Languages

He taonga nga reo katoa     All languages are to be treasured. 

MISSION STATEMENT

To offer language and cultural programmes of national, international and historical importance and to implement strategies that assist learners to communicate confidently and competently in their target language(s) and develop greater knowledge and understanding of and respect for cultural statements, meanings and differences.

LANGUAGES STAFF:

Janet Sirisomphone – Teacher of Japanese, International Dean and Languages HELA

Rita Morley-Bunker – Teacher of English as a Second

 Language, both to International and New Speakers of English

Ariana Summers – Teacher of Te Reo Maori – on study leave for 2013

Miru McLean – Teacher of Te Reo Maori and Kapa Haka

The Languages ELA plan operates in conjunction with:

* Ellesmere College school charter

* Ellesmere College mission statement

* Ellesmere College strategic plan

* The New Zealand Curriculum

* Learning Languages in the New Zealand Curriculum

INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT

 JAPANESE

 R A T I O N A L E

 Ellesmere College is conscious of the importance of learning an additional language:

 * it promotes international goodwill

 * it facilitates international communication

 * it assists understanding and acceptance of other people

 * it provides enjoyment and satisfaction

 * it enhances understanding of English and Te Reo Maori

 * it deepens appreciation of another culture

 * it facilitates the study of other languages

* it makes travel more interesting

* it promotes trade and tourism

 * it opens doors in science and technology

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 

The general aims for languages learning are consistent with the principles for Learning Languages stated in The New Zealand Curriculum Framework. The aims are:

 * to encourage the learning of another language from the earliest practicable age

* to broaden students’ general language abilities and to increase their understanding of their own language(s) and culture(s).

* to encourage students to think about, question and interpret the world and their place in it

* to assist students to acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes that equip them for living in a world of diverse peoples, languages and cultures

* to facilitate in students a respect for the power of language

* to assist students to gain access for broader fields of knowledge and so extend their creative and critical literacies.

THE KEY COMPETENCIES

Language study contributes significantly to the development of the Key Competencies outlined in The New Zealand Curriculum Framework. Communication skills, which are fundamental in the language classroom, are reflected specifically in the Learning Languages outline in the updated New Zealand Curriculum Framework, and are  emphasised as the most important strand.

 Managing Self – learning languages promotes self motivation. It enables students to know who they are, where they come from and where they fit in. 

 Relating to Others –  learning languages facilitates interacting effectively with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts, including the ability to listen actively, recognise different points of view, negotiate and share ideas.

Participating and Contributing – learning languages enables students to participate actively in local, national and global communities.  It promotes making connections to others.

Students will have the confidence to participate and contribute actively in new roles.  Learning languages promotes contribution to the quality and sustainability of social physical and economic environments. 

Thinking – Learning languages facilitates the using of creative, critical, metacognitive and reflective processes to make sense of and question information, experiences and ideas. It develops understanding and promotes intellectual curiosity.  Language learners and users are active seekers, users and creators of knowledge.  They reflect on their own learning, draw on personal knowledge and intuitions, ask questions and challenge the basis of prior assumptions.

Using Language, Symbols and Texts – Language learners use language, symbols and texts to work with and make meaning of the codes of language with which knowledge is expressed.  Languages and the symbols which convey them are systems for representing and communicating information, experiences and ideas.  People use languages and symbols to produce texts of all kinds: written, spoken and visual; informative and imaginative; informal and formal, mathematical, scientific and technological.  Students who are competent users of languages and symbols can interpret and use words, number, images, movement, metaphor and technologies in a range of contexts.  They recognise how choices of language and symbol affect people’s understanding and the ways I which they respond to communications.  They use ICT to overcome barriers to communication, access information and interact with others. By learning another language, students become able to think in different ways, access new areas of knowledge, and see their world from new perspectives. Language learning involves numeracy understanding in the target language.  Students will need specific help from their language teacher as they learn: specialist vocabulary associated with the target language, how to read and understand its texts, and how to communicate knowledge and ideas in appropriate ways.

THE JAPANESE PROGRAMME  

All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 learn Japanese for one term in either form classes or option groups as part of the Junior Option Programme. The course, following Curriculum Level 1 and 2, is designed so that students may all learn to communicate in the target language at a beginner’s level and gain confidence and enjoyment from their studies. During the course, students are assessed in various oral, listening, reading and writing skills, with hiragana script being introduced gradually from Year 8, and a little kanji from Year 7.  Assessments happen over the course, and are based directly on course content and allow students to gain a sense of achievement from having retained language in to their personal repertoire.

By the end of the Year 9 short course, all of the basic hiragana syllabary has been presented.  Students also learn about the Japanese education system and Japanese student life to further their cultural understanding. 

At Year 10, Japanese becomes a personal choice subject for students, from 2007, this being either a short course option for the first half of the year, or a full year choice leading on to NCEA from Year 11.  During Year 10, students cover basic language content and functions in a systematic way which sets down the foundation for senior study of Japanese.  They master hiragana and learn katakana script, and begin to study kanji. 

Formative assessment takes place with personally paced in-class reading exercises and tests, oral activities including presentations and role plays, and students have a good idea of how their language skills are developing.  Content and structure based assessments, as well as oral presentations take place during the year, and there is a final end of year assessment and a recorded oral assessment.

 In the year 10 course, students begin the exciting learning experience of learning to express themselves flexibly in their target language, albeit at an emergent level. The course follows the curriculum, completing levels 2 and 3, and some of Level 4. Structure content remains at a basic level as students expand their knowledge of script and vocabulary, enabling a larger repertoire of language available to be manipulated by structures introduced at higher levels.

 In Year 11 Japanese, students study at levels 4, 5 and 6 of the curriculum, completing all communicative functions by the end of the year.  Students’ Japanese repertoire expands markedly as the learning from previous years is consolidated.  In Year 11, students have mastered both kana scripts and expanded their knowledge of kanji to 55 characters. 

 Homework and self study increase at this level, and a Year 11 textbook written specifically for New Zealand forms a large part of the coursework and formative assessment.  The course is studied in broad themes, and there is summative assessment at the end of each theme.

In Year 11 students enter for an external qualification, NCEA Level One.  There is an internal assessment component in language qualifications, 1.2 (speech), 1.3 (conversation) and 1.5 (writing).  For each internal assessment there is a formative test experience, and a retest opportunity.  Please read the Ellesmere College external qualification booklet in conjunction with this document. Year 11 (Level 1 NCEA) is being assessed using the Curriculum Realignment standards.

Year 12 Japanese marks the beginning of studying the language at an intermediate level.  While consolidating language learnt previously, further language functions and kanji are gradually introduced.  This process gains momentum during the year and the Curriculum at Level 7 is covered. The course in Year 12 is supported by the Australian produced textbook series “Kookoo Seikatsu” which supports the NCEA structure quite well.  The New Zealand produced textbook series “Getting There in Japanese”, written before the introduction of the present Japanese curriculum and NCEA, which is still used in most New Zealand secondary schools, is used as a support text, along with other materials.The external qualification at Year 12 level is NCEA Level 2, and there are three internal assessments 2.2 and 2.3 (speech/oral presentation and interaction), and 2.5 Writing Portfolio and the conditions for these assessments are parallel to those for level 1.  NCEA language standards are skills based, and are tested when students have learnt a sufficient amount of new language at the relevant level. As they are not content based they can be set around any suitable topic which has been covered in class, fitting the relevant assessment criteria,

The Japanese course at Year 13 covers and language functions and at level 8 of the curriculum and completes the study of senior kanji required.  The course is supported by the textbook “Kookoo Seikatsu Book 2” and other materials including “Nihon ni Ikoo” , “Getting There in Japanese” and “Bread and Butter Level 8” a grammar/structure practice workbook. Year 13 as well as Years 11 and 12, also cover many topics related to Japanese culture and daily life as an integral part of their studies and participate in relevant cultural activities as the opportunity arises.    Culture related topics are learnt about in the target language where possible.  The external qualification in Year 13 is NCEA Level 3 with three internal assessments, with parallel assessment types and conditions as for the two previous levels.

Opportunities for other external qualifications are offered where appropriate e.g. Australian Language Competitions, Junior Speech Competitions, NZ Scholarship, Nooryoku Shiken Level N5 or N4.

The Japanese course from Year 7 to Year 13 covers the complete New Zealand Curriculum from Levels 1 to 8.