変わっていく若者の生活 — education, health and the household (テーマ１)

From one bare fact — the national curriculum guidelines are set by the ministry and revised about once a decade — build a paragraph of essay-register Japanese that states, complicates, attributes and concludes, in about 140 characters.

1. 01State the mechanism, with its proper name

   日本では、学校で教える内容は文部科学省が定める学習指導要領によって決められている. Three deliberate choices. 日本では frames the claim as being about Japan, which matters because the examiner may be reading twenty scripts that forget to. によって marks the means, which is the analytical particle from the grammar topic. And 決められている is the passive with ている for a standing arrangement — the content is set and remains set — rather than 決められた, which would report a single act.

2. 02Add the fact that makes it a system rather than an event

   この要領はおよそ十年ごとに改訂され、そのたびに教育の方向が変わる. ごとに is every, 改訂される is the passive of to revise, and 改訂され is its ます-stem used to chain into the next clause — the written-register alternative to 改訂されて. そのたびに is each time. Notice that this sentence turns a static fact into a mechanism with a rhythm, which is what lets the paragraph go on to say something about change.

3. 03Introduce the contested part, marked as contested

   そのため、ゆとり教育のように、一つの改訂が世代全体の特徴として語られることもある. のように is like or such as; 語られる is the passive of to speak of; ことがある and its variant ことも ある mean there are cases where. The whole sentence attributes rather than asserts: it says that a reform gets talked about as a generational characteristic, without endorsing the idea that it is one. That is exactly the move the AO4 grid means by critical analysis.

4. 04Give the counter-position its clause

   しかし、学力の変化が制度の変化だけによるものだとは限らない. とは限らない, it is not necessarily the case that, is one of the highest-value forms in essay Japanese: it lets you reject an over-simple causal claim without asserting the opposite. だけによるものだ is to be due only to. This sentence does not say ゆとり教育 had no effect; it says a single cause has not been established, which is a defensible position and a far stronger one.

5. 05Conclude in a way your own paragraph has earned

   したがって、制度の変化を評価するには、長い期間を通して見る必要があるだろう. したがって is therefore. 評価するには is in order to evaluate, with には marking the purpose of what follows. 必要がある is it is necessary, and だろう hedges it to the right strength. The conclusion introduces no new fact — it restates the difficulty the paragraph demonstrated — which is the test of a real conclusion as against a fifth sentence.

6. 06Check the endings and count the characters

   Endings: 決められている, 変わる, ある, 限らない, あるだろう. All plain register, none repeated, and the paragraph runs to about 140 characters — roughly a fifth of a Paper 1 Section C answer. If you needed to shorten it, the sentence to cut is the second, because the paragraph's argument survives without the revision cycle; if you needed to lengthen it, the place to add is a named example after のように.

Result: 日本では、学校で教える内容は文部科学省が定める学習指導要領によって決められている。この要領はおよそ十年ごとに改訂され、そのたびに教育の方向が変わる。そのため、ゆとり教育のように、一つの改訂が世代全体の特徴として語られることもある。しかし、学力の変化が制度の変化だけによるものだとは限らない。したがって、制度の変化を評価するには、長い期間を通して見る必要があるだろう。

The text contains this passage. 塾に通う生徒の割合は地域によって大きく異なる。都市部では小学生のうちから通う子どもが少なくないが、地方では通える塾そのものが近くにないこともある。ある教育研究者は、この違いを「機会の格差」と呼び、費用だけの問題ではないと述べている。 The question, in English, is: According to the text, why does the researcher argue that the difference is not only a question of cost? Answer in English.

1. 01Read the question first and decide what kind of answer it wants

   The question asks WHY the researcher argues something. It is not asking what the researcher said, and it is not asking you to summarise the paragraph. So the answer is a reason, it will be short, and it will come from the part of the text that explains the researcher's position — which is the last sentence plus whatever the last sentence points back to. Deciding this before you re-read the Japanese saves several minutes across four questions, and the recommended timing for the whole of Section B is 45 minutes.

2. 02Locate the answer, and notice what the Japanese is actually doing

   The key clause is 地方では通える塾そのものが近くにないこともある — in rural areas there is sometimes no juku nearby that one could attend at all. Three pieces of grammar carry the meaning: 通える is the potential of 通う, so it is about being able to attend, not choosing to; そのもの intensifies 塾 to mean the juku itself, that is, the institution rather than its price; and ないこともある softens it to sometimes there is none. Together they say availability, not affordability — which is precisely the researcher's point.

3. 03Check the sentence that states the claim, so you do not misattribute it

   ある教育研究者は…と述べている. ある教育研究者 is a certain education researcher, unnamed, and 述べている attributes the statement to them. The question already tells you it is the researcher's argument, but this matters for the answer's wording: write the researcher argues, not the text shows, because the text is reporting a view rather than establishing a fact. Section B rewards reading precisely, and misattributing a claim to the author when the author is quoting somebody else is a standard way to lose a mark.

4. 04Write the answer in English, and only the answer

   Because in some rural areas there is no juku near enough to attend at all, so access depends on where a family lives and not only on whether they can afford the fees. That is one sentence, it answers why, it uses the word access rather than copying 機会の格差 untranslated, and it contains nothing the text did not say. Compare the tempting wrong answer — a translation of the whole third sentence — which would tell the examiner that you can read Japanese but not that you can answer a question.

5. 05Do not lift undigested Japanese, and do not over-translate either

   Two opposite failures. Lifting means copying 機会の格差 into an English answer and leaving it there: the examiner cannot tell whether you understood it. Over-translating means rendering 機会の格差 as inequality of opportunity and then building a paragraph about social justice that the text does not support. The middle path is to translate the phrase inside your own sentence, in the words the question needs — here, access depends on where a family lives — and stop.

6. 06Budget the section, and answer every part

   Twenty marks across four questions in 45 minutes is a little over ten minutes a question, including reading the texts. Multiple-choice questions should take a fraction of that, which buys time for the open-response ones. And because Section B is marked point by point like the translation, an unanswered part is a guaranteed zero while a partly right English sentence may earn something — so if a question defeats you, write the most defensible sentence you can from what you did understand, and move on.

Result: Model answer, in English as required: Because in some rural areas there is no juku near enough to attend at all, so whether a student can go depends on where the family lives and not only on whether they can afford the fees. The method: read the question first and classify what it wants; locate the answer clause and read its grammar exactly (通える potential, そのもの intensifier, ないこともある hedge); check who is being credited with the claim; then write one English sentence that answers the question and nothing else.

Translate into Japanese. As students get closer to their entrance examinations, many of them sleep less and skip breakfast. Some say that club activities make the problem worse, but the causes are not easy to separate. Schools have begun to place counsellors on site, although their number is said to be insufficient.

1. 01Sentence 1: as they get closer is につれて, not とき

   受験が近づくにつれて、睡眠時間が短くなり、朝食を抜く生徒が多くなる. につれて is the Appendix 2 construction for two changes moving together, and it is exactly what as they get closer means; とき would say when, which loses the proportionality. 睡眠時間が短くなり uses the ます-stem to chain into the next clause in written register. 朝食を抜く生徒 is a relative clause modifying 生徒, and inside it を is correct because 抜く is transitive.

2. 02Sentence 2, first half: some say is a hedged attribution, not a subject

   部活動がこの問題を悪化させているという意見もある. Some say could be tempting to render as 何人かの人は言う, which is unnatural; Japanese prefers ～という意見もある, there is also the view that. 悪化させている is the causative of 悪化する — making it worse — with ている for an ongoing state, and it correctly names 部活動 as the agent because that is what the English claim does. Keeping it inside という意見 means you have reported the claim without endorsing it.

3. 03Sentence 2, second half: not easy to separate needs a potential or a のは construction

   しかし、原因を切り分けるのは容易ではない. のは nominalises the preceding clause — the act of separating the causes — and is the Appendix 2 nominaliser の rather than こと, which is the more natural choice when the nominalised clause is the subject of an evaluative predicate. 容易ではない is the written-register form of is not easy; 簡単ではない is fine and slightly less formal. An alternative using the potential, 原因を切り分けることは難しい, is equally acceptable.

4. 04Sentence 3, first half: have begun to is ～ようになる or ～始める, and they differ

   学校では、カウンセラーを置くようになった. ようになる marks a change to a new state of affairs — schools have come to place counsellors — which is what have begun to means when describing a policy shift. 置き始めた would say they started the act of placing, which is narrower and slightly odd for an institutional practice. 学校では uses では because a contrast with other places is implied. カウンセラー stays in katakana: a loanword that Japanese has adopted should be left as a loanword, and translating it into a native compound would be over-translating.

5. 05Sentence 3, second half: is said to be is そう or と言われている

   ただし、その数は十分ではないと言われている. Appendix 2 lists plain form plus そう for hearsay — 十分ではないそうだ would also be correct — but ～と言われている is the register of an essay and of a report, and it is the safer choice in a translation of an impersonal English is said to be. ただし is a written-register however that concedes a qualification, slightly more precise than しかし here because the qualification does not reverse the previous clause.

6. 06Check register, particles and the three fatal classes

   Endings: 多くなる, ある, ない, なった, 言われている — all plain register, none repeated. Particles: が on 睡眠時間 and 部活動 as new subjects, を on 朝食, 問題 and カウンセラー as objects of transitive verbs, では twice for framed places. Subjects: the sentences have three different ones, and each is marked, so no unmarked change of subject remains. That was the specification's most severe error class, and it is checked first.

Result: 受験が近づくにつれて、睡眠時間が短くなり、朝食を抜く生徒が多くなる。部活動がこの問題を悪化させているという意見もあるが、原因を切り分けるのは容易ではない。学校では、カウンセラーを置くようになった。ただし、その数は十分ではないと言われている。 The scoring decisions: につれて for proportional change, the ます-stem chain, a relative clause with を, ～という意見もある for a reported view, the causative 悪化させている, のは with an evaluative predicate, ようになる for a change of practice, katakana kept for a loanword, and ～と言われている for an impersonal is said.

You hear a recording in which a school teacher says that recognised cases have increased because schools now report smaller incidents that they once overlooked. You then read a text in which a parents' group argues that the increase reflects a real worsening, driven by online bullying. Write 5(a) and 5(b) as summaries, then 5(c) as an evaluation. Answer in Japanese.

1. 01Understand the shape of the task before writing a character

   Paper 3 Section B is 30 marks in a recommended 1 hour 30 minutes. 5(a) and 5(b) are points-based summaries — one of the heard source, one of the read source — and 5(c) is an evaluation of the viewpoints in both, at approximately 400 to 500 characters, marked by three grids: AO1 out of 6 for the spoken source, AO2 out of 6 for the written source, and AO3 out of 10 for accuracy and range. Everything in Section B is set in Japanese and answered in Japanese. So the summaries must be complete and the evaluation must visibly use both sources, because two of the three grids are about whether you understood them.

2. 025(a): summarise the heard source as a position, not as a transcript

   教師は、認知件数が増えたのは学校の対応が変わったためだと述べている。以前は見過ごされていた小さな出来事も、現在は報告されるようになったという. Two moves make this a summary rather than a paraphrase. のは…ためだ packages the whole causal claim into one frame, which is what a summary is for. And ～という at the end attributes the second sentence to the speaker without repeating 述べている. A points-based summary is scored on the points recovered, so include the cause and the mechanism, and leave out any colour.

3. 035(b): summarise the read source, and mark that it disagrees

   一方、保護者団体は、増加は実際の悪化を示すものだと主張している。特にネットいじめが広がっていることを理由として挙げている. 一方 signals that this is the other side, which costs one word and orients the examiner immediately. 主張している is stronger than 述べている and is the right verb for a group advancing a case. 理由として挙げている, cites as a reason, is a compact way to attach the evidence to the claim. Note that you are summarising the position, not adjudicating it — that comes next.

4. 045(c), first move: state exactly where the two sources differ

   二つの資料は、同じ数字の増加について正反対の説明をしている。教師は測り方の変化を、保護者団体は現実の変化を原因として挙げている. Naming the disagreement precisely is the highest-value sentence in the whole answer, because it proves you understood both sources — which is what the AO1 and AO2 grids measure. Notice that the sentence does not yet take a side. 測り方 for the way of measuring is exact and short; 現実の変化 for a real change is its clean opposite.

5. 055(c), middle: weigh them with a criterion, not with a preference

   どちらの説明が正しいかを判断するには、定義や報告の方法が変わった時期と、件数が増えた時期が一致しているかどうかを見る必要があるだろう. This is the sentence that turns an opinion into an evaluation: it names what evidence would settle the question. には marks the purpose, かどうか is the Appendix 2 embedded question with whether, 一致する is to coincide, and 必要があるだろう hedges to the right strength. You do not need to have that evidence; naming it is the analytical act.

6. 065(c), conclusion: take a position, hedged to the strength of your reasons

   ネットいじめのように、以前は存在しなかった形のいじめが増えているのであれば、保護者団体の指摘にも根拠があると考えられる。ただし、報告の変化を無視して現実の悪化だけで説明することはできないだろう. のであれば is if it is the case that, which makes the concession conditional and therefore honest. ～にも根拠がある, there is a basis for that too, concedes without capitulating. And the final sentence rejects the single-cause account rather than the source, which is the position the evidence actually supports. Count your characters: this runs to roughly 420, inside the 400 to 500 guide.

Result: 5(a) 教師は、認知件数が増えたのは学校の対応が変わったためだと述べている。以前は見過ごされていた小さな出来事も、現在は報告されるようになったという。 5(b) 一方、保護者団体は、増加は実際の悪化を示すものだと主張している。特にネットいじめが広がっていることを理由として挙げている。 5(c) 二つの資料は、同じ数字の増加について正反対の説明をしている。教師は測り方の変化を、保護者団体は現実の変化を原因として挙げている。どちらの説明が正しいかを判断するには、定義や報告の方法が変わった時期と、件数が増えた時期が一致しているかどうかを見る必要があるだろう。ネットいじめのように、以前は存在しなかった形のいじめが増えているのであれば、保護者団体の指摘にも根拠があると考えられる。ただし、報告の変化を無視して現実の悪化だけで説明することはできないだろう。

Your research subject is 家族関係や人間関係. The unseen text describes a local authority that has opened a community space where older residents and schoolchildren eat together twice a week. The statement to respond to is: 家族の形が変わったことで、家庭内の人間関係は弱くなった。あなたはどう考えるか。Plan and open the answer.

1. 01Read the statement as a claim with parts, and find the part you can contest

   The statement contains two propositions welded together: that family form has changed, and that relationships within the household have therefore weakened. The first is well documented and you should concede it immediately — conceding a documented fact costs nothing and buys credibility. The second is an interpretation, and it is the one to argue about. Section C is 40 marks in a recommended 1 hour 25 minutes at approximately 600 to 700 characters, and the AO4 grid out of 20 rewards sustaining a line of argument and drawing conclusions, so identify your line in the first two minutes.

2. 02Decide which of your three aspects each paragraph will use

   The research subject's three aspects are your paragraph plan, and using all three is a requirement rather than a flourish. Paragraph one: 伝統的な家族構成 and the 1947 abolition of the 家制度, establishing that the change is real and old. Paragraph two: 核家族 and 単身世帯, establishing what changed and roughly when. Paragraph three: 家庭内の人間関係, where you contest the conclusion. Paragraph four uses the unseen text. Paragraph five concludes. That is five paragraphs of about 130 characters each, which lands inside the guide length.

3. 03Open by conceding the documented half of the statement

   確かに、家族の形は大きく変わった。一九四七年の民法改正によって家制度が廃止され、その後、三世代同居は減り、核家族や単身世帯が増えてきた。確かに…が is the standard concessive frame and signals to the examiner that you have read the statement rather than reacting to it. によって marks the legal instrument as the means. 廃止され is the passive ます-stem chaining forward. Note that you have used a dated fact, which the AO4 grid values, and no invented number, which nothing values.

4. 04Turn on the interpretation, and say what would count as evidence

   しかし、形が変わったことが、そのまま関係の弱まりを意味するとは限らない。関係の強さを測るには、同居しているかどうかではなく、連絡の頻度や困ったときに頼れるかどうかを見る必要があるのではないか。This is the argumentative core. とは限らない refuses the inference; には…を見る必要がある names a better criterion; ではなく contrasts the weak criterion with the strong one; のではないか advances it as a proposal. A reader now knows exactly what you are claiming and on what basis.

5. 05Bring in the unseen text as evidence, not as decoration

   本文が紹介している取り組みは、この点で示唆的である。高齢者と子どもが週に二回一緒に食事をする場が地域に作られたということは、家庭の外に新しい関係が生まれていることを示している。The AO2 grid out of 10 is specifically about using the unseen text to contribute to your argument, so the text must do work: here it supplies an instance of relationships forming outside the household, which supports your criterion-based reading rather than merely illustrating the topic. 示唆的である, suggestive, is the right strength — the text is one local case and cannot prove a national claim.

6. 06Conclude with a qualified position, and check the mechanics

   以上のことから、家族の形が変わったことは事実であるが、それによって人間関係が弱くなったと結論づけるのは早いと考えられる。むしろ、関係の場所が家庭の内から外へ広がっていると見るほうが実態に近いのではないか。 以上のことから is from the above and signals the conclusion. 結論づけるのは早い, it is premature to conclude, is a strong analytical move. Then check: one register throughout, every paragraph attached to an aspect, the text used once and used for something, no number invented, and the whole between 600 and 700 characters.

Result: Opening and closing as drafted: 確かに、家族の形は大きく変わった。一九四七年の民法改正によって家制度が廃止され、その後、三世代同居は減り、核家族や単身世帯が増えてきた。しかし、形が変わったことが、そのまま関係の弱まりを意味するとは限らない。…以上のことから、家族の形が変わったことは事実であるが、それによって人間関係が弱くなったと結論づけるのは早いと考えられる。むしろ、関係の場所が家庭の内から外へ広がっていると見るほうが実態に近いのではないか。 The architecture: concede the documented half, contest the inference, propose a criterion, make the unseen text carry evidence for that criterion, conclude in a form your own paragraphs earned.