‘Changes’ to the new Japanese-Language Proficiency Test: Newly emerged language policies for non-Japanese and Japanese citizens

要旨

In 2010, the operators of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, introduced a ‘new’ version of the test, claiming to focus on communicative abilities. However, this is contradictory, as the test continues to measure the same components as the previous version—vocabulary, kanji, grammar, reading and listening—despite any addition of speaking or written components. Focusing on the ideologies of kokugo (for Japanese people) as opposed to nihongo (for foreigners) and tracing back through the history of Japanese-language testing and how it is intertwined with language policies, this paper argues the limitations surrounding the new version of the JLPT, which is the result of a lack of integration of Japanese testing instruments to actual language testing models from literacy to modern testing models, as well as reduced information on its procedures. This is further connects into newly emerged language policies that arose after the introduction of the new JLPT. Details of these policies and their implications are discussed.

主題