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Linguistics of East Asian Languages

Code: 108296
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
East Asian Studies FB 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
Sara Rovira Esteva
Email :
sara.rovira@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Esther Torres Simon
Makiko Fukuda

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

None in terms of content. The language of instruction for the course is mainly Catalan, although Spanish is also used occasionally.

Objectives

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the fundamental encyclopaedic aspects related to the three main languages of East Asia: Chinese, Japanese and Korean. By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Know and understand the principles governing linguistic variation in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
  • Identify the values, beliefs and ideologies present in Asian languages —Chinese, Japanese and Korean—.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning skills and communicate them effectively.

Learning outcomes

  • CM06 (Examine the problems of ethnocentrism in the study of language and literature, promoting respect for diversity and gender equality.) Examine the problems of ethnocentrism in the study of language and literature, promoting respect for diversity and gender equality.
  • KM11 (Identify the graphic, morphological, lexical, syntactic and pragmatic-discursive characteristics of Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as well as their historical development.) Identify the graphic, morphological, lexical, syntactic and pragmatic-discursive characteristics of Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as well as their historical development.
  • SM08 (Analyse values, beliefs and ideologies, including the mechanisms of gender inequality present in language and literature, to carry out a critical discourse analysis.) Analyse values, beliefs and ideologies, including the mechanisms of gender inequality present in language and literature, to carry out a critical discourse analysis.
  • SM09 (Apply the key concepts, terminology, and theoretical frameworks of sociolinguistics to distinguish the social, cultural, and historical factors that govern linguistic variation in East Asian languages.) Apply the key concepts, terminology, and theoretical frameworks of sociolinguistics to distinguish the social, cultural, and historical factors that govern linguistic variation in East Asian languages.

Contents

The course is structured into three parts: China, Japan and Korea. Five weeks of classes will be devoted to China and Japan, respectively, while four weeks will be devoted to Korea. The contents covered in each of the three blocks are detailed below:

China:

  • Chinese writing: a diachronic and synchronic overview
  • Evolution and description of Modern Standard Chinese
  • The languages of China
  • Chinese in the international context
  • Sociolinguistic situation in the different Chinese communities and future challenges

Japan:

  • Japanese language in the international context
  • History of the formation of Japanese and the writing system
  • Communication in Japanese society and sociolinguistic issues related to Japanese
  • Linguistic variation in Japanese
  • Language Ideologies and Minoritized Languages in Japan
  • Language policies in Japan

Korea:

  • History of the formation of the Korean language
  • Features of contemporary Korean language and writing
  • Sociolinguistic issues related to Korean
  • Language policies concerning the Korean language
  • Korean in the international context

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Review of the material covered 50 2 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09
Discussion of the topics covered in class 3 0.12 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09
Recommended readings 18 0.72 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09
Critical commentary on the readings 4 0.16 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09
Preparation of exercises proposed by the teaching staff 16 0.64 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09
Lectures 45.5 1.82 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09
Recommended readings 10.5 0.42 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09

The course is structured into three parts: Japan and China, with 10 sessions each —including their assessment—, 8 sessions devoted to Korea, plus a final session devoted to the joint assessment of all the course contents, including the three parts.

Learning activities

Learning activities are organised into categories based on the degree of student autonomy and they involve:

  • Directed activities: carried out according to a set timetable and in the presence of a lecturer (lectures, critical discussions on reading materials, debates on the issues examined in class). This will be the ideal time to clarify any general doubts.
  • Supervised activities: carried out under the supervision of a lecturer or tutor (recommended readings, critical discussions on reading materials, debates on the issues examined in class).
  • Autonomous activities: carried out by students without supervision, requiring them to organise their own time and work, either in groups or individually (preparing new materials, reviewing previous materials, reading recommended texts).
  • Evaluation activities: face-to-face activities, which are described in the section "evaluation".

Note: 15 minutes of one class will be set aside, within the schedule established by the faculty/degree programme, for students to complete the surveys evaluating teaching performance and the course.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Continuous assessment activities for the China section 35% 1 0.04 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09
Exam with open-ended questions on the Japan section. 35% 1 0.04 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09
Continuous assessment activities on the Korea section 30% 1 0.04 CM06, KM11, SM08, SM09

Continuous assessment

Students must demonstrate their progress by completing several assessment activities. These activities are detailed in the table in this Teaching Guide.

Review

When the final mark prior to the official record is released, the lecturer will communicate in writing the date and time for reviewing the assessment. The review of the various assessment activities will be agreed upon between the lecturers and the students.

Resit

Students may be eligible for a resit if they have completed assessment activities accounting for 66.6% —two thirds— or more of the final mark and have obtained a weighted average mark of 3.5 or higher. When the final mark prior to the official record of the course is released, the lecturers will communicate the resit procedure in writing. A resit activity may be proposed for each failed or non-submitted activity, or several activities may be grouped into a single resit activity. Under no circumstances may the resit consist of a single final assessment activity equivalent to 100% of the final mark. In the case of a resit, the maximum mark that the student may obtain is 5.

Classification as “not assessable”

A student will be classified as “not assessable” when the assessment evidence submitted by the student accounts for no more than one quarter of the total mark for the course.

Irregularities in assessment activities

In the event of an irregularity —plagiarism, copying, impersonation, etc.— in an assessment activity, the mark for that assessment activity will be 0. If irregularities occur in several assessment activities, the final mark for the course will be 0. Assessment activities in which irregularities have occurred, such as plagiarism, copying or impersonation, are excluded from the resit.

Single assessment

This course allows for single assessment under the terms established by the academic regulations of the UAB and the assessment criteria of the FTI. Students must submit the electronic application within the period established by the Faculty and send a copy to the person responsible for the course so that they are informed. The single assessment will take place on a single day in week 16 or 17 of the semester. Academic Management will publish the date and time on the Faculty website. On the day of the single assessment, the teaching staff will ask students to identify themselves; students must present a valid identity document with a recent photograph —student card, national identity card or passport.

Single assessment activities

The final mark for the course will be established according to the following percentages:

  • Test on the China section: 35%
  • Test on the Japan section: 35%
  • Test on the Kora section: 30%

The procedures for reviewing marks and for resitting the course are the same as those applied to continuous assessment. See the relevant sections above in this Teaching Guide.

Use of AI

In this course, the use of artificial intelligence —AI— technologies is not permitted at any stage of the assessment activities. Any assignment that includes AI-generated fragments will be considered a breach of academic integrity and will receive a mark of 0, regardless of any disciplinary procedure that may be initiated.

Bibliography

JAPAN

  • Backhaus, Peter. 2005. “Signs of multilingualism in Tokyo — a diachronic look at the linguistic landscape”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 175/176: 103-121.
  • Carroll, Tessa. 2010. "Japanese as an International Language". Patrick Heinrich & Christian Galan (Eds.) Language life in Japan:Transformations and prospects.Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 218-236.
  • Coulmas, Florian. 1989. The writing systems of the world. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
  • Coulmas, Florian. 2013. Sociolinguistics. The Study of Speakers' Choices. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Fukuda, Makiko. 2008. “Colonias japonesas en el extranjero: miniatura de la sociedad japonesa”. Inter Asia Papers, 3. Bellaterra: Institut d’Estudis Internacionals i Interculturals; Grup de recerca INTER-ASIA, Bellaterra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
  • Fukuda, Makiko. 2022. "El sistema de tractaments en la llengua japonesa". Neus Nogué; Josep Besa; Lluís Payrató; Montserrat Sendra (eds.) Els sistemes de tractament:una visió interlingüística i aplicada. Barcelona: Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelon. Pp.131-144.
  • Goelbel Noguchi, Mary.; Fotos, Sandra. (eds.). 2001. Studies in Japanese Bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  • Goodman, Roger. 1993. Japan’s International Youth.The Emergence of a New Class of Schoolchildren. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Gottlieb, Nanette. 2009. Language and Society in Japan. 3rd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Gottlieb, Nanette. 2011. Language Policy in Japan. The Challenge of Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hagerman, Craig. 2009. “English Language Policy and Practice in Japan”, The Journal of Osaka Jogakuin University, 6: 47-64.
  • Heinrich, Patrick; Galan, Christian. 2010. "Modern and late modern perspectives on language life in Japan". Patrick Heinrich & Christian Galan (Eds.) Language life in Japan:Transformations and prospects.Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 25-40.
  • Hashimoto, Kayoko. 2000. “'Internationalisation' is 'Japanisation': Japan's foreign language education and national identity”, Journal of Intercultural Studies, 21(1): 39-51.
  • Kanno, Yasuko. 2003. Negotiating bilingual and bicultural identities: Japanese returnees betwixt two worlds. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
  • Lee, Yeounske. 2009. The ideology of kokugo: nationalizing language in modern Japan. University of Hawaii Press.
  • Liddicoat, Anthony. 2007. Internationalising Japan: Nihonjinron and the Intercultural in Japanese Language-in-education Policy, Journal of Multicultural Discourses,2:1,32-46.
  • Maher, John; Yashiro, Kyoko. (eds.). 1995. Multilingual Japan. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  • Maynard, Senko K. 1997. Japanese communication: language and thought in context. University of Hawaii Press.
  • Onishi, Takuichiro. 2009. “Dialectology in the National Institute for Japanese Language”, Dialectologia, 2: 37-50.
  • Okamoto, Shigeko., & Shibamoto-Smith, Janet. S. 2016. The Social Life of the Japanese Language: Cultural Discourse and Situated Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Spolsky, Bernard. 2004. Language policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

CHINA

  • Casas-Tost, Helena; Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2009. "Orientalism and Occidentalism: Two Forces Behind the Image of the Chinese Language and Construction of the Modern Standard." Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 4(2): 107-21.
  • Casas-Tost, Helena; Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2008. "Orientalismo y Occidentalismo: Dos fuerzas subyacentes en la imagen y la construcción de la lengua china." Inter Asia Papers, 2: 1-25.
  • Casas-Tost, Helena; Rovira-Esteva, Sara (Eds.). 2015. Guia d’estil per al tractament de mots xinesos en català. Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura. Biblioteca tècnica de política lingüística, 2. doi: 10.2436/15.8040.02.1. / https://ddd.uab.cat/record/133473.
  • Chang, Raymond; Chang, Margaret Scrogin. 2001. Speaking of Chinese. A Cultural History of the Chinese Language. New York etc.: W.W. Norton.
  • DeFrancis, John. 1986. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
  • Gao, Mobo C. F. 2000. Mandarin Chinese. An Introduction. Melbourne, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Gu, Yueguo. 2006. "Chinese." Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics. Keith E. Brown (ed.). 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Pp. 343-350.
  • Handel, Zev J. 2025. Chinese characters across Asia. How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. Washington: University of Washington Press.
  • Hannas, William. C. 1997. Asia's Orthographic Dilemma. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
  • Hannas, William. C. 2003. The Writing on the Wall: How Asian Orthography Curbs Creativity. University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Huang, Xingtao. 2023. A Cultural History of the Chinese Character "Ta (她, She)". Invention and Adoption of a New Feminine Pronoun, Oxon, New York. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Kane, Daniel. 2006. The Chinese Language. Its History and Current Usage. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing.
  • Martínez Robles, David. 2007. La lengua china: historia, signo y contexto. Una aproximación sociocultural. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
  • Moore, Oliver J. 2000. Chinese. University of California Press.
  • Norman, Jerry. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press.
  • Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2015. "Chinese Linguistics in Spain: Historical and Institutional Review." Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics Online. Brill.
  • Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2010. Lengua y escritura chinas: Mitos y realidades. Barcelona: Edicions Bellaterra.
  • Rovira-Esteva, Sara; Casas-Tost, Helena (eds.). Casas-Tost, Helena; Fustegueres i Rosich, Sílvia; Qu, Xianghong; Rovira-Esteva, Sara; Vargas-Urpí, Mireia. 2015. Guía de estilo para el uso de palabras de origen chino. Adeli Ediciones: Madrid. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/180644.

KOREA

  • Cho, Sungdai; Whitman, John. 2020. Korean: A linguistic introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kang, Hyeon-Seok. "Korea: Recent trends in sociolinguistic research." The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World (2023): 217-226. Lee, Kimoon; Ramsey, S. Robert. 2011. A history of the Korean language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Lee, Kimoon. 2006. (1ª edició 1961). Gukeosa-gaeseol (traduc. Introducció a la Història de la llengua coreana). Seoul: Taehaksa.
  • Ruhlen, Merritt. 1994. The Origin of Language: Tracing the Evolution of the Mother Tongue. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Song, Jaejung. 2006. The Korean language: Structure, use and context. London and New York: Routledge.
  • Yeon, Jaehoon. 2012. Korean dialects: A general survey. The languages of Japan and Korea. London and New York: Routledge. Pp. 168-185.


Software

None.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed