Return to: John Mertz's Home Page
This page:  FLJ 301  -- Fall 2009 -- Orientation

Instructor:

      John Mertz (PhD, Associate Professor of Japanese, Dept. of Foreign Languages & Literatures)
             Withers Building, Room 402
             office hours:  Mondays 1:00-2:00, Tuesdays & Thursdays 4:30~
                            (also, you are always welcome to drop by if its not 5 minutes before my next class)
             email: john_mertz@ncsu.edu

Teaching Aide:


       Ashley Hinkelman

Class Hours and Locations:

 

           FLJ301-section 002  Tuesdays & Thursdays   11:45-1:00     215 Park Shops
           FLJ301-section 001  Tuesdays & Thursdays     1:30-2:45     105 Withers Hall

Enrollment and Sections:

(a) You must have satisfactorily passed FLJ202 or the equivalent to enroll, or received permission of the instructor.  

(b) It is our *unofficial* policy to find a way to enroll any qualified student who wishes to do so.  If the TRACS computer boots you off because a section is 'full', please see us at the beginning of the semester, and we will try to work out a solution.

(c) It does not particularly matter to me whether you attend the same section every day: but it is very important that you DO attend at least one of the sections each meeting day.

Textbooks:


Note: The semester will be divided into four units.  For the first three units we will use chapters 21, 22, and 23 of the Genki text (as below).  For the final unit, we will use contemporary materials that will be made available over the web (most likely manga, short stories, or news articles). 

Purchase Required:  If you took FLJ202, you will already have the main texts.  Otherwise, they are available at the campus bookstore (stock permitting), or you may purchase them over the internet (amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, varsitybooks.com, sasuga.com, Cheng-Tsui.com, or the publisher, Japan Times [the site is in Japanese: search for 'Genki' in hiragana げんき], or try Google.com)

(a) GENKI: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese.  Volume Two.  Tokyo: The Japan Times.  2000. ISBN 4-7890-0982-3

(b) GENKI: Volume Two Workbook.  Tokyo: The Japan Times.  2001.  ISBN 4-7890-1002-3

Dictionaries: The web now has a superb dictionary at dictionary.goo.ne.jp (although the interface has become increasingly less transparent).  For looking up kanji and some other functions, you can also refer to Jim Breen's various dictionaries. 

CD audio: The CDs that accompany the text are available for use in the language lab.

Objectives:

The FLJ301 curriculum is designed for students who have satisfactorily completed FLJ202/204, or who have been advised to take the classes on the basis of their level of proficiency in spoken and written Japanese.  In this course, you will gain proficiency at using a variety of Japanese language vocabulary, grammatical patterns, and discourse strategies.  By the end of 301, you will have learned the basic core of contemporary standard Japanese grammar: most other grammatical phenomena can be explained easily by reference to the core.  The course will also aim at mastery and recognition of about 100 new kanji, with review and reinforcement of kanji previously studied.

Syllabus:

Go back to John Mertz's home page to access the assignment schedules, which are arranged by chapter.

Almost every day, you will be expected to have prepared for class in five areas:
       Homework: Do it.
       Dialogs: Learn them. Remember them. Analyze them. Practice them for pronunciation and memory.
       Vocabulary: Learn them. Remember the collocations. Practice them for speed and accuracy.
       Grammatical Patterns: Study them to see if they really make sense. 
       Practice Sections: Look them over to make sure you know what the game is. 
       Reading Selections (on non-dialog days): Look them over to understand what you can. 

Grading:

Your oral performance will be assessed every day.  For every class, you will be given a score based on your total oral performance (esp. including memorized material), as follows:
                   5 = performance just like a native speaker
                   4 = performance well above average
                   3 = performance good
                   2 = performance below good
                   1 = late, absent with excuse, or asleep
                   0 = absent without prior excuse

Homework and written quizzes will generally be graded on the same 0-5 scale.

Final grades will be calculated according to a curve for each of the following categories, in accordance with the following percentages (40% testing, 35% daily performance and quizzes, 25% homework and special projects):
                   Daily Performance.......................  25%
                   Written Quizzes...........................  15%
                   Homework...................................  15%
                   Unit Tests (four total)...................  30%  (= 7.5% each)
                   Final Exam ..................................  15%  (= test will be cumulative for the semester)

Working Together:

We encourage you to work together, but you must make sure that you understand for yourself the work that you are doing, and that the work you submit is your own.  If we detect that you are simply copying someone else's mistakes, we'll take that as proof that you haven't understood an assignment. 

Absence, Cancellations, etc:

Make-up: If you miss a chapter test you may schedule a make-up, provided: (a) it is an excusable absence and you have notified your instructor in advance; or (b) it is a documented emergency.  Without a reasonable excuse, you can still do a make-up, but with a deduction of 10% for each day late.   Daily items such as quizzes and oral performance scores cannot be made up (we have them every day, so if you have to miss a class, just make sure you do better on the remaining days). 

Late Homework: Late homework will be docked one point for each class day it is late, but I will be happy to look at it if you wish.

Cancelled Classes: On occasion, it may be necessary to cancel class (weather emergencies, professor attending academic conference, sick teacher, etc.).  If this happens, then -- until otherwise instructed -- please continue to follow the schedule as printed, skipping days as necessary.  You can use the extra time to study the omitted material (and you will be responsible for learning it).

Auditing:

Auditing is discouraged.  Auditors are subject to all the same requirements as regular students, and will be graded in all tasks.  In our experience, almost all auditors have regretted doing so, because either they don't do the material and thus get lost quickly (a waste of time), or they do the material well and then fail to receive the credit (a missed opportunity, but it almost never happens anyhow).  If you are going to do the material, do it for a grade!

Emergencies:

Your physical and mental health and well-being take precedence over everything else in life.  If you have an alcohol, drug, or depression problem, or if you experience signs of incipient spontaneous combustion (it happens!), then please come talk to us, or seek counselling services, etc.  If your classmates are having trouble, then you might be the only one who help them, so try to be nice.  You are always welcome at our offices if things are getting to you and you need someone to consult.  If you seek NCSU counseling and they want to schedule your appointment for sometime in the next century, then please see me (or one of the other Japanese teachers) and we will call them directly.