Aims:
This study enables students to:
- Communicate with others in Japanese in interpersonal, interpretive and presentational contexts.
- Understand the relationship between language and culture
- Compare cultures and languages and enhance intercultural awareness
- Understand and appreciate the cultural contexts in which Japanese is spoken
- Learn about language as a system and themselves as language learners
- Make connections between different languages, knowledge and ways of thinking
- Become part of multilingual communities by applying language learning to social and leisure activities, life-long learning and the world of work.
VCE Japanese is designed for students who have studied Japanese in Year 10 or its equivalent. Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4.
Prescribed themes / topics and text types
Students come into contact with a wide range of themes, topics and text types.
- Theme: The individual (topic: health and wellbeing, tourism, relationships through social media, exchange and gap years)
- Theme: The Japanese speaking communities (topic: traditional culture, Japanese political system, important historical events, fashion, celebrations and entertainment, arts)
- Theme: The changing world (topic: ageing society, Internet, innovations, environment, sustainability, the impact of technology and science on society.
- Text types: article, email, essay, review, short story, report, speech script, etc.
Unit 1: Outcomes
- Exchange meaning in a spoken interaction in Japanese.
- Interpret information from two texts on the same subtopic presented in Japanese, and respond in writing in Japanese and in English.
- Present information, concepts and ideas in writing in Japanese on the selected subtopic and for a specific audience and purpose.
Unit 2: Outcomes
- Respond in writing in Japanese to spoken, written or visual texts presented in Japanese.
- Analyse and use information from written, spoken or visual texts to produce an extended written response in Japanese.
- Explain information, ideas and concepts orally in Japanese to a specific audience about an aspect of culture within communities where Japanese is spoken.
Unit 3: Outcomes
- Participate in a spoken exchange in Japanese to resolve a personal issue.
- Interpret information from texts and write responses in Japanese.
- Express ideas in a personal, informative or imaginative piece of writing in Japanese.
Unit 4: Outcomes
- Share information, ideas and opinions in a spoken exchange in Japanese.
- Analyse information from written, spoken and viewed texts for use in a written response in Japanese.
- Present information, concepts and ideas in evaluate or persuasive writing on an issue in Japanese.
External assessment: end-of-year examinations
- Oral examination: approximately 15 minutes
- Written examination: 2 hours plus 15 minutes reading time
