Scholarship Japanese

Course description 

Japanese Scholarship is an exciting opportunity to broaden your understanding of the language and the culture, and how they influenced our lives in NZ and globally today.  By doing Japanese Scholarship, you are engaging in critical thinking, detailed analysis, and synthesis of complex material that allows you to make informed judgments about the language and culture.  These skills are transferable in all facets of further education and the workforce.  By taking a Japanese Scholarship, you are not only learning about the language and the culture, you are also preparing yourself for a future career. 

The scholarship course would take place outside of normal class time to be determined by the staff and students involved.  Students need to attend regularly in order to reap the benefits of the preparation programme as well as making sure they are doing the extended learning for the theme provided.

The Japanese Scholarship exam for 2023 is on Tuesday 28 November at 9.30am.

Format of the assessment

Resources or information supplied

• a question-and-answer booklet for each candidate

• an audio file of the Listening passage(s) 

• a laminated 'Speaking Task' card.

The school will provide a device and software on which to play the Listening passage(s), and to record the candidate’s spoken response.

Format of the assessment

The exam consists of TWO parts, held in a three-hour time slot:

• first, a two-hour Writing section with two questions in response to spoken and written stimulus material in Japanese

• second, a short individual Speaking section, scheduled within a one-hour time slot, with one question in Japanese and English.

SECTION ONE: Writing (two hours)

Question One

This question will require a response written in Japanese, to passage(s) spoken in Japanese, and provided as an audio file. 

The Listening passages(s) will:

• require approximately 30 minutes listening time

• be repeated 3 times: the first time as a whole, the second and third times in sections, with a pause after each section

• consist of no more than 3 passages

• be linked around a common theme.

Question Two

This question will require a response written in English or te reo Māori, to stimulus material written in Japanese, provided in the question-and-answer booklet.

The written stimulus material will:

• consist of no more than 3 texts

• be linked around a common theme.

SECTION TWO: Speaking (individual sessions within a one-hour time slot)

Question Three

Candidates will be required to give a spoken response of 3–4 minutes to a question related to the listening passage(s) and/or the written text(s). The question will be in Japanese and English, and the response will be in Japanese.

In the recording room, candidates will be given:

• a straightforward question 

• paper and pen 

• 10 minutes to make notes for an oral response to the question.

At the end of 10 minutes, candidates will speak for 3–4 minutes, in Japanese, in response to the question. Candidates may use their notes as they speak.

Information for candidates (PDF, 28KB)

Submission instructions

Submission instructions for NZ Scholarship Languages (Japanese) will be available to schools in Term 3.