Level Description

The nature of the learners

These years represent a transition to secondary school. Students in this sequence are continuing to study Japanese, bringing with them an established capability to interact in different situations, to engage with a variety of texts and to communicate with some assistance about their immediate world and that of Japanese speakers. They have experience in analysing the major features of the language system and in reflecting on the nature of intercultural exchanges in which they are involved.

Japanese language learning and use

Japanese is used for classroom interactions and transactions, for creating and maintaining a class dynamic, and for explaining and practising language forms. Learners work both collaboratively and independently in Japanese, exploring a variety of texts, including songs/raps and role-plays, with particular reference to their social, cultural and communicative interests. They share language knowledge and resources to plan, problem-solve, monitor and reflect. They use modelled and rehearsed language in familiar and unfamiliar contexts and increasingly generate original language. They make cross-curricular connections and explore intercultural perspectives and experiences. They plan, draft and present imaginative and informative texts and participate in collaborative tasks and games. They use vocabulary and grammar with increasing accuracy, drafting and re-drafting to improve and clarify meaning.

Students learn to use katakana and develop their understanding of the relationship between hiragana, katakana and kanji in texts. They read, view and interact with a growing range of texts for a variety of informative, transactional and communicative purposes. They are developing a broader range of vocabulary and expression and creating more complex sentences using structures such as まい(にち)(とも)だちとバスでがっこうに()きます。.

Contexts of interaction

The primary context for learning and using Japanese remains the language classroom; however, there may be increasing opportunities for interaction with peers in a range of Japanese-speaking communities through the use of technologies, partner-school arrangements and community connections. Learners have access to additional Japanese language resources through websites, video clips and other multimodal texts.

Features of Japanese language use

Learners expand their range of vocabulary to subjects beyond their immediate world and familiar experiences. They develop broader grammatical knowledge, using verbs and / adjectives, negative conjugations, various particles, counters, superlatives and conjunctions, to describe and sequence events. With support they create a range of texts and participate in information sharing and performances. They recognise and apply Japanese punctuation conventions and the characteristic features of text types such as self-introductions and letters. They analyse more critically and imaginatively the relationship between language and culture, identifying cultural references in texts and considering how language reflects and influences perspectives and values, for example, the use of the prefixes / to show respect. They make comparisons between their own language(s) and Japanese, and reflect on the experience of moving between languages and cultural systems. They monitor and reflect on their intercultural experience and capability as language learners, and identify their personal and community practices that reflect cultural influences.

Texts and resources

Learners work with a variety of texts specifically designed for learning Japanese in schools, including video clips and online resources. They also access materials created for Japanese-speaking communities, such as films (subtitled), websites and advertisements that provide opportunities to make connections between texts and cultural contexts, perspectives and experiences.

Level of support

Opportunities to review and consolidate prior learning are balanced against provision of engaging and relevant new experiences and connections. Students are supported to develop increasing autonomy as language learners and users, to self-monitor and peer-monitor, and to adjust language in response to their experiences in different contexts.

The role of English

While Japanese is used in more extended and elaborated ways for classroom interactions and routines, task participation and structured discussion, English is used for more complex elements of instruction and discussion, analysis and reflection. Learners continue to develop metalanguage for thinking and talking about language, culture and identity and the experience of learning and using Japanese.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 8, students use Japanese to interact with peers, the teacher and others to exchange information, recount experiences and express opinions. They use verb ましょう for planning and making arrangements and offering suggestions. They ask and respond to a range of questions, for example, だれと、(なん)で、いつ、どこで、using both rehearsed and some spontaneous language, giving opinions and making comparisons, for example, でも or が、わたしは フットボールが 好きです。でも、母は フットボールが 好きじゃないです。. Students apply rules of pronunciation, rhythm, stress and intonation to a range of sentence types and vocabulary, including double consonant and long vowel sounds and borrowed words. Students read and write hiragana, read katakana, and write familiar katakana words, including elongated vowels, double consonants and contractions. They read and write high-frequency kanji for verbs (for example, 行きます、見ます、来きます), nouns (for example, 先生、父、母、月よう日), adjectives (for example, 早い), and the pronoun . They read some compound words such as 日本語. They locate, analyse and summarise information from a range of spoken, written and multimodal texts, such as video clips, letters, posters, notices and advertisements. They plan, draft and present informative and imaginative texts with the support of modelled resources. They use counter classifiers in response to questions, for example, いくつ、何まい、何本、何分. They build cohesion in their texts and elaborate on meaning through the use of grammatical elements such as conjunctions (for example, だから), and adverbs of frequency (for example, いつも), time (for example, 時、半、分、(まえ)) and direction, for example, みぎ、ひだり、前、うしろ. They use a variety of verb tenses to express ideas and experiences, and a range of particles, such as が、へ、から、まで、including for example to indicate timeframes. Students translate and interpret short texts from Japanese into English and vice versa, providing alternative expressions when equivalence is not possible. They share their reactions to intercultural experiences, describing and explaining why some elements fit easily with their sense of their own identity while others do not.

Students understand that the pronunciation of katakana is the same as that of hiragana, and that the pronunciation of borrowed words is influenced by the Japanese sound system. They apply appropriate word order in their spoken and written language, varying the order of noun phrases without altering the meaning. They understand and use andadjectives when appropriate, and apply the rules of phonetic change to counter classifiers, such as ひとつ、さんぼん、じゅっぷん. They identify and reproduce features of familiar text types such as emails, descriptions and dialogues. They identify words (for example, お母さんand ), phrases (for example, どうぞよろしく。), prefixes (for example, and ), suffixes (for example, ~さん and ~さま) and titles (for example, ~先生) that indicate different levels of formality. They recognise values that are important in Japanese society, such as maintaining harmony and a sense of collective well-being, and how these are reflected through language and behaviours, such as indirect forms of refusal or disagreement, for example,もうすこしがんばりましょう。. They explain how cultural values and ideas are embedded in all languages and how their own communicative behaviour might be interpreted from other cultural perspectives.