Advice for teachers -
Japanese Second Language

Theme: The individual
Topic: Personal identity and lifestyle
Sub topic: Leisure

Outcome 1

Exchange meaning in a spoken interaction in Japanese.

Examples of learning activities

• Listen to a conversation about leisure activities and complete a table in English.
• Listen to a conversation about the leisure activities of Japanese and Australian students and summarise the information in a Venn diagram.
• Prepare a questionnaire about leisure activities and survey the students in the class. Present results in a graph.
• Negotiate with a friend, arrangements for going on an outing in the school holidays.
• In a role-play persuade a friend to participate in the same leisure activity that you enjoy.
• 
  Read an email from a friend who is interested to learn about your favourite leisure activities. Write them a reply.
  
• Interview a student about their leisure activities.
• Read texts about the way students in city and rural areas in Japan and Australia spend their leisure time.
• Read short texts about the leisure activities of students in Australia and Japan.
• Write a speech to present to students at a Japanese school on your favourite season.
• Maintain a journal for a week of the school holidays outlining the activities you did each day.
• Prepare a digital poster presentation on a popular leisure activity in Japan (e.g. karaoke).
• Research the leisure activities of a famous Japanese sportsperson or musician and present a digital photostory of this person.
• View different posters for seasonal activities in Japan (e.g. skiing, fruit picking). Choose an activity that interests you and write an email to your parents persuading them to let you do this activity on the weekend.

 

Detailed example

An email from a friend and a written response to it

1. Read a series of personal emails and take note of the tone, level of formality, structure and linguistic structures that are commonly used.
2. Brainstorm suitable vocabulary and grammar for the task and the text type.
3. Draft a personal reply to one of the emails and include as much detail as possible about your leisure activities, including thoughts, feelings and impressions.
4. Swap the draft with a classmate to provide peer feedback on accuracy of language and clarity of information.

Theme: The world around us

Theme: The individual
Topic: Aspirations, education and careers
Sub topic: Experience of schooling

Outcome 2

Interpret information from two texts on the same subtopic presented in Japanese, and respond in writing in Japanese and in English.

Examples of learning activities

• Listen to a conversation about school life in Japan. Complete a table with the information you hear (e.g. timetable, subjects, teachers and uniforms).
• Listen to a conversation about extracurricular activities.
• Listen to a student talk about his/her school life. Write in Japanese how this student’s school life compares with your school life.
• View a series of photos that depict school life in Japan and analyse them.
• Interview class members about their favourite subjects. Present the data in a graph.
• Present a speech to the class about your school life.
• Research using the internet to find information about the education system in Japan. Discuss how the Japanese education system compares with Australia.
• Read a passage about school life in Japan and Australia and organise the information you read in a Venn diagram.
• Write your timetable in Japanese. Discuss with classmates favourite subjects, challenging subjects, lesson lengths, activities done after school or before school.
• Write the rules for your school in Japanese to share with students from your Japanese sister school.
• Compare school rules in Japan and Australia.
• 
  Read and listen to texts about schooling in Japan and Australia. Drawing on the information, present a short speech to the class, comparing schooling in the two countries.
• View several posters about different after-school activities. Write an email to a friend persuading him/her to join one of these extracurricular activities with you.

 

Detailed example

A short speech based on written and spoken texts about schooling in Japan and Australia

1. Read descriptions of different schools in Australia and Japan and discuss similarities and differences according to, for example, subjects, school buildings and timetables.
2. Identify the key vocabulary in the descriptions.
3. Listen to an interview about school rules in Australia and Japan. Identify key vocabulary and expressions associated with rules.
4. Complete a table to summarise the key similarities and differences between Japan and Australia.
5. Using the information gathered, draft a short speech that compares schooling in the two countries. Structure the information under the following headings:
• comparison of curriculum
• comparison of school buildings
• comparison of rules
• your opinion.
6. Plan a draft of the speech considering the following:
• topic for each paragraph
• subordinate ideas to be used in each paragraph
• vocabulary and phrases needed
• grammar elements to be used to maximise effect of ideas and vocabulary
• introduction and conclusion needed to properly support the main ideas.
7. Create a small number of power point slides that show a heading and an image to use as a backdrop to help engage the audience.

Theme: The Japanese-speaking communities
Topic: The Japanese-speaking communities
Sub topic: Celebrations

Outcome 3

Present information, concepts and ideas in writing in Japanese on the selected subtopic and for a specific audience and purpose.

Examples of learning activities

• Listen to a conversation about a Japanese or Australian celebration and answer questions in Japanese and English.
• Interview a student about a Japanese celebration.
• Role-play a conversation about attending a festival in Japan.
• Read short descriptions of different celebrations in Japan. Summarise the information in a table.
• Read about the coming of age celebrations in Japan and compare this to significant milestones for young people in Australia.
• Present a speech to the class about a significant celebration in your culture (e.g. Christmas, Greek Easter, Eid, Chinese New Year etc.). Explain why this celebration is significant to you.
• Write an article for your Japanese sister school’s newsletter comparing New Year celebrations in Japan and Australia.
• Design a calendar and highlight the significant celebrations in Japan and Australia throughout the year. Discuss the calendar in Japanese. For example, months that have the most or least celebrations.
• Research the Internet to find information about different celebrations in Japan. Write an essay about a Japanese celebration that appeals to you and explain why you like this celebration.
• 
  Create and narrate a digital photostory about a celebration in Japan. Present this to the class.
  
• View advertising posters for different Japanese celebrations (e.g. festivals) and write a journal entry of your experience participating in this celebration.
• View a short YouTube clip on a Japanese celebration and write a summary of it in Japanese.

 

Detailed example

A photostory about a celebration in Japan to be presented to the class.

1. View short YouTube clips on one or more celebrations in Japan.
2. Take notes under headings: time of the year, weather, activities, food and dress.
3. Decide which elements are to be included in the photostory. Discuss the outline with the teacher.
4. Plan the structure of the photostory. Write it up as a series of dot points.
5. Research the particular elements to be discussed.
6. Write a script.
7. Draw a storyboard.
8. Create photostory, incorporating relevant images.
9. Practice aloud, paying particular attention to pronunciation, stress and tempo.
10. Present photostory to the class.
11. Other students and the teacher give oral and written feedback.