Communicative Competence Development of Language C - Japanese, level 1

obligatory courses

Compulsory, 1st year, BA studies. Students begin the study of Japanese, as the second language of students’ specialization (C) and finish at level A2 of CEFR at the outset of the course.

Classroom

The study of Japanese, as the second language of students’ specialization (C) at A1 level at the outset of the course. The course consists of 150 hours in-class divided into thematic segments and requires a considerable amount of the student’s individual self-study.

The aim of the course is to develop and improve the students’ communicative competence in Japanese at the elementary level, equivalent to level A1+ within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages at the end of the 1st semester. The teaching process stimulates integrated development of several communicative competences, i.e.: pragmatic, sociolinguistic, intercultural and metalinguistic. The content of the course conforms to the level of language skills among students and is designed for the studies at the Applied Linguistics, especially to professional requirements in academic, glottodidactic and translation domains.

A compulsory course for 1-st year BA students with Japanese as the second language of specialization (C). During the 1-st semester of the course, students’ communicative competence in Japanese begins at a beginners level, equivalent to level A1 within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

The aim of the course is to develop and improve the students’ communicative competence in Japanese by the end of year 1 at elementary level equivalent to level A1+ within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The teaching process stimulates integrated development of several communicative competences, such as the pragmatic competence, sociolinguistic, as well as intercultural and metalinguistic competences, with the focus on the skills of speaking and pronunciation, writing, listening and reading comprehension, as well as control over vocabulary and grammar structures at the level A1+ by the end of the 1-st semester. The content of the course conforms to the level of language skills among students and is designed for the studies with the major in Applied Linguistics, especially to professional requirements in academic, glottodidactic and translation domains. The course in the 1-st semester comprises of the following thematic components: (1) Grammar (2) Speaking and Listening (3) Reading and Writing (4) Phonetics and Pronunciation

These components improve the students’:

- lexical competence (by contributing to their growing control over increasing range of elementary vocabulary, its use in context of the overall topics concerning everyday life, contained in the teaching programme at an A1+ level CEFR).

- grammatical competence (by contributing to their developing receptive and productive skills in creating and comprehending grammatical structures and sentences as covered by the teaching programme).

- phonological competence (by contributing to the development of the correct articulation of words and phonemes in Japanese, clearly and understandably for the native and non-native speakers, with increasingly proper intonation and fluency).

- orthographic and textual competence (by contributing to the skill of creating comprehensive written texts in accordance with Japanese language’s rules of spelling and punctuation).

- discursive competence in speech and in writing (by contributing to their skill of composing grammatically and stylistically consistent texts and utterances at level A1+).

- functional and sociolinguistic competence (by contributing to the development of the skill of applying appropriate modes of expression in communicative situations, with regard to its recipients and in accordance with the context of selected cultural aspects associated with Japanese at A1+ level).

Contact hours (in-class): 150 hrs

Self-study/individual work:

- working with assigned texts – 40 hrs

- practical grammar assignments – 20 hrs

- preparing oral presentations and written assignments – 35 hrs

- pronunciation practice – 15 hrs

- revising and preparation for the end-of-term written tests/assignments/oral presentations – 15 hrs

Self-study/individual work total: 125hrs.

Specified individually by particular teachers.

KNOWLEDGE:

The student:

- has the knowledge of the language at elementary A1+ level (CEFR), understands its basic structure and specificity (K1_W01);

- knows morphosyntactic structures, understands simple oral statements at A2 level, interprets short written texts at A1+ level, knows word definitions, synonyms and idioms, has a grounded knowledge of lexical, grammatical and phonetic issues regarding the Japanese language, as indicated in the course description (K1_W01);

- understands the complexity of the Japanese language at A1+ level (CEFR) (K1_W03);

- has the basic understanding and knowledge of the elements of selected Japanese culture, understands the role of language in intercultural and cultural communication (K1_W07, K1_W10);

- knows and understands cultural differences, constituting important factors in the process of creating multicultural societies in the modern world, has a general knowledge of the reality, socio-economic and legal conditions of Japan (K1_W11)

SKILLS

The student:

- possesses linguistic skills at A1+ level (CEFR), also in typical professional situations which require the knowledge of techniques, strategies and different communication channels (K1_U05, K1_U09);

- is able to critically perceive short cultural texts, search for, analyse, evaluate and select short and basic authentic texts in Japanese at A1+ level, and develop basic professional skills in Japanese (K1_U01);

- can identify characteristic cultural elements and correctly interpret phenomena regarding the Japanese language, react properly in basic common communicative situations while considering the cultural context and using customary expressions (K1_U03);

- can prepare short written assignments in Japanese on discussed subjects at A1+ level (K1_U06);

- can prepare short speeches in Japanese, using properly selected source materials (K1_U07);

- can set priorities and plan activities in order to perform basic linguistic, communicative and professional tasks in Japanese, understands the need of self-study and the necessity of continuous development of skills (K1_U12);

- can solve basic problems and perform simple linguistic tasks in Japanese at A1+ competence level in conditions which are not fully predictable, through assessing the situation and choosing appropriate methods and tools (K1_U13)

SOCIO-CULTURAL COMPETENCIES

The student is:

- prepared to cooperate and work in a group, assume various roles and respect rules of good communication in Japanese (K1_K06);

- prepared to identify and properly solve communicative dilemmas between Japanese and Polish, which result from the asymmetry in linguistic systems and cultural variety (K1_K01);

- prepared to participate in cultural life in Poland and Japan, promote their cultures while using both traditional and modern forms of communication and media (K1_K03).

- prepared to take measures in inter-linguistic communication in order to preserve the cultural heritage of Poland and Japan (K1_K04)

Assessment criteria:

Each thematic component is assessed according to the following:

- Continuous assessment (preparedness, activity in class)

- Home assignments

- mid-term and end-of-term written tests/ term papers

- mid-term and end-of-term oral exams

- preparation and delivery of oral presentations

Grading criteria:

The final grade at the end of the 1st semester of the course Communicative Competence Development is the average score from all the thematic components, which are treated equally and provide a 100% of the final grade written in the USOS. Failing one or more of the components results in a negative grade in the USOS in the first term, at which point the student is allowed a second attempt at passing the failed component (or components) during the winter retake exam session in the same form during the winter retake exam session.

During the final tests the student must obtain at least 60% in the final score from each component to receive a positive grade. All written tests and assignments within the components and during the course, as well as the final end-of-term written tests and assignments are graded according to the following criteria:

0-59% = failed, (2.0)

60-67% = satisfactory (3.0)

68-75% = satisfactory plus (3.5)

76-83% = good (4.0)

84-91% = good plus (4.5)

92-98% = very good (5.0)

99-100% = very good! (5.0!)

Students are required to attend all the classes in a given component of the course. The allowed number of unexcused absences in a given component is 2 per 30 contact hours. When the number of allowed absences is exceeded, the student will be given additional tasks aimed at making up for the material missed from the classes by that student. If the number of absences exceeds 50% of the component’s total number of contact hours, it will result in a negative grade from that component as well as the entire course.