BA Japanese

Year 4

(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the year, students should have:
- acquired a range of advanced skills in reading and writing Japanese, and in two-way translation between Japanese and English;
- be able to write Japanese fluently and accurately in all language tasks and, in translation between English and Japanese, to use both languages accurately, with correct spelling and grammar;
- be able to comprehend aurally selections of news and reports from the Japanese broadcast media dealing with social, political and economic issues;
- be able to interpret the general contents of such aural materials into English as well as some English scripts on similar topics into Japanese;
- be able to use Japanese fluently, while maintaining grammatical accuracy, to express their understanding and views on a variety of issues and topics including current affairs and global issues;
- developed a greater awareness and understanding of the language of documentary Japanese specific to particular disciplinary areas;
- improved their analytical skills in complex and specialised texts, together with a greater understanding of the broader significance of the particular documents studied, and of the context in which they were produced;
- be able to demonstrate a detailed and insightful awareness and understanding of Japanese social, cultural, political, economic and developmental situations, set within their regional and global context, from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, informed by recent research and scholarship;
- be able to demonstrate an ability to evaluate the appropriateness of different approaches to problem solving associated with a number of academic disciplines, and to think in an inter-disciplinary manner;
- be able to exercise critical analytical abilities in respect of the disciplinary modules;
- have developed an in-depth and critical understanding of one aspect of Japanese studies, through the writing of a dissertation, together with the ability to research and organise a significant body of information on a well-defined topic;
- be able effectively to communicate information, arguments and analysis in a variety of forms;
- be able proficiently to use basic generic and subject specific intellectual qualities;
- be able to draw clear and close connections between linguistic competence and insightful understanding of the Japanese contemporary context;
- be able to apply generic and subject specific intellectual qualities to standard situations outside the context in which they were originally studied;
- be able to demonstrate an ability to present a structured, coherent and sophisticated argument, both orally and in written form;
- be able to demonstrate an ability to work independently within a structured environment.

Transferable (key) skills

Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme:

- qualities and transferable skills related to the subject area(s) studied, valuable for employment, eg be able to gather and critically evaluate information from a variety of paper, audio-visual and electronic sources, be able to use IT effectively both as a means of communication and as an aid to learning;
- the ability to appreciate their strengths and weaknesses as learners;
- skills necessary for the communication of information;
- skills necessary for the exercising of personal responsibility and decision making.

Assessment

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include:

- demonstrating the ability to apply a broad range of aspects of the discipline;
- work that draws on a wide variety of material;
- the ability to evaluate and criticise received opinion and produce a reasoned argument on a topic confirmed in consultation with tutor (s);
- demonstrating a broad knowledge base.