Juanita High School – AP Japanese Language & Culture

Mar 2026 · 2nd Semester

The AP Japanese Language and Culture course emphasizes communication (understanding and being understood by others) by applying the interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication in real-life situations. This includes vocabulary usage, language control, communication strategies, and cultural awareness. The AP Japanese Language and Culture course strives not to overemphasize grammatical accuracy at the expense of communication. To best facilitate the study of language and culture, the course is taught almost exclusively in Japanese. The course engages students in an exploration of culture in both contemporary and historical contexts. The course develops students’ awareness and appreciation of social, political, and educational issues (e.g., the role of religion in society, traditional versus modern gender roles), as well as more traditional topics (e.g., arts, customs, festivals, geography, and history). Throughout the course, students develop interpersonal skills that enable them to request and confirm the receipt of information, ask for and provide directions, and issue and respond to invitations. They also develop more cognitively challenging functional language skills, including the ability to compare phenomena, express opinions and preferences, and discuss life experiences. Additionally, students develop a command of a significant number of the most prevalent kanji characters used in Japanese writing.