Cornell University
Spring 2006
JAPANESE 142
Beginning Japanese at a Moderate Pace
SYLLABUS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Course Website
Blackboard Website: http://blackboard.cornell.edu/Go to the Blackboard website, find
Japanese 142 in the Course Catalogue, then enroll to access course documents, assignments etc. on the site.
The Access Code is “genki”. You may also access to our web site as a guest by clicking the preview button
for the first three weeks.
Credits: 4.0
Sections and Rooms
Section 2
Section 3
Section 5
Section 1
MTWRF
MTWRF
MTWRF
MTWRF
Instructors
Name
AKASAKA, Yukiko
ASAI, Toshihiro
NAKANISHI, Yasuko
WADA, Chieko
9:05 – 9:55
10:10 – 11:00
12:20 – 1:10
1:25 – 2:10
RF 187
UH 303
RF 187
UH G26
E-Mail
ya34
ta57
ynw2
cw299
Office
181 Rockefeller
181 Rockefeller
385 Rockefeller
181 Rockefeller
Phone
255-0685
255-0685
255-0701
255-0685
Dept. Office (Michelle Kirchgraber) mrk29
350 Rockefeller
254-5091
Office Hours
Office hours will be posted on the course web site.
Course Objectives
This course teaches the same basic skills as Japanese 101.102, but at a more moderate pace. Emphasis is on
learning culturally appropriate communicative skills and on gaining an accurate command of basic grammar.
By the end of the semester, students will have mastered the basic pronunciation of Japanese, and begun to
learn the most important grammatical patterns and verbal/adjectival conjugation forms. Students will be able
to handle basic interactions with friends, make simple requests, and order food in a restaurant; they will also
have mastered the kana syllabaries and begun to learn basic writing and reading of kanji. Sections are
conducted in Japanese, and written work (homework and exams) uses kana and kanji.
Grading:
Oral Performance
50%
Oral tests
15%
Daily Section grade
35%
Written tests
40%
Vocabulary quizzes
5%
Lesson quizzes
20%
Reading and Writing quizzes
5%
Final Written Test
10%
Homework
10%
Texts:
An Integrated Course In Elementary Japanese: GENKI ( I) and (II)
An Integrated Course In Elementary Japanese: GENKI (I) and (II) Workbook
By Eri Banno et al, the Japan Times Ltd., Tokyo.
Course Structure
I. Daily Sections: Japanese 142 is made up of Sections with not more than 14 students. Once classes are in
full swing, you will be graded daily on your Section performance. The grade reflects your preparation of the
day’s lesson, including reading. The daily grading scale is as follows:
3
Attended, but no obvious preparation.
4
Showed good preparation.
5
Showed excellent preparation.
The result of the in-section grammar check will be added to the daily grade: +0.5 pts for a perfect grammar
check, and -0.5 for less than 1/3 correct. Students who come more than 5 minutes late for class will have 0.5
points deducted from their daily grade.
Each week your five daily grades (which may include zeros for absence) will be averaged and posted by
your secret 4-digit code name on the course web site. Sections are your chance to use and hear Japanese.
Therefore always speak to your Section teachers only in Japanese! They are skilled at using Japanese in a
way that you can understand, even at the beginning. At the end of the semester, your lowest four daily
section grades (which may be zeros for absence) will be eliminated before calculating your final daily grade.
Though your daily grade cannot be made up, inform us by e-mail the reason for any absences from section
or lecture whether due to illness, academic conflict, emergency, etc. You may be excused from Section for
major religious holidays if you inform your teachers in advance with a written note, and your daily section
grade can be made up. No other daily grades may be made up.
II. Attendance Policy:
You must attend the section you are assigned to. If you must attend a different
section because of an academic conflict only, please notify Nakanishi (ynw2) by e-mail by the end of the
previous day. Some students have been assigned to different sections on different days because of time
conflicts; such students are also expected to attend only the sections they have been assigned to.
II. Quizzes: Quizzes will be given at the end of each lesson. There are no make-up quizzes. Your lowest
grade for each type of quiz will be dropped from your record before calculating your final grade (the lowest
may be a zero for a missed quiz). If you arrive late for a quiz, you may take it after class, but you will not
receive a grade.
III. Exams: You will receive separate grades for each component of Prelim/Final exams (Oral/ Written).
*Students having legitimate need to miss a quiz or test may make it up if their absence is made known and
approved by course staff in advance of the absence.
IV. Homework: You will be assigned HW on a regular basis. HW grades will be recorded as follows:
Received on time:
100%
Received one day late:
50%
After that:
0
Your lowest 2 HW grades will be dropped from your record before calculating your final grade. (The lowest
may be a zero for late submission.) On any homework turned in, please write the section TIME. Write down
all section times, if you attend more than one, for example, "MTWF 12:20 Th 11:15".
University Policy:
Together with all the members of this Department, we respect and uphold University policies and
regulations pertaining to racial or ethnic discrimination, sexual harassment, assistance available to
handicapped, visually and/or hearing impaired students, the observance of religious holidays, and plagiarism.
All students are advised to become familiar with the respective University regulations and are encouraged to
bring any questions or concerns to our attention.