Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies programme who have passed Japanese 1 Beginners and Japanese 2 Pre-Intermediate. If students have not yet passed Japanese 3 Intermediate, they are expected to follow that course alongside the Japanese in Practice course.
Description
In this course, you will put into action the linguistic and cultural knowledge and skills that you have acquired during Japanese 1, 2, and 3. You will apply your knowledge of Japanese to authentic texts related to International Studies—in practice, current affairs texts such as simple news articles and short essays.
In the first half of the course, you will practice analysing and translating Japanese texts with the aim to improve your self-sufficiency in working with these materials. In the second half, you will expand these skills to locating source material relevant to your own interests and presenting and contextualising this material in a language portfolio.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to locate written and spoken Japanese materials that can serve as data or reference for a (research) project in International Studies.
More concretely, by the end of the course, you will have gained experience in the following skills.
You can determine the meaning of unknown linguistic elements (e.g. vocabulary, grammatical expressions, kanji) in authentic Japanese material using relevant reference works.
You can translate relevant passages from Japanese texts (140-1000 characters) into idiomatic English, and explain what difficulties you encounter as a translator, and how you solve them.
You can locate Japanese texts relevant to your own (research) interests using sources such as online newspapers, Twitter, Wikipedia and blogs.
You can paraphrase, summarise, and contextualise authentic short Japanese texts (140-1000 characters) into idiomatic English.
You can report on your reading of multiple authentic texts in the form of a(n) (collaborative) essay.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminars
Seminars are held every week. Attending all seminar sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform your lecturer in advance. Being absent at more than two of the sessions will result in a lowering of your participation grade (20% of the end grade) with 0,5 point for each session missed after the first three sessions.
Assessment method
Assessment
Assignments
Midterm Exam (written examination)
Portfolio
Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Assignments and participation | 20% |
| Midterm Exam | 30% |
| Portfolio | 50% |
End Grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note that the End Grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of all assessment components.
Resit
If you fail this course, you can resubmit an improved version of your portfolio (50% of the final grade). In case of resubmission of the portfolio (insufficient final grade only) the final grade for the portfolio will be lowered as a consequence of the longer process of completion. The deadline for resubmission is 10 working days after receiving the grade for the portfolio.
The exact arrangements with regards to the format and timing of the Midterm Exam can be found in the course syllabus on Brightspace.
Retaking a passing grade
Retaking a passing grade is not possible for this course.
Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2021 – 2022.
Exam review and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.
Reading list
We will use materials available digitally in the public domain or through the University Library Catalogue. Suggestions for additional resource materials are listed in the syllabus, but these are not required for the completion of the course.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis for the course is mandatory.
Students will be enrolled for Exams by the Administration Office, as long as they have a valid Tutorial enrolment.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Student Affairs Office for BA International Studies
Remarks
All other information.