Sample Lesson Plan Two
Building Vocabulary and Finding Japanese News Articles
Class:
Japanese Seniors' Thesis Preparation - Library Instruction Session
Instrutor:
Sharon Domier, East Asian Studies Librarian
Subject of the Lesson
To develop a Japanese language vocabulary that can be used as keywords to search newspaper article databases.
Audience
Students preparing to write an honors thesis that incorporates Japanese language sources
Learning Objectives
(note: this lesson addresses ACRL Standards 1. Of the SAILS Skill Sets, it primarily addresses Sets 5-8, but also incorporates some of 3-4.)
- Students will use online English-Japanese dictionaries to develop a list of key concepts in Japanese
- Students will use online Japanese (kokugo) dictionaries to develop lists of related terms in Japanese
- Students will search both English and Japanese language news indexes effectively to find articles on their chosen topic
- Students will use online dictionary tools to help them read Japanese full-text articles retrieved
Content Outline
- Building a list of key words in Japanese
- How to find full-text articles
- News articles: selecting indexes; searching Lexis-Nexis in English and Yomiuri Newspaper in Japanese
- Refining your search / Power key word searching
- Using truncation to expand your search
- Using Boolean logic to narrow your search
- Sorting by date/relevance
- Using online tools to help you read Japanese text
Methods
Part I
- Think-Pair-Share: Think - students will spend 2 minutes coming up with a list of potential topics. Pair - students will pair up to discuss their topics and refine their search terms for 2 minutes. Share - students will announce their topic/search terms to the rest of the class.
- Guided searching: Using an online English-Japanese dictionary, students will search their English terms and develop a list of Japanese terms. Students will record their findings using the vocabulary builder handout.
- Guided searching: Using an online Japanese (kokugo) dictionary, students will learn the pronunciation of the Japanese term, its definition, synonyms and related terms. Students will record their findings using the vocabulary builder handout.
Part II
- Guided searching: Using Lexis-Nexis Academic, World News Asian/Pacific News Sources, students will search using their English terms for articles and record their findings in the database search log handout.
- Scanning the relevant articles, students will look for other terms that can be added to their vocabulary builder handout.
- Guided searching: Using the key words generated in the Part I and any gained in Part II, students will search online newspaper databases for articles on their topics. Students will record their findings in the database search log handout.
Part III
- Brief lecture: Boolean operators (and, or, not), truncation, limit by year (Handout: Power Keyword Searching in English and Japanese)
- Guided searching: students will try to refine their initial search results by applying Boolean operators and/or truncation to their earlier searches and compare results, recording their findings in the database search log handout.
Part IV
- Guided searching: students will learn about and try some of the online Japanese language dictionary tools to see how they can be used to speed up reading of Japanese text (Rikai.com, Jim Breen's WWWJDIC)
- Brief lecture: how to find back issues of print newspapers, other sources of online newspaper articles
- Wrap-up; students complete evaluation form
PDF