Introductory Japanese 11 - Communicating
This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources
PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES
It is expected that students will:
- introduce themselves and family members using appropriate relationship terms
- describe events and experiences in logical progression
- communicate needs, desires, and emotions appropriately
- exchange information orally and in writing using hiragana and katakana
- participate in classroom activities using progressively more complex Japanese
- participate in a variety of familiar situations drawn from real life
SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
Introductory Japanese 11 is designed as an accelerated introduction to Japanese. Students develop a range of Japanese language-learning skills and strategies to assist them in comprehension, expression, and task accomplishment. Emphasis is on practical, everyday uses of language that allow students to describe and discuss simple events occurring in the classroom.
- Help students create their own name tags, first in romaji and then, as they progress, in hiragana and katakana . Distribute the tags randomly to other students. Ask the recipients to find the owners of the name tags, greet them, and introduce them to the class appropriately.
- Invite students to view a demonstration of kana writing. Have them practise stroke order.
- Have each student construct a real or an imaginary family tree representing three or four generations. Ask students to add captions showing the relationships among family members and to present their family trees to the class. Have each student write a description of a classmate's family.
- Read a story to the class, then suggest that students work in small groups to arrange story pictures in the correct sequence. Students could illustrate the storyline by creating a mural, which they could then use to retell the story to the class.
- Provide opportunities for students to follow routine classroom directions and instructions in Japanese. Use gestures to clarify meaning.
- Ask each student to create a monthly calendar indicating where and when various activities will take place. Then have students work with partners to ask questions about one another's calendars and summarize their partners' activities either orally or in writing. As an extension activity, have students survey the whole class about their plans for the month.
SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
Students initially may feel awkward communicating in a new language. Assessment and feedback should acknowledge that errors are a natural and predictable part of language development that provide valuable information to both the learner and the teacher. Students should work toward accuracy knowing that they will be supported when they take risks to use newly acquired language.
- As students interact with one another, provide a list of criteria for self- and peer assessment, such as:
- pronounces most words understandably
- continues interaction for at least two or three exchanges
- uses learned patterns to convey new information
- is beginning to show some fluency and spontaneity in interaction
- demonstrates approximate accuracy in intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation
- demonstrates active listening, focussing on key information
- uses strategies to repair communication breakdowns (e.g., repeats words more slowly, uses body language)
- Have students demonstrate their abilities to use Japanese in role plays in which they assume a variety of social roles to illustrate terms of address, non-verbal cues, polite expressions, greetings, and leave-takings. Provide a list of key features or criteria for student self- and peer assessment. For example, to what extent do students use appropriate:
- phrases and sentences for greetings, terms of address, and leave-takings for particular social roles
- intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation
- pronunciation patterns within basic sentences
- vocabulary in familiar phrases and patterns
- non-verbal cues according to role
- When students construct monthly calendars, note the extent to which they are able to write:
- names of activities
- numbers
- days of the week and months of the year
- times and places
Look for evidence that they are able to apply learned vocabulary and patterns to describe their own or their partners' activities.
RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES
Print Materials
- 501 Japanese Verbs
- Active Japanese 5 and 6
- "Body" Language
- A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
- Easy Katakana
- Everyday Japanese
- A Guide to Learning Hiragana and Katakana
- In Japan
- Kanji and Kana
- Let's Play Games In Japanese
- Mangajin's Basic Japanese Through Comics
- Nihongo No Kiso: Japanese Kana Workbook
- NTC's Basic Japanese
Multimedia
- 101 Japanese Idioms
- Japanese Language and People
- Moshi Moshi
Software
- KanjiWord
- Kcom2
- Power Japanese
CD-ROM
- Dynamic Japanese
- Exotic Japan
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Maintained by: International Language Coordinator
Revised: January 26, 1999
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