Abstract
The present study examines the factors related to assessment of listening comprehension abilities focusing on oral communication, introduced by MOMBUSHO in 1994. This research also contains the formation and implementation of reliable and valid listening tests conducted by our study group. The pilot study was conducted at several high schools and technical colleges in May 1995. Our study group focused on the following three listening skills: 1) general listening skills, 2) selective listening skills, and 3) interactive listening skills. General listening skill items required the students to show an ability to infer from a given situation, understand the intention of the speaker, and to be able to form a synthesis of the overall listening. Selective listening test items assessed an ability to decide and select the most important details. The test items on interactive listening required the students to receive the data, and to actively respond to the information for various purposes. Examples of these test items and an analysis of the results are also presented in this paper.
