Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Studies

The University of Melbourne

A Bachelor of Arts (BA) offers a flexible approach to studying the humanities, social sciences and languages at Australia’s number one university. Build interdisciplinary knowledge, community leadership and cultural awareness. And, you’ll graduate with the skills necessary to succeed in the rapidly changing, global workplace.The undergraduate program in Japanese Studies comprises coursework designed to build students’ knowledge and skills in understanding and analysing Japanese language and society. Japanese subjects are organised in a progressive sequence (of units) from Japanese 1 through to Japanese 8 with several additional units. Entry and exit points are determined by the student’s background in the language, placement testing, prerequisites, or at the discretion of the Japanese program. Students normally progress through the subjects in consecutive order. Mid-year entry is also possible into subjects with even numbers, subject to appropriate prior experience and approval from the convenor of the Japanese Studies program. The language-society subjects are designed to maximise acquisition of the language and to develop their communication skills in various types of texts, interactional contexts and strategic aspects of meaning making. The curriculum also allows students to develop a broad understanding of cultural, social and historical aspects of Japan. Non-language subjects such as Social Problems in Japan help students understand the complexity and diversity of the society, and challenge stereotypes. Teaching staff create a meeting place where students from a variety of cultural backgrounds can explore intercultural language activities to promote intercultural as well as communicative competence.

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