English test requirement for university sparks debate

New government plans for reform of the country’s university admissions examination system requiring students to pass a new standardised English test in 2020 have sparked strong but mixed reactions among higher education institutions, including over the use of privately run tests.

Tomohasa Iizuka, at the university entrance examination section at the ministry of education, said the new tests incorporating speaking and writing skills are aimed at producing students who can communicate fluently in English.

“Japan needs university students who have a global outlook and English proficiency is an important pillar in this respect,” he said.

The ministry announced that, as part of the reform of the national admissions entrance exam system revealed in June, private test companies with experience in testing oral and written skills could take over the testing, arguing that many students already sit privately run English assessment tests.

The government is planning to phase this in, initially using a hybrid system of students sitting a privately run speaking and writing test, and then a month or two later sitting the new national entrance exam, which will include a candidate’s reading and listening abilities.

“The stark reality is that Japanese English proficiency among university students is of extremely poor quality,” said Takashi Inoguchi, president of the University of Niigata Prefecture, who has also taught at the University of Tokyo.

“The planned new test, if aimed at the selection of the most talented students, will be an invaluable opportunity to make our universities internationally competitive,” he said.

Initial opposition

The ministry push was at first bitterly opposed by the Japan Association of National Universities, which raised the difficulty of establishing a standard evaluation if the exam is privatised.

Masashi Negishi, professor of applied linguists at the national Tokyo University of Foreign Languages and a leading researcher on English entry test changes, explained that while the proposed reforms will be based on Common European Framework of Reference for Languages or CEFR standards which has a six-level grading system, the problem for universities is setting a reasonable standard against the backdrop of low English proficiency among Japanese students.

“We are at a point where universities are now discussing what could be the standard score in English. Do we set the bar too high which could be unfair to Japanese students struggling with English proficiency on the whole?” he said.

Surveys published by the ministry of education indicate that more than 8% of Japanese high school students score the lowest – A1 level – in the CEFR.

Emerging gap

Apart from the different score formats used by international English testing companies, critics also pointed to the problem that a gap could emerge between students exposed to English early and thus have a competitive edge for university entrance over their peers who studied later or without access to foreign teachers.

Currently, in the main entrance exam known as the National Center Test for University Admissions sat by over 560,000 students last year, English proficiency is examined via listening and reading tests. High scores in the national exam opens the way for students to apply for top national universities that have limited places, and also to highly reputed private universities.

After acceptance through the scores, applicants take separate tests given by the universities. According to official figures, in 2015 around 26% of public universities and 46% of private universities used or planned to use privately run exams, such as TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language, widely recognised by overseas universities – GTEC or the EIKEN English proficiency test.

However, the national entrance examination is facing intense reform pressure, particularly in the English examination, as Japanese higher education is moving away from producing graduates with good academic skills to increasing their ability to think, judge and express themselves on par with their international counterparts.

Inoguchi, said a major concern is establishing a watered-down admission standard for the new English proficiency test aimed at accepting more students in universities.

“Traditionally the focus on English ability in higher education has been secondary to the other subjects. Breaking through this mentality carries the risk of bowing to low standards that could mean students with poor English quality will still be admitted. This defeats the purpose of much sought-after reforms [in the national admissions exams],” he said.

While now coming round to accepting a privately run English test with the proviso of offering a plan B test for those who fail the new test, the association explains the results of the new test will have to be looked at again after 2021 and improvements brought in before it can be officially accepted by around 2030.

Koji Sugisaki, professor of linguistics at Kwansei Gakuin University, Osaka, says the success of the English university exam will depend on beefing up English-language teaching in high schools, and the problem will be the cost of achieving this.

“If the government English test is going to evaluate four skills, especially speaking ability, the ideal class size for high schools would be far smaller, 4-5 students, along with the help of a native speaker for each class,” he noted, saying this would be unlikely to happen. Without this, the revamped national entrance exam would not achieve its aim of improving students’ skills, and could also make the situation worse.

Some 10 different private English tests have been identified by the government for possible use in the national admissions exam, including the TOEIC or Test of English for International Communication, EIKEN, a test of practical English proficiency set by the Eiken Foundation of Japan backed by the government, and Cambridge tests administered in the United Kingdom.

In early November the ministry unveiled eligibility rules for private English test companies, which include having offered testing in Japan for at least two years and being able to hold the test multiple times in all prefectures across Japan, and conform to the country’s school curriculum guidelines, with the result of a comparison of testing companies to be announced in March 2018.