practice sessions per week with native-speaking instructors. During the lessons conducted by the Italian instructor, new vocabulary and grammatical topics will be introduced on a regular basis, and students will be encouraged to read short texts, translate or construct sentences using the elements studied, and ask questions about anything that may remain unclear.
During the language practice sessions, students will have the opportunity to practice what they have learned theoretically in an immersive environment. Each of the three weekly language practice sessions will have a distinct focus:
a) grammar exercises, conversation, and exploration of specific expressions;
b) reading and writing;
c) listening and dictation.
In addition to all this, students will have access to a supplementary (and NOT substitutive) digital e-learning course on the university’s electronic platform. This course will provide new interactive exercises every week, with real-time corrections, specifically created by the course instructors based on the syllabus.
It is important to emphasize that, although attendance is not formally mandatory, CONSISTENT and, above all, ACTIVE participation in every single lesson and language practice session, as well as completing the exercises provided in the virtual classroom, are indispensable requirements for achieving the expected learning outcomes.
Assessment Methods
The exam consists of two parts: written and oral.
The written exam includes:
- Reading comprehension passages with true/false questions and open-ended questions.
- Questions on syntactic-grammatical structures with multiple-choice and open-ended answers.
- Writing and reading of kanji (Chinese characters).
- Dictation, etc.
Note: Since this is an annual course, the written exam cannot be taken before the completion of both semesters of the academic year. Students enrolled in the course for the 2025-2026 academic year will therefore be able to take the written exams starting from June 2025.
The oral exam, which can only be taken after passing the written exam, consists of:
- Introducing oneself.
- A free conversation involving questions about everyday life.
- Reading one of the texts included in each unit of the adopted textbook: Genki, Vol. I, followed by comprehension questions.
- Dictation.
- Oral translation from Italian to Japanese of sentences that require the use of all vocabulary and grammatical rules covered during the course.
Language of the exam: Japanese
Texts
Textbooks
– Banno E., Ikeda Y. et al., An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese. Genki (3a ed.), Vol. 1, The Japan Times, Tōkyō, 2016;
– Banno E., Ikeda Y. et al., An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese. Genki. Workbook (3a ed.), Vol. 1, The Japan Times, Tōkyō, 2016;
Recommended Additional Materials
A) Grammatiche
– Makino S., Tsutsui M., A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, The Japan Times, Tōkyō,1989;
– M. Mastrangelo, N. Ozawa, M. Saito, Grammatica giapponese, Hoepli, Milano, 2016;
B) Reading book
– Nihongo tadoku kenkyūkai (ed.), Reberu betsu nihongo tadoku raiburarī. Nihongo yomu yomu bunko. Reberu 1, Ask, Tōkyō, 2006.
Contents
Japanese language 1
1) Phonetic Syllabaries (Hiragana and Katakana)
Reading and writing the two fundamental syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, through progressive exercises and practical examples for common words and Japanese names.
2) Affirmative and Interrogative Sentences. Connecting Two Nouns with no
Construction of affirmative and interrogative sentences using the particle ka. Use of the particle no to indicate possession or relationships (e.g., "Maria’s book" - Maria no hon).
3) Demonstrative and Interrogative Pronouns and Adjectives. Locatives. The Particle mo. Negative Sentences. Emphatic Particles.
Study of demonstrative (kore, sore, are) and interrogative (dore, nani) pronouns and adjectives, locatives, the particle mo for inclusion, emphatic particles (yo, ne), and negative sentences.
4) Verb Conjugation. Particles. Temporal References. Negative-Interrogative Sentences. Adverbs of Frequency and Quantity.
Basic verb conjugation, use of fundamental particles (o, wa, ga, ni, de), temporal references (kinō, kyō), adverbs of frequency (itsumo, tokidoki), and quantity (takusan, sukoshi). Negative-interrogative sentences.
5) State Verbs. Past Forms of the Copula and Verbs. Temporal Duration Expressions. Particles mo and to.
Use of state verbs (aru, iru), conjugation of verbs and the copula desu in past forms (mashita, deshita), expressions for temporal duration, and the particles mo (also) and to (and).
6) Adjectives. Making Invitations. Counting Objects.
Conjugation of -i and -na adjectives in affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms. Making invitations and an introduction to the Japanese counting system with specific classifiers.
7) The -te Form. Requests, Permissions, and Prohibitions. Consecutive Actions. Offering Help. Causal Expressions.
Using the -te form for requests (~te kudasai), permissions (~te mo ii desu ka), prohibitions (~te wa ikemasen), consecutive actions, offering help (tetsudaimashōka), and causal expressions with kara.
8) The -te iru Form. Descriptive Expressions. Purpose of Movement. Counting People.
The -te iru form for ongoing actions or resulting states. Linking clauses, purpose of movement (nihon ni benkyō shi ni ikimasu), and classifiers to count people.
9) Plain Forms. Informal Speech. Opinions and Reported Speech. Preferences and Abilities. Indefinite Pronouns.
Use of plain forms for informal speech, expressing opinions (to omoimasu), reporting speech (to iimashita), preferences (suki, kirai), and abilities (jōzu, heta). Introduction to indefinite pronouns (nanika, dareka).
10) Plain Past Forms. Qualifying Nouns. Incomplete Actions. Causal Clauses.
Use of plain past forms to qualify nouns, expressions for incomplete actions (mada ~te imasen), and causal clauses with node.
11) Comparisons. The Pronoun no. Intentions. Changes of State. The Particle de.
Comparative and superlative structures (yori, ichiban), the substitutive pronoun no, expressions for intentions (~tsumori desu), changes of state (naru), and the particle de.
12) Expressing Desires. Non-Exhaustive Lists. Past Experiences.
Expressions of desires (tai desu), non-exhaustive lists of actions (~tari tari shimasu), and past experiences (~ta koto ga arimasu).
13) Causes. The Auxiliary Verb ~sugiru. Advice. Obligations and Hypotheses.
Causal expressions with node and kara, the auxiliary verb ~sugiru for excess, advice (~hō ga ii desu), obligations (~nakereba narimasen), and hypotheses (~deshō).
Course Language
Italian, Japanese