Writing: Extended Response in Japanese
Writing in Scholarship Japanese tests sustained, coherent Japanese produced under task conditions. The assessment rewards a clear line of argument, genre-appropriate register, accurate complex sentences and control of kanji and kana. It is not a grammar test alone: an answer that lists correct sentences without answering the prompt will not reach the top band.
Core rules
- Answer the task type: 意見論述 needs a thesis, reasons, counterargument and conclusion; 説明文 needs definition, mechanism and example; 手紙/メール needs appropriate opening, body and closing.
- Keep one written register: である for reports and essays, です・ます for polite letters. Do not drift between them.
- Build paragraphs with a topic sentence, support and a link. Use まず, 次に, さらに, 一方, したがって to show function, not decoration.
- Prefer nominalisation and concrete verbs: 「参加を義務化すると、自発性が損なわれかねない」 is stronger than 「強制するのはどうかと思います」.
- Reserve keigo for letters and emails; in an essay, overusing させていただきます sounds evasive.
Worked example
Prompt: 地域社会におけるボランティア活動の意義について論じなさい。 Weak: 「ボランティアは大切だと思います。でも、強制するのはどうかと思います。」 Revised: 「ボランティア活動は住民間の信頼形成に寄与する。しかし、参加を義務化すれば、自発性が損なわれかねない。」 Reasoning: the revision names a mechanism (信頼形成), uses 寄与する, marks concession with しかし, and uses 〜かねない for a negative possibility. It answers both significance and policy.
Traps
- English sentence order with Japanese particles.
- Overusing 〜と思います instead of asserting a claim.
- Vague pronouns それ/これ with no clear referent.
- Kanji errors that change meaning, such as 対象/対照.
- Ignoring character count or task bullet points.