Abstract
The aims of this study are to explain the theoretical background for designing a 'Strategic Competence Test' for EFL learners, and also to assess the 'Strategic Competence' of Japanese high school and college students. Communicative competence consists of several major competences. One of these, namely Strategic Competence, used to get little attention in foreign language classrooms. However, the importance of developing the strategic competence of learners has become increasingly recognized by many researchers and practitioners. This paper presents the brief theoretical background to the design of a 'Strategic Competence Test,' based on the idea of Celce-Murcia, Dornyei, and Thurrell (1995). The test was conducted with 264 Japanese high school students and 245 college students, so that the results would show us which specific strategies are familiar to Japanese students and also what differences are seen between the two groups. The results of the study encourage us to promote the learners' knowledge about communication strategies for getting involved in conversations more actively.
