Abstract

Under MEXT’s basic educational promotion plan, half of Japan’s high school students should have an English proficiency equivalent to the EIKEN test Grade 2 or Pre-2 by graduation. However, target attainment rates to date are quite unsatisfactory, especially for speaking. The purpose of this research is to analyze the topical and linguistic characteristics of EIKEN Grade 2 ‘Passage’ topics and interview test items #3 and #4 used between 2007 and 2016. Sixty interviews were analyzed in total. The paper categorized and tallied the topics employed, and used Word Level Checker, AntConc, and Microsoft Word software to analyze linguistic features. These research findings concerning commonly used topics, linguistic forms, and vocabulary level in the EIKEN Grade 2 interview test could help Japanese learners of English prepare for the examination.