Stage 6 Heritage Japanese

HSC Japanese Committee Seminar

2 April 2011

An identified need for Heritage Japanese

• Increase in number of students of Japanese heritage

• Students unable to meet the eligibility criteria for the Continuers course

• Students unable to meet the demands of the Japanese Background Speakers course

The target Heritage candidature

• Have a linguistic and cultural connection to Japan

• Oral/aural literacy in Japanese is stronger than written literacy

• Japanese has not been the language of instruction for all or most of formal education in schools

Target Continuers and Background Speakers candidatures

Continuers Background Speakers

•Learning Japanese as a second language•Have studied Japanese for 200-400 hours

•Have a cultural and linguistic background in Japanese

Eligibility criteria

• Applications for eligibility determination

• Determining eligibility

• Review of eligibility determination

• Case studies

Current Heritage Japanese course provisions

• Students studying the Preliminary Heritage Japanese

course through the Saturday School of Community

Languages at the Chatswood High School centre

• Heritage Japanese course being developed by The Open

High School for implementation in 2013

• Heritage Japanese will be examined for the first time in

the 2012 HSC

The context of Heritage course development• Funded by the Australian Government through the

School Languages Program

• Supports the National Asian Languages and Studies in

Schools Program (NALSSP) aspirational target

‘that by 2020, at least 12% of students will exit Year 12

with a fluency in one of the four target Asian languages

sufficient for engaging in trade and commerce in

Asia and/or university study’

Heritage course rationale

• ‘…the importance of developing political, social

and cultural links with close and influential

neighbours and the strategic importance of

learning Japanese language in relation to the

economic future of Australia. The study of the

Heritage language course will make a

significant contribution to these priorities.’

Heritage course aims

• Apply Japanese to work, further study, vocational training or leisure

• Appreciate their Japanese linguistic and cultural heritage

• Understand how culture and identity are created and expressed through language

• Issues

• Perspectives

• Contexts and texts

Heritage course content – a three dimensional approach

Issues

• Young people and their relationships

• Traditions and values in a contemporary society

• The changing nature of work

• The individual as a global citizen

• Japanese identity in the international context

• Personal – individual identity• Community – connections with the

Japanese-speaking communities locally, regionally and worldwide

• International – connections with the world as a global citizen

Perspectives

Contexts and texts

• Social and Community settings: discussions, interviews, letters, job applications, social networking websites

• Contemporary Literature and the Arts: films, television programs, short stories, poems, extracts from novels/plays, songs

• Media: articles, interviews, commentaries, reviews

Continuers themes and topics

Theme:The individual

Theme:The Japanese-speaking communities

Theme:The changing world

•Personal world•Daily life•Leisure•Future plans

•Travelling in Japan•Living in Japan•Cultural life

•The world of work•Current issues

Background Speakers themes and contemporary issuesThemes Contemporary Issues

•The individual and the community

•Family in contemporary society•Impact of a changing society•Gender roles

•Youth culture •Pressures on young people•Place of education•Role of leisure

•National identity •Reconciling traditional and contemporary culture•Japan and the international community

•Global issues •Universality of human experience•Preserving the environment•Impact of technology

Heritage course tasks

• Allow students to meet the course objectives and outcomes

• Have 5 elements – purpose, context, audience, process, product

• Sample task – Jero’s YouTube interview

Characters

Continuers Heritage Background Speakers

•Prescribed character list•150 kanji for recognition and use•50 kanji for recognition

•Character list (approx 500) for recognition and use, includes kanji compound list

•No prescribed character list•Recognise and write kyoiku kanji•Recognise joyo kanji

Grammar

Continuers Heritage Background Speakers

•Prescribed structures for active use

•Some prescribed structures for receptive use only

•~ばconditional form

•~える・られるpotential form

•Continuers active and receptive structures

•~はずexpectation

•~べきobligation

•Imperative form

•Passive, causative and passive-causative forms

•Keigo

•No prescribed structures

Other considerations

• The role of English• The role of digital technologies• Dictionaries

Personal Investigation

• Research an area of interest from one

of the Issues, from one or more of the

Perspectives, through texts drawn

from one or more of the Contexts

Assessment – internal

• Responding to texts

• Creating texts

• Oral interacting

Assessment – external HSC

•Oral examination: Interview

•Written examination:

- Section 1: Responding to texts

- Section 2: Creating texts in Japanese

Syllabus support materials for Heritage Japanese (BOS NSW)

• Heritage Support Document

- sample scope and sequence plans

- annotated sample unit of work

- advice on Personal Investigation

- characteristics of kinds of writing

- advice on assessment

- annotated sample assessment tasks

Support materials for Heritage Japanese (BOS NSW) continued

• Heritage Japanese Stage 6 Suggested Resources

• Heritage Japanese Stage 6 Syllabus – Character List

• Assessment and Reporting in Heritage Languages

• Heritage Japanese 2012 HSC Specimen Examination Paper

Support materials for Heritage Japanese (DET NSW)

• Developing units of work and tasks for Heritage Japanese

• Available on website from next week

• www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/languages/languages/japanese/index.htm

The challenge - How to prepare students for Heritage Japanese? • Support and maintain opportunities for

communication and interaction

• Encourage attendance at community Japanese languages programs

• Stage 5 Japanese course at The Open High School

The opportunity

• Strengthen personal connection to heritage

• Develop a positive and mature bilingual and bicultural identity

• Develop advanced mastery and sophistication of language

• Develop cultural and linguistic insights and skills to undertake further study and operate effectively in local, regional and global contexts