Possibilities for Measuring Japanese Language Ability for Daily Life

Abstract

The acquisition of Japanese language skills useful in daily life is essential for people who come to Japan to make it their home, whether for work or for marriage. Accordingly, a test that can measure Japanese language ability for daily life should function as a guidepost and incentive for Japanese language acquisition adapted to the learner's stage of life, and should provide an appropriate explanation of Japanese language ability. The current officially recognized tests, however, are designed for learners whose goals are study or business, and are unable to measure Japanese language ability for daily life.

But one large-scale test, the Dutch Civic Integration Examination, combining performance evaluation of language competence with a portfolio evaluation, aims to measure language ability for use in actual life, as well as to promote the use of Dutch in society. In this paper I refer to the Dutch test in a consideration of the possibilities and problems of measuring Japanese language ability for daily life.