Since the advent of the global economic recession in the fall of 2008, there has been a remarkable increase in displaced workers, leading to an unemployment rate of over 5% in Japan. In particular, the rise in unemployment has been the most pronounced among foreign residents, many of whom are non-regular employees, with the rate peaking over 70%. To address unemployment among foreigners, in areas where the concentration of foreign residents is high, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has taken advantage of the business opportunities and has initiated measures to create employment. Simultaneously, it has sought to promote internationalization/multicultural policies.

The NPO to which the author belongs has sought to employ and train foreign staff as a part of its commission to promote a multicultural municipal project for the national government’s emergency job creation initiative. In this paper, the specific activities carried out for the realization of this objective are introduced. In addition, the paper describes how the experience of working as an NPO staff member and undergoing training has led to the transformation of foreigners’ self-awareness and professionalism, as has been revealed through interviews. As a result of their experience in working at the NPO, upon self-awareness, the foreign staff members have gained a new awareness of their relationship with Japanese society and their local community. They also have a more concrete image of their future careers. In order to create a multicultural society, it is imperative for foreigners to be independent and participate in society. Thus, it has been demonstrated that employment can function as an agent for promoting multiculturalism and for providing opportunities to foreigners for reexamining their relationship with Japanese society.

　大規模テストにおける記述テストには，受験者選別の機能に加え，診断的評価の側面，正負の波及効果の側面がある。本稿では，アカデミック・ライティングと社会生活でのライティングについて，これらの側面からJSLの記述テストの新たな可能性を検討する。また，自動採点技術や日本語母語話者にとってのライティングの現状など，近年の技術発展や状況の変化を視野に入れつつ，記述テストの将来像について考察する。