JAPANESE LINGUISTICS

In this course students are familiarized about the linguistic diversity in contemporary Japan, and learn what this diversity implies for the various types of speakers of Japanese and other languages of Japan. Language is a tool (a) to communicate, (b) to do things and (c) to be someone. Diversity and variation in language has profound effects on these three issues. Successful interaction in Japanese society requires insights into these issues. This course is an important companion to Japanese language education, because speaking Japanese in real-life contexts requires meta-knowledge on language and society.

Students learn to distinguish between the main levels of linguistic description (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics), and they learn to conduct basic analytic steps on these levels for the Japanese language. They learn that language is system of symbolic conventions, that interaction is symbolic, and that symbolic interaction also includes processes of symbolic domination and violence. Language diversity and variation are intricately linked to issues of domination.

Students taking part this course must have at least intermediate proficiency in Japanese and must actively participate in classroom discussions and group work.

Seminar Plan
1. Linguistic Indexicality
2. General linguistics and Japanese linguistics
3. Speaking / writing / texting
4. Legitimate language and Standard Japanese
5. Japanese dialects
6. Bilingualism and bilingual education
7. Language endangerment (con studenti dell'Università delle Ryukyu)
8. Linguistic landscape (con studenti dell'Università delle Ryukyu)
9. Identity and linguistic transgressions (con studenti dell'Università delle Ryukyu)
10. Language and gender
11. Language in Tokyo
12: Foreigner talk and "Friendly Japanese"
13. Language and wellbeing
14. Intercultural communication
15. Summery / discussion / preparation for exam

Compulsory Reading
Backhaus, Peter (2019) Linguistic Landscape. In: Patrick Heinrich & Yumiko Ohara (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics. London / New York: Routledge: 158-169.
Fujita-Round, Sachiyo (2019) Bilingualism and Bilingual Education in Japan. In: Patrick Heinrich & Yumiko Ohara (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics. London / New York: Routledge: 170-183.
Heinrich, Patrick (2012) The Making of Monolingual Japan (chapter 4 & 5). Bristol: Multilingual Matters
Heinrich, Patrick (2018) Dialect Cosplay: Language Use by the Young Generation. In: Patrick Heinrich & Christian Galan (eds) Being Young in Super-Aging Japan. London / New York: 166-182.
Heinrich, Patrick & Rika Yamashita (2018) Tokyo: Standardization, Ludic Language Use and Nascent Superdiversity. In: Dick Smakman & Patrick Heinrich (eds): Urban Sociolinguistics. London / New York: Routledge: 130-147.
Ohara, Yumiko (2019) Gendered Speech. In: Patrick Heinrich & Yumiko Ohara (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics. London / New York: Routledge: 279-295.
Sanada, Shinji (2019) Japanese Dialects. In: Patrick Heinrich & Yumiko Ohara (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics. London / New York: Routledge: 63-77.

Additional literature
Gottlieb, Nanette (2012) Language and Citizenship in Japan. London: Routledge.
Heinrich, Patrick (2012) The Making of Monolingual Japan. Language Ideology and Japanese Modernity. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Heinrich, Patrick & Christian Galan (eds) (2011) Language Life in Japan. Transformation and Prospects. London: Routledge.
Heinrich, Patrick & Yumiko Ohara (eds) (2019) Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics. London & New York: Routledge.
Inoue, Miyako (2006) Vicarious Language. Gender and Linguistic Modernity in Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kanno, Yasuko (2008) Language and Education. Unequal Access to Bilingualism. Basingstoke: Plagrave Macmillan.
Kawakami, Ikuo, Kazuko Miyake & Noriko Iwasaki (eds) (2018) Idō to kotoba. Tokyo; Kuroshio Shuppan.
Kobayashi, Takashi (ed.) (2018) Komyunikēshon no hōgengaku. Tokyo: Hitsuji Shuppan.
Nakane, Ikuko, Emi Otsuji & Willaim S. Armour (2015) Languages and Identities in a Transitional Japan. London: Routledge.
Okamoto, Shigeko & Janet S. Shibamoto-Smith (2016) The Social Life of Japanese Language. Cultural Discourses and Situated Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wetzel, Patricia (2004) Keigo in Modern Japan. Polite Language from Meiji to Present. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.

Each lesson starts with a brief revision of the lesson of the last week. The contents of the individual lessons are built on one another, that is to say, the learned content must be applied and transferred to the next sessions. There is sufficient time for discussion in the classroom to ensure that the content is fully understood by all.

There are lectures of 45-60 minutes each week, followed by group work of linguistic analysis and discussion. Students have at times to read a text before the lesson. We will cooperate and exchange opinions in Japanese with students from Nanzan University for four weeks.

Italian

I expect students to be intellectually alert, critical and motivated. Since everybody in this course speaks Japanese, everyone should have something to say. In the course of this class you will learn to express and account for your own linguistic experiences and knowledge in scholarly terms.

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This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development