UCL CENTRE FOR LANGUAGES
& INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Course Units 2015-2016
Japanese Current Affairs and Culture
(Social, Historical and Political)
Prerequisite for entry
Successful completion of Japanese for Business and Current Affairs at the UCL CLIE, have completed some post-‘A’ level
training or spent some time in the country actively using the language.
Course duration
20 x 2-hour classes.
Self-Study
80 hours in total.
Course codes
LCJA6006, LCJAG006, LCJAM006, LCJA6056, LCJAG056, LCJAM056 (together with Japanese for Business and Current
Affairs).
Aims and Objectives
The course is designed for advanced level students and comprises knowledge and understanding both of the structure of
the language and of the cultural (social, historical and political) contexts in which it is currently used.
It enables participants to use their language skills in an academic environment. The course covers recent history, current
affairs and the latest issues in society as well as other related topics. Students will give presentations and are involved in
roundtable discussions and debates on a variety of current issues. Cultural awareness will be further developed and raised
within a European/global context.
The course will enhance knowledge and use of linguistically complex structures (a variety of styles and registers from a
range of authentic material). Various transferable skills will also be further developed.
Course Content
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Japan’s traditions and their changes
Contemporary lifestyle; food and fashion trends
Relationship between the main-stream culture (e.g. cinema) and the subculture (e.g. manga)
Globalisation of the Japanese culture and current affairs
Linguistic Structures
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Basic 敬語 II
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Comparatives II
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Figurative expressions II
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Expressions for gradual changes
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Disjunctions II
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Hearsay
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Temporal conjunctives
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Expressions for causes and reasons II
Conclusive expressions
A minimum of 500 漢字 (かんじ) characters
Learning Resources
Current Affairs and Culture
Business, Current Affairs and Culture
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New Approach Japanese: Intermediate Course, N. Oyanagi – ISBN: 9784931315150
Basic Kanji Book Volume 2 (Bonjinsha) – ISBN: 9784893581198
Monolingual or Bilingual Dictionary
Dictionary of Chinese characters for Japanese
A selection of authentic material will also be used.
In addition there is a wide range of language learning materials available for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.