Japanese Life Communication Conversation (Upper and Lower)

Author: Zhu Chunyue, Sugihara Shigeru (Editor)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1995-11-01
Features: This book is a sequel to Japanese Conversation (compiled by Zhu Chunyue, Nakajima Kōtai, and others, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1990), edited by Zhu Chunyue, associate professor of the Japanese Department at Beijing Foreign Studies University (formerly Beijing Foreign Studies College), and Sugihara Shigeru, professor of the Japanese Department at Ochanomizu Women's University in Japan. This book is designed for undergraduate students of foreign language majors who have completed Japanese Conversation, specifically the second semester of their sophomore year or the junior year.
The book follows the functional communicative approach as its fundamental teaching philosophy. It includes 84 functional-notional items and over 1,800 expressions related to various communication methods, covering all affective functional-notional items from the 1991 edition of the Teaching Syllabus for the Basic Stage of Japanese Major in Higher Education issued by the State Education Commission.
This book retains and further emphasizes the practical and colloquial features of Japanese Conversation. It pays full attention to colloquial simplifications that are often absent in general textbooks, naturally and comprehensively reflecting phenomena such as inversions, omissions, reductions, and sound changes commonly found in daily spoken Japanese. Unlike previous oral textbooks, this book distinguishes itself with its clear functional communicative characteristics. It does not simply introduce language materials through scenarios but instead focuses on the communicative functions of language, highlighting how different expressions are used based on the speaker's identity, status, seniority, gender, and other factors.
To fully and thoroughly reflect the characteristics of spoken Japanese, all the scenarios in this book are set in Japan. This allows learners to not only acquire the language but also gain insights into various aspects of Japanese society.
The content and teaching requirements for each lesson are as follows:
1. Conversation Text
Each lesson focuses on one or several functional-notional items, featuring eight small dialogues, each independent in content. The characters in the dialogues appear in various ages and roles, ranging from children to the elderly, from colleagues and superiors/subordinates to family members, lovers, and strangers. Each character exhibits distinct linguistic features that align with their age, gender, and identity. The content and language of the dialogues are lively and engaging, with each dialogue serving as a script for a "skit." This section requires fluency in memorization and can be used for role-playing exercises in and out of the classroom.
2. Vocabulary List
The total number of words in this book is approximately 3,000, with entries listed for medium to high difficulty. The definitions provided are generally limited to common meanings and those appearing in the current lesson. Numerical codes are used to indicate pitch accent types after each entry.
3. Phonetics and Grammar Notes
Due to the highly colloquial nature of this book, the meaning of a sentence can change with different intonations. Therefore, intonation is also emphasized. To help learners master the living language better, the book is accompanied by audio cassettes and includes explanations and notes on key phonetic and intonation features in the text annotations. Grammar explanations focus primarily on usage rather than providing translations. Readers are referred to the "Reference Translations of Texts" in the appendix.
4. Supplementary Examples
Expressions commonly used in daily life but not covered in the lesson are listed as supplementary examples for reference during practice (dialogue composition).
5. Exercises
Exercises are divided into two main parts: linguistic structures (including sentence patterns, vocabulary, etc.) and functional-notional items. The linguistic structure section mainly includes fill-in-the-blanks (filling in adverbs, set phrases), language application, and some substitution exercises. Additionally, there are exercises where learners fill in appropriate kana or kanji in blank spaces at regular intervals to complete sentences or passages, designed to practice language proficiency. When doing substitution exercises, instructors should avoid mechanical repetition of surface-level language forms and instead guide learners to focus on the communicative function of the language forms. The functional-notional item exercises mainly include fill-in-the-blanks (filling in appropriate expressions related to the lesson's functional-notional items), rewriting exercises (changing the dialogue style by altering relationships, gender, etc.), and dialogue and skit composition exercises. Among these, skit composition exercises are most characteristic of the functional communicative approach. In the skit exercises, the objectives (e.g., surprise, dissatisfaction), relationships between characters, time and location of the dialogue are first specified, and learners are asked to role-play according to the given scenarios. The exercises provide language or key expressions used in the skits for reference and selection. After the instructor explains the objectives, language, and scenarios, learners role-play according to the instructions on their character cards. During the exercise, participants are required to only refer to their own character cards, use language appropriate to their roles, and match their tone to the character's emotions at the time. The progression of the skit should generally follow the character's prescribed roles. The transition between turns (i.e., the shift in roles of participants as speakers) follows the order: 1—(1)—Circle 1—2—(2)—Circle 2—3. A few minutes of practice can be conducted before the skit performance, and instructors should avoid interrupting during the performance, addressing any issues through post-performance feedback. Skit exercises aim to develop communicative competence, training learners to adapt flexibly and use language effectively. Therefore, although sample skits are provided in the appendix, they are only for reference and do not require learners to use language identical to the samples.
At the end of the book, reference translations of texts, answer keys for exercises, and a functional-notional index are included for the reference of instructors and learners. Due to differences in Chinese and Japanese expression habits, some direct translations may not make sense in Chinese, so the reference translations primarily use free translation. Some sentences may slightly deviate from the original in expression. The answer keys may have multiple solutions, so the appendix is for reference only.
This book consists of 20 lessons. In terms of teaching, each lesson includes reading aloud, explanations, conversation practice, recitation checks, and skit exercises. Generally, 6–8 hours are needed to complete one lesson. Calculated at 4 hours per week, the entire book (both volumes) can be used over 1–1.5 academic years.
This book is a sequel to Japanese Conversation (compiled by Zhu Chunyue, Nakajima Kōtai, and others, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1990), edited by Zhu Chunyue, associate professor of the Japanese Department at Beijing Foreign Studies University (formerly Beijing Foreign Studies College), and Sugihara Shigeru, professor of the Japanese Department at Ochanomizu Women's University in Japan. This book is designed for undergraduate students of foreign language majors who have completed Japanese Conversation, specifically the second semester of their sophomore year or the junior year. Learners of Japanese with some proficiency in the language in society can also use this book to further improve their oral communicative skills or enhance their listening skills by using the audio recordings.
The book follows the functional communicative approach as its basic teaching philosophy, including 84 functional-notional items and over 1,800 expressions related to various communication methods, covering all affective functional-notional items from the 1991 edition of the Teaching Syllabus for the Basic Stage of Japanese Major in Higher Education issued by the State Education Commission.