Survey Research on the Use of Placement Tests at Four-year University in Japna and a Preliminary Study of Item Bankin

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The purpose of this study was twofold : (1) to gain an understanding of the present condition in terms of the use of English language tests specifically for placement purposes at four-year universities in Japan and (2) to form the basis for developing test batteries. To serve the first purpose, a questionnaire study was conducted in October 1999 to determine the use of English language tests. The questionnaires were distributed to 616 four-year universities including 95 national, 66 public and 455 private universities. Two hundred questionnaires were answered and returned to the researcher. That is, 32.5% respondents' data were analyzed. The result indicated that in addition to the universities that had already been giving placement tests, many were planning to conduct tests in the near future. In other words, the number of potential users of placement tests was large and many slowed an active interest in the tests. Some universities reported developing their own test batteries to match their needs and the English abilities of their students. Those who were adopting standardized English tests also indicated the necessity and importance of utilizing more suitable tools to measure their students' English proficiency. On the other hand, many respondents raised the concern that both theoretical backbones and technical skills to develop a test, to handle the data and to analyze and interpret the results were lacking. The second purpose of this study would hopefully meet the demands of those respondents. Information through literature and human resources was collected in order to show basic ways to construct an item bank. In the final report, two cases were discussed to show how to build an item bank and the type of information that could be included.