Return to: John Mertz's Home Page: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/
This page:  FLJ401 Fall 2009 Orientation:
 
Instructor: John Mertz (Associate Prof., FLL):
office:  Withers Building, Office #402
email: John_Mertz@ncsu.edu
office hours: Mondays 1:00-2:00 at my office; T&H at 4:30~; or after class; or between other classes (schedule is on my door); or by appointment; or drop by any time.
 
Class Hours and Location (subject to change!):
FLJ401 - section 001   Tuesdays & Thursdays   3:00pm - 4:15pm    Withers 145
 
Objectives:  This course is designed to...
...continue building a knowledge base of vocabulary and linguistic information, with emphasis on recognition, accuracy, and speed.
...train natural reading skills in Japanese (as opposed to 'translation-style' reading or 'reverse-syntax decryption')
...train basic writing skills (esp., for accuracy and conciseness)
...ensure a solid understanding of basic structural issues of Japanese language
...train advanced study skills that pertain to reading (e.g., collocation analysis, memory skills)
 
Methods:
• We will closely read several short narratives, mainly drawn from a collection of short stories by Hoshi Shin'ichi (Bokko-chan, published by Shincho bunko, 1971).  ('Close reading' means reading, understanding, and utilizing the vocabulary and patterns of each line...)
• These narratives are chosen because they utilize frequently-used vocabulary and patterns, and because they each have a clear 'point.'  Please note this is not a 'literature' class, and the stories will not be chosen or examined in ways one would expect for a literature class.
• Each class will begin with a short written quiz to check on memory of kanji, word usage, and relevant structural points.
• After finishing the in-class reading of each narrative, students will write a summary (one page: no more, no less) that retells the story both accurately and concisely ('accuracy' means appropriate use of the given vocabulary and patterns; 'conciseness' means telling the story in a way that fully makes sense within the space limitations; 'retelling' means telling the story "as a story," not writing 'about' the story).
• When appropriate, the instructor will provide lectures on structural issues that relate to Japanese language, and on issues of language and memory that relate to advanced study of Japanese reading and writing.
• For all but the final narratives of the semester (and depending on how quickly we progress), the instructor will provide collocational concordances to aid in studying the vocabulary and patterns.  The full role of these concordances will be explained in class.
• Pacing of the class will depend entirely on what the instructor determines to be the capacity of the students to adequately master the material.  Since we will essentially progress line-by-line through each narrative, some pages may take more or less time, depending on what kind of practice is specifically required by the group.
• When necessary we will use English in the class (usu. to clarify nuances of meaning).  Otherwise, the class will be conducted in Japanese.
 
Reference:
• Reading selections and relevant concordances will be distributed over the web (you must attend class to get the web address). 
• Dictionaries: two helpful websites are:
            for words: http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/ 
            for characters: http://www.sal.tohoku.ac.jp/~gothit/kanren-easia.html
            also:  http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C

Prerequisites:  It is assumed that all students will have studied FLJ101 through FLJ302 or the equivalent, recently enough to remember the material, and thus have a substantial background in basic Japanese speaking and reading.  Because this is a ‘reading’ class, exceptions will be granted if students demonstrate the relevant skills and determination. But most of the work in class will be conducted in Japanese. 
 
Assignments and Grading:

Daily Grade (25%): Each class, you will be assessed a grade depending on your Japanese language oral performance at: (a) discussing the assigned material (i.e., participating in class); and (b) reading the assigned passages.  Daily grading is on a 0-5 scale.

Quizzes and Short Homework Assignments (25%): Note there will be an informal kanji/vocabulary quiz at the beginning of each class, most often with the following format:
• I will give you a vocabulary item and ask you to provide: (a) a collocation that appropriately contextualizes the item; including (b) proper kanji.
• The vocabulary items will be drawn from: (a) anything we read during the previous class; (b) anything assigned as preparation for the present class; (c) something from deep out of the past, to stretch your memory skills. 
• There will be a time limit on the quizzes.  If it takes you more than the allotted time to respond, you haven't remembered the material well enough. 
• Quizzes will be graded on the usual 5-point scale. 

Story Summaries (35%):  After we read each story in class, you will be asked to write a one-page (exactly!--no more, no less) summary in Japanese of the story.  Your summary should use the vocabulary and patterns you have learned, to re-tell the story as well as possible in the required space.
• The purpose of the summary is not to tell 'about' the story: it is to tell the story as a story. 
• The reason for limiting the length of the summary is to require you to get to the point and to use your language skills efficiently and effectively.  If your re-telling doesn't come across as a good story in and of itself, it means that you haven't grasped the original material and haven't spent the effort to make it work.  Each of Hoshi's original stories has a vivid logic to it: make sure you capture that logic. 
• When you write the summary, you should not need to use vocabulary or patterns outside of the original text, and certainly not outside of what we have already touched on in the FLJ curriculum.  If you decide to 'go commando' (which in this case means blindly resorting to a dictionary), you will really need to do your homework to avoid disaster, since 'dictionary equivalents' are often entirely inadequate for communication, because (a) they don't collocate the same way from one language into another, and (b) the range of meanings often differs significantly from one language to another. 
• Write the story out in handwriting, using a pencil, and using the genkô yôshi provided.  The reason for requiring handwritten submissions is that it will help you learn and remember the characters.  Memory is fragile to begin with: if you don't go through the process of physically learning the characters, your retention will be hopelessly evanescent: poof. 
• Follow the basic rules of formatting and punctuation. 
• Summaries will be graded on a 1-20 scale.  5 points off for each class day late. 

Exam (15%): There will be a final exam at the end of the semester.

Attendance:
• It is important that you attend every class, because that is where the essential material is introduced, utilized, and exercised (and to a large extent, graded).  If you miss class, you will find that it is exceedingly difficult to catch up with the material and the pace, because you will have missed all of the practice.
• It is important that you attend every class on time, because we will begin each class with a short quiz.
• As always, your health and general well-being take precedence over academic matters (which, in turn, take precedence over entertainment matters).  If you think you might have a problem with depression, finding food, chemical dependencies, lodging, horrible roommates, clean underwear, etc., then please seek help through your instructor or somebody else who is approachable and might have the requisite experience to render assistance.
• If you must miss a class, be sure to email me, or I will have to assume that you fell off the earth and are no longer in the class.
 
Syllabus:
Below are the links to the stories (pdf format) and concordances.  We will read them in the given order:
Hen na kusuri (変な薬): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Kusuri.pdf
            concordance:  http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Kusuri.voc.html
Yûkai (誘拐): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Yukai.pdf
            concordance:  http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Yukai.voc.html
Yûdai na keikaku (雄大な計画): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Yudai.pdf
            concordance:  http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Yudai.voc.html
Atsusa (暑さ): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Atsusa.pdf
            concordance:  http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Atsusa.voc.html
Ooi dete koi (おおい、出て来い): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Ooi.pdf
            concordance:  http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Ooi.voc.html
Money Age (マネー・エイジ): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Money.pdf
            concordance:  http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/FLJ401/Hoshi.Money.voc.html
 
---JPM