posted Feb 6, 2012, 12:36 AM by Hamamatsu JALT
Standardized Language testing in JapanEdward SarichStandardized
language testing is ubiquitous in Japan. Inexpensive and easily mass
distributed, their use has been encouraged at every level of the
education system. Over the past thirty years, external testing agencies
have been increasingly relied upon to make standardized tests for use as
benchmarks in the education system and in the private sector. However,
while great trust has been placed in these agencies that create these
tests, many of them operate with very little supervision. The
presentation will review the practices of some of the commonly used
external testing agencies in Japan and discuss how greater
accountability from these agencies might not only improve test validity,
but make them more useful for score users and test takers.
Edward Sarich
has been working in the field of language education for more than 15
years. He taught junior and senior high school for 7 years in Hamamatsu
Japan. While completing an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University
of Birmingham, in 2010, Edward began working as a language instructor
at Shizuoka University. He is interested in all issues concerning
language pedagogy in Japan, particularly regarding language planning
policy, standardized testing, evaluation, and communicative language
teaching. |
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