BA Chinese and Japanese Studies

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme in 2023/2024 or before. For students entering the programme from September 2024 or after, you can find the details of your programme: BA Chinese and Japanese Studies (For students entering from September 2024 onwards)

This programme equips students with the linguistic skills needed to understand a range of written, spoken and broadcast material in Chinese and Japanese, and the ability to communicate effectively with Chinese and Japanese speakers. The deliberately modern bias of the programme aims to produce graduates with an all-round proficiency in Chinese and Japanese, along with a range of transferable skills and insights.

Students begin both languages from scratch (although there is provision for those with some prior learning of Chinese or Japanese) and follow an intensive language programme in their first year. The second year is spent at a

university in Japan, and the third year is spent at university in China or Taiwan. In each case students follow a prescribed course of study in language and, where offered, non-language courses.

Students return to Leeds in their fourth year to follow advanced upper-level language and non-language modules in both subjects. By the final year of the programme students should be able to interpret relevant material in a wider sense, fitting it into the broader social, political, economic and cultural context of present-day China, Japanese and the East Asian region.

Students are expected to graduate with a sound knowledge of the Chinese and Japanese languages, invaluable experience of life in Japan and in a Chinese-speaking society, and an understanding of the wider context of the East Asian region.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST1110	Modern China: History and Culture	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST1252	Modern Japan	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

Candidates with no prior knowledge of Chinese will be required to study the following modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST1010	Basic Chinese Language 1	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST1020	Basic Chinese Language 2	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Candidates with prior knowledge of Chinese will, subject to a placement test, be required to study the following modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST1460	Intermediate Chinese (1)	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST1461	Intermediate Chinese (2)	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Candidates with no prior knowledge of Japanese will be required to study the following modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST1210	Basic Japanese Language (1)	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST1220	Basic Japanese Language (2)	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Candidates with prior knowledge of Japanese will, subject to a placement test, be required to study the following modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST1280	Intermediate Japanese (1)	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST1281	Intermediate Japanese (2)	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Discovery Modules

Year 2

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Year 2 will be spent in Japan.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL9500	LCS Year Abroad	120	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Year 3

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Year 3 will be spent in China or Taiwan.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL9501	LCS Year Abroad 2	120	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Year 4

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST2030	Chinese Language Skills – 2A	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST2031	Chinese Language Skills – 2B	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP
EAST2719	Japanese 2: Pre-Advanced Communication Skills 1	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST2720	Japanese 2: Pre-Advanced Communication Skills 2	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Candidates will be required to study 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST2006	China Since 1979	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST2126	Classical Chinese	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST2148	Trauma Narratives in the Contemporary Sinophone World	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST2360	Chinese Cinema	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST2711	Civil Society and the Non-Profit Sector in Contemporary China	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST2712	An Introduction to Cantonese	20	Not running in 202526
EAST2717	Society, Culture and Environment in Early Modern China	20	Not running in 202526

Candidates will be required to study 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST2007	Japan's International Relations	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST2480	Japanese Development Assistance in a Globalising World	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST2714	Death in Japanese Society and Culture	20	Not running in 202526
EAST2715	Japanese Cinema in the World	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST2716	Nature and Technology in Japan: Cultural Images	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Year 5

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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In Level 3 students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take a minimum of 40 credits in Chinese and a minimum of 40 credits in Japanese. Overall, students must take 100 credits across their two subjects (Chinese and Japanese). The remaining 20 credits may be taken as discovery modules or as further options with either subject.

All students must take 40 credits as a Final Year Project (FYP) module, which can be taken in - and count towards - either of their two subjects (EITHER Chinese OR Japanese).

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST3275	Chinese 3: Advanced Skills	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
EAST3285	Japanese 3: Advanced Communication Skills	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
MODL3050	Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Candidates will be required to study 20 credits and may study up to 40 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST3051	Modern Documentary Chinese: Politics and Law	10	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST3070	Contemporary Chinese Literature	10	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST3286	Advanced Japanese in Context: Culture and Identity	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST3287	Advanced Japanese in Context 5: Japanese Diplomacy and Foreign Policy in Historical Context	20	Not running in 202526
EAST3580	Advanced Japanese in Translation	20	Not running in 202526
EAST3630	Advanced Chinese to English Translation	20	Not running in 202526

Candidates may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST3015	Religion in China	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST3020	Civil Society and the Non-Profit Sector in Contemporary China	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST3120	Classical Chinese	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST3148	Trauma Narratives in the Contemporary Sinophone World	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST3157	An Introduction to Cantonese	20	Not running in 202526
EAST3271	East Asia's Regional Political Economy	20	Not running in 202526
EAST3525	Globalising China and the Developing World	20	Not running in 202526

Candidates may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
EAST3016	East Asian Performing Arts	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST3017	Japan-Korea Relations in the Shadow of Empire	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST3018	Death in Japanese Society and Culture	20	Not running in 202526
EAST3156	Nature and Technology in Japan: Cultural Images	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
EAST3252	Modern Japanese History	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
EAST3350	Japanese Cinema in the World	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Discovery Modules

Candidates may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Last updated: 29/08/2025 15:27:21

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