Introducing Japanese Studies
Welcome to Japanese Studies in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Monash University.
Why
Study Japanese and Japanese Studies?
Why
Japanese at Monash?
Courses
Available
Language
Levels Offered
Degree
Options
Study
Opportunities in Japan
Honours
Year
Graduate
Courses
Career
Opportunities
Teaching
Staff
Japanese
Studies Centre
Commitment
to Pre-tertiary Japanese Teaching (Enhancement Program)
Why Study Japanese and Japanese Studies?
People who can communicate effectively in Japanese are in short supply in Australia and in other parts of the world. The ability to speak Japanese well requires cultural knowledge as well as language ability. Degrees which include the study of both Japanese language and society provide graduates with high linguistic competence and an automatic advantage when seeking employment.
Why Japanese at Monash?
Japanese at Monash University has established itself as the national leader in developing innovative and highly effective programs for teaching the Japanese language and associated studies. It is the recipient of an endowment of A$2 million from the Nippon Foundation to promote Japanese language education.
Internationally renowned for the quality of its graduates, the School employs Japanese and non-Japanese members of staff to give students firsthand insight into the language and culture. The School receives a large number of visiting scholars from Japan every year.
Students are encouraged to set personal goals and adopt a variety of learning strategies. There is an active Japanese Club for students which has its own exchange program with Japan and organises various activities for practising Japanese in a social context. Moreover, the School has strong links with the Japanese community and regularly invites business people and other Japanese in Melbourne as guest speakers, giving students insight into future career options.
The Monash Library has an extensive Japanese Studies collection, including language materials, a large research collection on Japanese linguistics, society and popular culture.
Monash also has the Japanese Music Archive and the largest collection in Melbourne of English language publications for Japanese studies. Networked CD Rom resources, for example PAIS and AUSTROM, are available for Japanese studies research.
Courses Available
The School has one of the most extensive ranges of Japanese teaching programs in Australia and is constantly developing and refining materials and teaching approaches.
Japanese Language
The Japanese language program provides students with basic skills in Japanese and knowledge about Japanese culture and society. It targets skills needed for interaction in Japan and in other countries, developing both oral and written communication skills.
The school offers several points of entry to its courses. Language sequences are available at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and subjects are available to cater for everyone from beginners to semi-native and even background or native speakers of Japanese.
There is also an Enhancement Program, which allows Year 12 students the chance to complete first-year Japanese units while still at school.
Japanese Studies
The Japanese Studies program allows students to study Japanese culture, gender issues, history, linguistics, politics, society and sociolinguistic behaviour, and Australia-Japan relations.
These subjects may be taken independently towards a Japanese Studies major or minor, or fruitfully combined with Japanese language subjects.
Go to Japanese Studies Units and Course Information for specific subject information.
Language Levels Offered
First year students may commence at beginners or at either of two levels for students with VCE Japanese. Commencement at even higher levels is possible for those who have lived in Japan or are background speakers of the language. Students who come to Monash with more advanced levels of Japanese stay with their own group throughout the degree, graduating with high levels of proficiency. At the same time, those who commence their study of Japanese at Monash do not compete with those having prior knowledge of the language.
|
BASIC |
LOWER | ADVANCED | ADVANCED | |
|
LEVEL |
(For students with no previous experience in Japanese) | (For students with VCE Japanese, but with less advanced proficiency) | (For students with VCE Japanese with higher levels of proficiency or experience in Japan) | (Background speakers may enter this stream at second year, after completing first year subjects in Japanese Studies) |
| 1 & 2 | First Year | |||
| 3 & 4 |
Second Year |
First Year | ||
| 5 & 6 | Third Year | Second Year | First Year | |
| 7 & 8 |
Honours |
Third Year |
Second Year |
First Year |
| 9 & 10 | Honours |
Third Year |
Second Year |
|
| 11 & 12
|
Honours |
Third Year | ||
|
Honours |
Go to Japanese Language Units and Course Information for specific subject information.
Degree Options
Students can major in Japanese language and Japanese studies in the Bachelor of Arts degree or the BA (Languages), and can include Japanese subjects in most of the undergraduate and many of the postgraduate degrees offered at Monash.
Double degrees allow students to combine a major in Japanese with a degree in Commerce, Economics, Engineering, Law, Science or Teaching.
Within the BA, students can pursue their interest in Japan within other disciplines such as anthropology and sociology, economic history, comparative literature and cultural studies, geography and environmental science, history, music, politics and visual arts.
The studies subjects offered within the School itself allow students to study Japanese economics, society, history, culture, linguistics and sociolinguistics. It is possible to complete a major in Japanese Studies or Asian Studies
First-year students are encouraged to take both language and studies subjects so that they obtain a full range of communication skills.
Study Opportunities in Japan
Japanese Studies at Monash has an extensive program of exchange with Japanese universities.
It has programs with some of Japan's most prestigious universities: Chiba , Kyushu, Meiji Gakuin,Ochanomizu , Osaka, Saitama, Seikei, Tokyo and Tsukuba Universities. It also runs the unique Kanazawa Program (Japanese Level 5 &6) in the Ishikawa Japanese Studies Centre at the Ishikawa Foundation for International Exchange in Kanazawa City.
Scholarships are available for students to study in Japan for periods ranging from an eight week summer program (Kanazawa) for students who have completed Level B Japanese, to a one year program for students from third year level onwards. These programs allow students to obtain credit towards their Monash degree while studying in Japan.
Honours Year
Students with a suitable academic record, may apply to undertake a forth year of undergraduate study at honours level.
All Honours students have the opportunity to spend at least six months in Japan for language study and field research for their Honours dissertation, a program run by the Department of Japanese Studies for over 30 years.
Scholarships covering travel and living expenses are available for Monash Honours students. Those with suitable academic records from other institutions can enter the Monash Japanese program at Honours level.
Further information about Honours is available from the School's Honours page.
Graduate Courses
Since the 1970s Japanese Studies at Monash has had one of the largest graduate program in Japanese studies in Australia.
It offers a range of programs leading to the Graduate Diploma, MA and Ph.D. in Japanese studies, Japanese applied linguistics (relevant to teachers), and Japanese Interpreting and Translation. In addition there is a Diploma and a Graduate Diploma in Japanese Language.
Further information about graduate courses can be found at Graduate/Postgraduate Courses .
Career Opportunities
Graduates in Japanese are not tied to one career path. Their skills are employed in government, tourism, business, legal firms, banking and finance, and in teaching.
Many of the school's graduates have jobs in which they regularly use their Japanese knowledge and experience, and it is becoming more common for Monash graduates to work in Japan after graduation, employed in prestigious international firms.
Teaching Staff
The School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics has 12 teaching and research staff in Japanese Studies.
Committed to excellence and innovation in teaching, it has special strengths in applied linguistics. Other staff specialise in Japanese society and culture, Japanese management and industrial relations, political economy and international relations, sociolinguistics, Japanese music, media studies, popular culture, women's studies, tourism, interpreting and translation.
The Professor of Japanese Studies, Professor Ross Mouer is known internationally for his work on theories of Japanese society and the development of frameworks for understanding Japanese society.
Japanese Studies Centre
The study of Japanese in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics is enhanced by the presence at Monash of the Japanese Studies Centre. Formed in 1981 by academics from a number of tertiary institutions in Melbourne, the Centre represents a major development in the Japanese studies scholarly community in Melbourne. It coordinates research projects, teaches courses in language and studies throughout the year, and has an active publishing program.
Commitment to Pre-tertiary Japanese Teaching
Committed to the promotion of Japanese language teaching at pre-tertiary level, the School provides a number of specialised Japanese language and applied linguistic courses up to the MA level for teachers. Its staff also carry out research on Japanese language teaching. The Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education, housed in the Japanese Studies Centre, is dedicated to the improvement of Japanese Language education.
The School also offers an advanced language course to secondary students as part of Monash University's Enhancement Program. This enables advanced students in Years 11 and 12 to take tertiary level Japanese for credit towards an undergraduate degree at Monash or at other universities in Melbourne.