MLO 1: Japanese Language and Communication 1.1 Students are able to communicate effectively in Japanese in three modes: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational; and in a culturally appropriate manner in a variety of social and professional settings and circumstances at the Intermediate-High level of language proficiency, according to the ACTFL Guidelines. 1.2 Students gain competency in the Japanese language and linguistics including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. Students compare, contrast, and analyze the structural differences between Japanese and English Reflective Narrative Coming up on the final semester at CSUMB, it is important to reflect what I have learned on my college pathway, particularly focusing on Japanese Language and Culture. Under the guidance of my mentors, the feedback from my peers, and my on personal interpretation of Japanese Language, I have begun to work on the first Major Learning Outcome (MLO) which aims to better understand my own strengths and weaknesses. The first MLO focuses on a student being able to communicate in Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational environments at an upper-intermediate Japanese Level. The second part, which I will be reflecting on, is the comparative analysis of Japanese and English regarding phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. Not only reviewing my Japanese courses while attending CSUMB, I will also look at what I have and have yet to accomplish regarding this MLO. From my first Japanese course in 2015 at my community college, where we began to learn how to read and pronounce Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, to today in my senior level Japanese 401 course on Structure of Language we are analyzing meta concepts of Phonetics and Phonology. Both of these classes are connected, in the former I learned how to physically pronounce Japanese, and in the latter I studied how pronunciations are used in an international setting by studying the International Phonetic Alphabet, breaking down how each noise is produced and defined in both English and Japanese. As well as how these sounds work and interact with each other, Phonology. In Japanese 201, I began using the basic knowledge to create and form my own thoughts and ideas into Japanese, looking at sentence structure, grammatical rules, and most importantly conjugations in Japanese, Syntax and Morphology. Even today, I still have trouble formulating my own ideas in Japanese compared to the other students, but from them I am able to learn a lot. However, even students will have disagreement on what somethings means, which plays into what we studied this year, Semantics. From the study of multiple meanings based on intonation, setting, and Japanese Cultural norms from Japanese 401, I have been able to better understand English and look at verbal cues, and analyze how English speakers attempt to communicate with each other, placing me in the mindset to linguistically study language. However sometimes the study of how language works, often leaves me not actually learning the language, and this is something that I personally must work on to better grow. The largest benefactor to my study of Japanese Language was done mainly in Japan, where I was able to enroll in solely Japanese Courses each focusing on a key part of language acquisition, such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension studying in a inclusive Japanese environment. From this MLO I believe I have greatly improved my understanding of Japanese, and Language in general, to adequately take my next step in learning a language. |