Print Version(PDF85KB)

Announcement of Proposed Revision for “Examination of Japanese as a Foreign Language” in EJU

Set first time on May 7, 2009

updated on October 13, 2009

 

JASSO will announce “a proposed revision for the examination of Japanese as a foreign language in EJU,” which is currently under preparation for implementation from 2010.

 

1.Background of revision
EJU measures the Japanese language skills and basic scholastic abilities of foreign students who wish to study at Japanese universities (undergraduate) and other institutions. We have administered the examination twice a year since the first EJU held in 2002, making a total of 14 times by the EJU conducted in November 2008. JASSO has received various comments and opinions from users and concerned parties. JASSO as the implementing agency has investigated appropriate versions and in 2008, seeking cooperation from Japanese language-related institutions to whom we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude, we conducted several researches and trial examinations. Here we announce “the proposed revision of ‘Japanese as a Foreign Language of EJU.”

 

2.Major revisions
Major revisions are as follows.
(1) Change of description of the syllabus
The current syllabus has not sufficiently described the type of abilities that will be tested in this examination.
Therefore, in this proposed version, we try to give more detailed description of the following aspects.

• The type of abilities that will be measured.
• The type of texts that will be used (in reading, listening, and listening & reading sections) and the type of tasks that will be assigned (in writing section) to measure the above abilities.

JASSO will present the basic concepts of this examination more clearly in this proposed version to promote further understanding of users such as examinees and universities that utilize EJU scores.

 

(2) Restructuring of sections of Japanese as a foreign language
(i) We will expand the types of writing tasks and provide more valid questions. We will also modify the score rating and score presentation so that universities and other institutions can make better use of the writing scores.
(ii) We will review the present situation in which the proportion of the reading comprehension is less than that of the listening comprehension and listening & reading comprehension, and improve to create a better balance of section structure.
(iii) We will introduce new question formats such as multi-questions, which means asking several questions for one text, and long articles, to make more valid questions in light of measuring the reading comprehension skills required by universities and other institutions.
(iv) We will shorten the test time for listening comprehension and listening & reading comprehension for examinees to sustain their concentration.

Section	Score range		Time		Changes in examination tasks
	Present	Proposed	Present	Proposed
Writing	Grammatical abilities 0~3 scores	0~50 scores	20 minutes	30 minutes	Expansion of tasks (refer to the question sample)
	Logical abilities 0~3 scores
	Total ?0~6 scores
Reading comprehension	0~160 scores	0~200 scores	30 minutes	40 minutes	Introduction of multi-questions and long article (refer to the question sample)
Listening comprehension	0~120 scores	0~200 scores	70 minutes	55 minutes
Listening & Reading Comprehension	0~120 scores
Total (excluding Writing)	0~400 scores	0~400 scores
Total time			120 minutes	125 minutes

*The time in the table indicates the answering time, and the test time, i.e. the binding time including the time to distribute question booklets and answering sheets, will remain the same as before.

(The update part is from here.)

* In the reading section of the EJU to be conducted in June 2010, the questions for long articles will be given in one text and other texts will be for short articles (the length of these texts will be the same as before). Both multiple questions and conventional single questions are included in the short articles.

(3) Change of order of sections
Though we have administered the examination in the order of “writing”, “reading comprehension”, “listening comprehension”, and “Listening & reading comprehension” sections, the order of the “listening comprehension” and “listening & reading comprehension” sections will be exchanged in the examination to be held in June 2010 and afterward.

The examination will be administered in order of “writing”, “reading comprehension”, “listening & reading comprehension” and “listening comprehension” sections from June 2010.

 

4. How to convert the scores gained before revision

The score of the EJU will be valid for two years. (Respective universities will decide how long the scores will be valid with the upper limit of two years)

 

If you want to use scores gained before the revision after 2010, they will be converted to the score range set after the revision, We will inform you on our official web site.

(The update part is to here.)

5.Address for your comments
Please contact the following address if you have any comments or opinions regarding the proposed revision.
The announcement is only a draft at this stage and is subject to change at any time as a result of review and adjustment.
The official revision will be given in the 2010 EJU Implementation Guideline and the official website of EJU which is scheduled to make an announcement around December 2009.

 

*Reference

• Proposed Syllabus
• Question sample: Writing questions
• Question sample: Reading Comprehension questions(PDF:133KB)
• The score rating of “writing”(draft) * Currently updating