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JPN-90006 - Module Specification
Language Centre
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

JPN-90006 - Japanese 6
Coordinator: Toshihiko Kitagawa
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733960

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

Japanese 5 or equivalent (e.g. CEFR A2).

Barred Combinations

none.

Description for 2025/26

This module will further develop your Japanese language communication skills, enabling you to conduct routine tasks you are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying, travelling or working in Japan.
Functions and topics will include: expressing and understanding of feelings and emotions expressed orally and in personal letters, explaining reasons and giving excuses in a more sensitive or complex manner, expressing opinions, offering advice, giving details of future plans and projections and making guesses. Some feature film clips set in a variety of social and work situations will be analysed in teaching sessions.
There will also be reading and writing work to build your confidence in handling mixture of phonetic scripts and essential kanji characters. You will also become familiar with a range of social contexts and culturally specific behaviour.

Aims
This module builds on skills acquired up to Japanese 5 (CEFR A2), aiming to strengthen students’ ability to communicate effectively in Japanese. It focuses on developing core language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—while deepening understanding of grammar, functional language use, and cultural context. Through engagement with more complex texts and topics, students will enhance their confidence, intercultural awareness, and strategies for continued language learning.

Intended Learning Outcomes

understand the main point in clear speech on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, studies, leisure, etc.: 2,3
summarise and extract key information from written texts that consist mainly of personal, everyday or job-related language.: 1,2
interact in routine tasks requiring direct exchange of information on topics that are familiar, of personal interest or pertinent to everyday life.: 3
write coherent texts on topics which are familiar or of personal interest in Japanese.: 1,2
recognise and use different linguistic structures in the target language and compare them to the English language.: 1,2,3
recognise and act upon cultural differences and demonstrate awareness of register and style.: 1,2,3

Study hours

22 hours of contact time in class.
40 hours of assessment preparation and completion.
88 hours of guided independent study.

School Rules

Admission to the module must be confirmed through completion of a language level self-assessment form.
Students can only take one Japanese language module per semester.

Description of Module Assessment

1: Class Test weighted 30%
Class Test
Students will complete an in-class test (maximum duration 45 minutes) to assess competence in receptive and productive skills. Tasks may include writing a short text in the target language, undertaking a dictation, translating a passage, or completing vocabulary and grammar exercises. All tasks will align with CEFR descriptors for language use at the relevant level.

2: Flexible Class Test weighted 20%
Flexible Online KLE Test
Students will complete a series of online exercises on the KLE platform (maximum duration 60 minutes) designed to assess reading comprehension, listening, grammar and vocabulary knowledge and writing skills in the target language. All tasks will align with CEFR descriptors for language use at the relevant level.

3: Speaking Assessment weighted 50%
Spoken Interaction Assessment
An 8-12 minute Spoken Interaction Assessment designed to assess learners’ competence in speaking (production), listening (reception) and conversation (interaction). Tasks may include a presentation, role play, or description of a visual or audiovisual prompt, followed by a question-and-answer section. Where assessments are conducted in pairs or groups, each student will be assessed individually and awarded separate marks.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025