Abstract

Recently Japan's English National Center for University Entrance Examination (Center Test) has been gaining in importance among university preparatory students. As a result, these students may wonder: How large a vocabulary is needed to understand the Center Test? To answer this simple question, senior high school teachers might be confused, and worried about how well the English textbooks they are using prepare their students for the vocabulary of the Center Test?
The purpose of this paper is to compare the vocabulary of Japan's Center Test with the vocabulary of Japanese senior high school English textbooks, and examine how well the textbooks prepare university preparatory students for the Center Test vocabulary.
The finding of this paper is that about 91.2% of the Center Test vocabulary is covered in Japanese senior high school English textbooks. Thus, it can be said that the vocabulary of senior high school English textbooks in Japan is a good guide in both size and level for that of the Center Test.