The Validity of the Translation Task As a Reading Comprehension Measure

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the validity of translation form L2(English) into L1 (Japanese) as a language testing procedure. Especially after deciding to introduce Oral Communication in senior high school in 1989 translation tests have come under criticism. However, they have been used in Japan. We need much more empirical research in order to discuss translation tests and find good ways to use it. This survey was designed to compare the validity of the translation test with that of a question-answer in Japanese test, which was composed by the present writer. Another aim of the study is to identify the following two types of testees for both the translation test and a question-answer-in-Japanese test, as follows: Type A: testees who comprehend the text but get a low score on the test, Type B: testees who can obtain a high score on the test, but do not actually comprehend the text,in it. Eighteen raters rated the translation test and the question-answer-in-Japanese test taken by 108 Japanese undergraduate students. The paper reveals that the tests proposed by the present writer were better than the translation-tests(form L2 into L1).