Japanese Corporate Discourse and Culture is one of four advanced Japanese courses offered at RMIT Vietnam. Students study several aspects of the Japanese language and corporate culture through a range of authentic written and multimedia materials. They also critically analyse and reflect on contemporary issues in Japanese multinational corporations. Project-based Learning is the summative assessment of the course. They identified a particular issue from reading an assigned case on the cultural conflict at the Japanese company and find solutions that they can apply in their future.
Working Process:
Each student was assigned to read one case which described a problem at a Japanese company from the view of a non-native Japanese speaker. This student’s case title was “I just want a straightforward answer…”. 1) summarized the case, wrote keywords on the whiteboard, and pointed out the cause of the problem. After that, decided to ask industry people’s opinions on her case. 2) reported the findings and discussed further whether her findings were enough to claim her solutions that others also can apply to ease a similar problem or avoid conflict. The instructor summarized what students’ explained on the whiteboard to clarify the points raised. 3) shared the first draft and another classmate identified three main points of the short report: problem statement, findings, and solutions. 4) the second draft was read through in class before final submission to ensure its clarity and precision to reflect its importance in business writing that was learnt throughout the course.
