japn401: Structure of japanese language
Course Description: This course aims to develop basic understanding of structural features of Japanese language. Students will be introduced to basic phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, and discourse levels of Japanese. Taught in Japanese.
Meets the following Major Learning Outcomes (MLOs):
1. MLO 1: Language and Communication:
1.1. Students are able to communicate effectively in Japanese in three modes: interpersonal, interpretive and presentational; and in a culturally appropriate manner in a variety of social and professional settings and circumstances at the Intermediate-High level of language proficiency, according to the ACTFL Guidelines.
1.2. Students gain competency in the Japanese language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and discourse and compare and analyze the structural differences between Japanese and English.
Meets the following Major Learning Outcomes (MLOs):
1. MLO 1: Language and Communication:
1.1. Students are able to communicate effectively in Japanese in three modes: interpersonal, interpretive and presentational; and in a culturally appropriate manner in a variety of social and professional settings and circumstances at the Intermediate-High level of language proficiency, according to the ACTFL Guidelines.
1.2. Students gain competency in the Japanese language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and discourse and compare and analyze the structural differences between Japanese and English.
course reflective narrative
JAPN401 has certainly become one of my most useful courses I have taken throughout my time at CSUMB. The course is focused on Japanese linguistics and features of such, which were explained in English at the beginning of the course. This was very helpful, as these topics are very advanced and would be hard to understand if they were taught in Japanese. After learning the basics of linguistics and terminology, all content taught was completely in Japanese.
This course met the outcomes of MLO 1.1 because it was certainly taught at an intermediate-high level and was quite a challenge at times. However, through the use of kanji quizzes, shadowing exercises, in-class Kahoots and Quizlet games and activities, and more, I was able to take in a lot more challenging vocabulary. I think learning new kanji was great, because many other courses I have taken recently focus more on content-based writing rather than kanji recognition and reading skills. Please see examples of my kanji recognition quizzes, which I scored 100% on, here and here. Being able to learn about keigo honorifics was also a great part of why I feel I developed my skills in MLO 1.1, as I feel a lot more comfortable with speaking in a professional setting and also am more aware of my body language I use in those settings.
This portion of the MLO develops not only from what is taught in class but also what I learn from others in the class. We had a Japanese exchange student in this class who helped me a lot in developing my social conversation flow and how young people in Japan actually utilize language. I feel like I have developed my skills in backchanneling especially, which are my reactions and essentially my focus on a conversation. I utilize these skills both in Japanese and in English and I firmly believe that I am becoming a much better listener and an active voice in conversations in both languages.
In terms of MLO 1.2, this course taught me so much about analyzing not only Japanese and different dialects, but also differences between Japanese and English.
We were taught how to distinguish dialects from different areas of Japan and the different sound systems that are used. Something I learned but never knew beforehand was that the Okinawan dialect primarily uses three short vowels compared to the five used in standard Japanese. Learning this actually made me look back at the words I learned when I actually went to Okinawa, which only utilized the short vowels /a, i, u/, such as yutashikuunige-sabira (absent of any /o/ or /e/ sounds) which is "Nice to meet you" compared to the standard Tokyo dialect of douzo yoroshiku.
We also took a look at IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) and even more subtle instances of language such as backchanneling, body language, eye contact, and more.
Being able to actually analyze language in these ways was incredibly eye opening and actually help a lot when learning Japanese and proper pronunciation.
In order to improve pronunciation, we utilized a new technology called OJAD (Online Japanese Accent Dictionary) , an online tool where you can input a Japanese text and it will read it out loud to you utilizing proper pitch-accent and intonation. We did an activity where we read a common children's story Kobutori Jiisan first with our current reading skills. We then were assigned to use OJAD to shadow the reading and improve our flow. In class, my first recording and the recording I did after practicing four times, and you can definitely hear my improvement. Please listen to my first reading here and my final reading here, even with just listening to the first few lines of each you can see an improvement in my speed and flow. When my two versions were played in class, I felt so much more confidence in my language abilities hearing the positive feedback from everyone.
What I found difficult about this portion of the MLO was learning about pitch-accent and proper pronunciation of certain words. Since so many words in Japanese are the same, but have different pronunciations, I tend to mix them up. One combination I found challenging was the word hashi, which can mean chopticks, bridge, or corner, depending on the way it is pronounced. Drawing out the highs and lows of the moras (Japanese syllables) helped me for this, but I think if I were to use these words in a sentence it would be difficult to remember on the fly which pronunciation is proper for my context. Thankfully, I think the use of OJAD can help me with improving my challenges with pitch-accent and intonation, as well as speaking more with native speakers and other learners of Japanese who can point out and help correct my mistakes.