Pre-primary year syllabusTest
Pre-primary year syllabus
Year Level Description
Students enter the early years of school with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. Typically, students come to Japanese: Second Language with little to no prior experience of the Japanese language and culture.
In Pre-primary students communicate in Japanese, exchanging greetings and simple information about themselves with their teacher and peers, through action-related talk and structured play. They participate in group activities by performing short songs, rhymes, chants or stories in Japanese facilitated by movement and gestures. Students respond to teacher talk and instruction in Japanese.
Students become familiar with the systems of the Japanese language, beginning to recognise simple pictographic kanji and recreating these using kinaesthetic activities. They begin to notice that Japanese has different sounds and words to English and any other languages they may have been exposed to.
In Pre-primary students recognise that while English is the official language spoken in Australia, Japanese is one of many languages, including Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, which is spoken in Australia. They also notice similarities and differences between Japanese and English and begin to develop curiosity around the ideas of language and culture. Creative play in the classroom provides opportunities for exploring these differences.
Students learn Japanese in the early years through rich language input. Regular opportunities to revisit, recycle and review, and continuous feedback, response and encouragement assist students in the language learning process.
Communicating
Socialising
Interact with the teacher and peers through
action-related talk and structured play, to exchange greetings such as おはよう、さようなら、
じゃあね
Introduce and share information about themselves, for example, name です； 五さい です
(ACLJAC109)
Respond to praise, support and respect for others using formulaic expressions modelled by the teacher, for example,
だいじょうぶ？； たいへん？；すごい！；
よくできました；ありがとうございます；
ありがとう
Participate in shared action with the teacher and peers using simple, repetitive key words, images, gestures, movement and songs, for example,
むすんでひらいて、ひげじいさん、
しあわせならてをたたこう
Informing
Recognise symbols, key words and phrases of spoken and written Japanese in rhymes, songs, labels, titles and captions in their environment and related to their personal worlds, for example,
男の子、女の子、トイレ
(ACLJAC112)
Convey factual information about their personal worlds, using pictures, labels, captions, songs, rhymes, gestures and familiar words, for example,
あか、おおきい
(ACLJAC113)
Creating
Engage by listening to and viewing a range of short, imaginative texts and respond through action, dance, singing, drawing, movement and other forms of expression, for example,
あたまかたひざポン、こぶたたぬききつね、
キャベツの中から
Make simple statements about favourite characters in stories or songs, for example,
やさしい、 かわいい、こわい、つよい
(ACLJAC114)
Participate in the shared performance of songs or rhymes, playing with sound patterns, verbal and non-verbal forms of expression
(ACLJAC115)
Translating
Share with others the meaning of simple expressions related to their day, for example,
どうぞ；おはようございます；いただきます；ありがとう
Reflecting
Begin noticing how Japanese feels/sounds different when speaking, singing a song or hearing it spoken by others compared with using and hearing their own language(s)
(ACLJAC119)
Understanding
Systems of language
Recognise and experiment with reproducing sounds and rhythms of spoken Japanese by singing, reciting and repeating words and phrases in context
(ACLJAU120)
Recognise that the Japanese language uses three different scripts, depending on word origin and the context of language use
Notice that Japanese can be written vertically or horizontally
Recognise simple kanji, using early language strategies, for example, making play dough kanji characters over a template
(ACLJAU121)
Notice and use context-related vocabulary to generate language
Recognise some first elements of grammar, including:
- knowing common forms of greetings and noticing the different levels of formality, for example, おはようございます/おはよう
- understanding different question words such as だれ/なに/どこ and the sentence-ending particle か
- understanding that Japanese uses name + suffix instead of pronouns when referring to other people, for example, Johnくん/はなこさん/
Grant せんせい - building vocabulary to describe and label familiar and immediate objects and environments
(ACLJAU122)
Recognise that language is organised as ‘text’ that can be spoken, written, digital, visual or multimodal
(ACLJAU123)
Language variation and change
Recognise that in Japanese, as in English and other languages, there are different ways of greeting, addressing and interacting with people and that greetings vary according to the time of day or the occasion, for example,
おはよう、こんにちは、こんばんは
(ACLJAU124)
Role of language and culture
Recognise that Japanese is one of many languages spoken in Australia including Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, Asian languages and world languages
(ACLJAU125)
Achievement standard
At standard, students interact in Japanese with their teacher and each other through action-related talk, structured play, classroom instructions and routines to exchange simple greetings and to provide information about themselves, such as おはよう、さようなら、nameです. They respond to praise, support and show respect for others using modelled formulaic expressions or English. Students participate in shared performance of well-rehearsed stories and songs and make meaning using verbal and non-verbal forms of expression. They identify most keywords and some phrases of spoken Japanese relating to their personal worlds and convey most simple, factual information with guidance, using verbal and non-verbal forms of expression. They participate in shared performance of imaginative texts, such as familiar songs and rhymes, and respond with guidance, using verbal and non-verbal forms of expression. Students share the meaning of simple expressions related to their day, such as arigatou, ohayou gozaimasu and sayounara. They begin to talk about how Japanese feels/sounds different when speaking, singing a song or hearing it spoken by others compared with their own language(s).
Students become familiar with the systems of the Japanese language, experimenting with reproducing the sounds and rhythms of spoken Japanese with a satisfactory level of accuracy. They recognise that the Japanese language uses three different scripts, depending on word origin and the context of language use and that the different scripts that can be written vertically or horizontally. They recognise and use words and expressions and simple kanji, such as in pictures, labels, songs, rhymes and familiar words, and some first elements of grammar with a satisfactory level of accuracy. Students begin to use common forms of greetings and show awareness of the different levels of formality, such as おはようございます/ おはよう. They use different question words and the sentence-ending particle か. They identify that Japanese uses name + suffix instead of pronouns when referring to other people. Students begin to build vocabulary to describe and label familiar and immediate objects and environments. They comment on how language is organised as ‘text.’ They identify the different ways of greeting, addressing and interacting with people, and usually act accordingly. Students recognise Japanese as one of many languages spoken in Australia and around the world and begin to develop curiosity around the ideas of language and culture.
Year Level Description
Students enter the early years of school with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. Typically, students come to Japanese: Second Language with little to no prior experience of the Japanese language and culture.
In Pre-primary students communicate in Japanese, exchanging greetings and simple information about themselves with their teacher and peers, through action-related talk and structured play. They participate in group activities by performing short songs, rhymes, chants or stories in Japanese facilitated by movement and gestures. Students respond to teacher talk and instruction in Japanese.
Students become familiar with the systems of the Japanese language, beginning to recognise simple pictographic kanji and recreating these using kinaesthetic activities. They begin to notice that Japanese has different sounds and words to English and any other languages they may have been exposed to.
In Pre-primary students recognise that while English is the official language spoken in Australia, Japanese is one of many languages, including Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, which is spoken in Australia. They also notice similarities and differences between Japanese and English and begin to develop curiosity around the ideas of language and culture. Creative play in the classroom provides opportunities for exploring these differences.
Students learn Japanese in the early years through rich language input. Regular opportunities to revisit, recycle and review, and continuous feedback, response and encouragement assist students in the language learning process.