JAPANESE LANGUAGE 2

The course is one of the core courses of the Master's Course in Languages, Economies and Institutions of Asia and the Mediterranean. It aims at:
a) develop the students' level of Japanese proficiency up to an upper-intermediate/advanced level through the study of the diverse registers of the Japanese language and specialistic texts;
b) provide the students with the methodological toolkit to conduct their research on primary sources in view of the completion of the Master's Thesis.

To this end, special attention will be paid on the one hand to the development of the students' listening and interaction skills in authentic contexts and on the other, on text reading, re-elaboration, and translation (and argumentation of the latter).

At the end of the course, the students are expected to
1. express their thoughts and ideas in Japanese with technological devices (such as Power Point presentations);
2. produce written texts in Japanese, also using specialized language;
3. develop fast reading skills (especially with regards to academic papers and articles in Japanese).
4. re-elaborate and writing in the target language.

The course will also focus on the following aspects:
5. correct use of different linguistic registers in spoken Japanese;
6. comprehension of long texts in Japanese;
7. translation.

Expected level at the end of the course: C1 (CEFR)

Students must have successfully passed the first exam of Japanese language in the first year of the "Magistrale".
They will have at least a level corresponding to JLPT 2 (or to CEFR B2l).

1. Lessons by Dr. Marco Zappa (30 hrs.): seminar lessons with active participation by students on the topic "Politics and economy in contemporary Japan" with questions and discussions in class. Attending students will be asked to complete assignments (translations and brief academic papers). Completion of said assignments will contribute to the exam's final grade.
2. Exercise lessons by Mrs. Etsuko Nakayama. The lessons will concentrate on the production of written texts in Japanese, analysing and developing specific skills in writing various textual typologies. Aside this main goal Mrs. Nakayama will offer the students the possibility to practice translation from Italian to Japanese.
3. Exercise lessons by Mrs. Suzuki Masako. The lessons will concentrate on the study of the correct use of Japanese linguistic registers (e.g. keigo, taigū hyōgen, etc.) and students will practice within the frame of various social situations (including the so-called "business Japanese").

Besides the language instructor's teaching materials, the texts to be analyzed during the course will be academic, technical-administrative and journalistic in nature. Themes covered are: contemporary Japanese politics; Japan's international relations; Japan's environmental institutions and policies.

They will be uploaded on the course Moodle page on a weekly basis.
During the course, we will work on authentic materials texts from major newspapers and magazines such as Asahi, Nikkei and Tōyō Keizai. In addition to those, the Asahi Shimbun (Kikuzo II Visual https://database.asahi.com/index.shtml ) and "The World and Japan" (https://worldjpn.grips.ac.jp/index-ENG.html ) digital archives will be used.

The use of the following Japanese dictionary (available on the students' electronic dictionaries and online) is recommended:
Kōjien, (7th ed.) Tokyo: Iwanami
Sanseidō Web Dictionary (also available for smartphones) online at: http://www.sanseido.biz/
Weblio Kokugo Jiten, online at: https://www.weblio.jp/
Kotobank, online at: https://kotobank.jp/

The final score will be assigned based on the results of the single written and oral tests.
The exam is made of three tests. One grammar test (relational language); one essay in Japanese; one essay in Italian based on Japanese sources on topics covered in class.

The course is structured in frontal classes, practical exercises with the language instructors and class discussions. Traditional activities will be coordinated with weekly in-class assignments (translation and discussion of translation choices) to be carried out with computers and online working tools such as the Google Suite.
It is highly recommended that students bring their laptops/tablets with suitable writing devices to class for Dr. Zappa's module.
Beside in-class work, students will be required to complete weekly tasks (individual or group work) such as translation, transcription of audio/video, presentation and report writing.

Italian

written and oral