Language Testing Research and Test Development for Minority Children in Japan

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The number of limited-Japanese proficient ( LJP ) children in Japanese schools has increased dramatically in recent years. It is hoped to develop a new test of Japanese as a second language to assess LJP children's readiness for Japanese medium instruction at their schools.The research describes the development of the new test with the following sub tests : Speaking test : Controlled oral interview (21 items), Reading test : Structure of Japanese and Reading comprehension (21 items ) , and Writing test : 2 story writing ( one with picture cues and one without). The article also analyzes, norms, and validates the test to provide information on items and their formats that will be of use to test developers, teachers and others interested in assessing Japanese language skills of LJP children. The article stresses that it is vital in constructing a language test to understand that the role of age and academic background influence the LJP children's language outcome.The study presents a lis … More t of recommendations for writing test items based on statistical data and professional views from language teachers, and yet concludes that further investigation and research on assessing language-minority children will be needed.The report also focuses on factors that influence the students' Japanese proficiency. These factors include the length of stay in Japan, the students' first language, gender, and grade level. Although the length of stay in Japan is found to be by far the most significant determiner of proficiency,their first language, gender, and grade level are influential on each of the four language skills ; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Results also show some significant differences in performance according to grade level.This study illustrates the teachers' views, both language teachers and content teachers, on students' language proficiency, and discusses the differences between them. Many concrete suggestions are provided for improving guidelines for language assessment of LJP children. Less