I finally came up with a letter of complaint for the JLPT. I do not know how to start a new thread so I post here. Forgive me please because it is quite long. THis is the first draft I hope with your comments critics and suggestions to reach a better version than translate it to japanese and signing and mailing to the proper address...
This letter was thought to suggest a more proper treatment of students who attempt to pass the JPN3 test.
Unlike others I personally do not have a deadline or a admission test to some japanese schools that requires me to pass the test. Testing myself is just a way to keep focusing to a target in order to prevent me to be lazy on japanese improvement.
In my first JPN3 test attempt, last July, I had the bad feeling of not receiving any warning about the time ending. That shocked me since there is not logical and propedeutical reason for not doing it, hence I wrote the letter below.
I would love to hear your comments.
****** please you are encouraged to add your thoughts and even your english improvements!!! '( *******
Dear Japan Foundation,
I have decided to address you this letter after long time since I believe it contains a wish to improve your testing method.
Since I came to Japan I tested myself in IELTS test for English twice and for DITALS, Italian Professional certification for teacher. My background is vaste considering I am 47 years old, with a bachelor degree in History of Shows and I lived in U.S.A and London Uk for a while.
According to latest research in teaching and evaluating assessment process, some fundings are quite clear.
A language test is very difficult to prepare but it should not be more difficult than what is really necessary. This means that the language skills are shte solely ones at stake and no other skills must be assessed. For instance a language test conducted while the candidate is swimming in a 20 meteres long swimming pool would be somehow akward. Would you consider the result valid? What exactly the test would measure? The ability to speak or the ability to speak while swimming? And what difference is between those skills is hard to measure.
So the difficulty of preparing the language test is to neatly severe the language skills to other skills that maybe involved during the test .
It is much easier to think of a Language test prepared for a candidate who has got no arms. Would you ask him to write? Of course not, you would calibrate questions, and the way he has to answer in a different way. The finally assesment also would be difficult if you have not prior experience in dealing with such kind of student.
What if you have to assess a different skills than the language skills...say, for instance, the abilty to entertain. What would be your best solution? It is hard to answer but let me be your consulent since I have been working in the theatre field for more than 10 years, both in Italy and in USA. The best way to assess the ability of a candidate to entertain is to make him or her facing a real audience. Recording the audience response will give you a real measure to compare different candidate. Of course composing an average audience is kind of hard but not impossible.
Thank you for following until here, we are approching the problem of the JPN test.
For entartaing an audience for just 3 minutes, for instance, every candidate needs to prepare a short speech, rehearsing it enough times to be sure it does not overpass the duration of three minutes. Doing so he developes a special skill, I would call performing skill which is tipycal of perfomers, especially improvisational performers , that let the performer beaware of the passing time so the perfomer knows with a certain degree of precision when the last line must be addressed. In case of the speesh is already written, the skill entails the rythm, in cas of improvisational performance the skill is even stronger...
I think now you are beginning to understand the relationship with the performer skill and the language test...
During the Japanese proficiency Test time must be checked by each candidate individually, no signs of time passing during each section reach the candidates. In oder to prepare themselves for the test, candidate must train themselves to look at their watches or stopwatches...but, forgive me to ask you, is that a language skill?
For my experience that is a performer skill. Do you need to measure the performances skills of somebody who wants just learn Japanese?
This is of course is rethoric question and if you just look through the international literature about the subject of language testing, you surely would find different approach. Even so nobody will confirm that in order to asses a reading or writing skill or listening skill you need to assess simultaneously the performance skills. Those are relatives to speaking skills to whom you do not assess during the Japanese Proficiency Test.
I beg your pardon but there is one more point.
I know it is a long letter but it took me also more time than I thought to organize it. I tried to write in the simplest way in order to explain what I believe could be a improvement in your very well organized test process.
Since the JPN test are held not only in Japan but in different countries around the world I had the opportunity to raise questions to candidates who took the tests overseas, for instance in Usa, China, Italy or Thailand. The reality is that the JPN has some different standars in different countries. Sometimes, like I would normally expect during a language test, the Official Test Administers gives warning signs of the time passing and sometimes not....
I believe that depends from the different costumes of the places, even so, the language test should test the language skills and not the performing skills. In order to solve this theoric and pragmatic dilemma, I would suggest to chose a precise time warning for each section and give the administers instructions of how to deliver those, in every part of the world the test takes place.
Yours Sincerely
This letter was thought to suggest a more proper treatment of students who attempt to pass the JPN3 test.
Unlike others I personally do not have a deadline or a admission test to some japanese schools that requires me to pass the test. Testing myself is just a way to keep focusing to a target in order to prevent me to be lazy on japanese improvement.
In my first JPN3 test attempt, last July, I had the bad feeling of not receiving any warning about the time ending. That shocked me since there is not logical and propedeutical reason for not doing it, hence I wrote the letter below.
I would love to hear your comments.
****** please you are encouraged to add your thoughts and even your english improvements!!! '( *******
Dear Japan Foundation,
I have decided to address you this letter after long time since I believe it contains a wish to improve your testing method.
Since I came to Japan I tested myself in IELTS test for English twice and for DITALS, Italian Professional certification for teacher. My background is vaste considering I am 47 years old, with a bachelor degree in History of Shows and I lived in U.S.A and London Uk for a while.
According to latest research in teaching and evaluating assessment process, some fundings are quite clear.
A language test is very difficult to prepare but it should not be more difficult than what is really necessary. This means that the language skills are shte solely ones at stake and no other skills must be assessed. For instance a language test conducted while the candidate is swimming in a 20 meteres long swimming pool would be somehow akward. Would you consider the result valid? What exactly the test would measure? The ability to speak or the ability to speak while swimming? And what difference is between those skills is hard to measure.
So the difficulty of preparing the language test is to neatly severe the language skills to other skills that maybe involved during the test .
It is much easier to think of a Language test prepared for a candidate who has got no arms. Would you ask him to write? Of course not, you would calibrate questions, and the way he has to answer in a different way. The finally assesment also would be difficult if you have not prior experience in dealing with such kind of student.
What if you have to assess a different skills than the language skills...say, for instance, the abilty to entertain. What would be your best solution? It is hard to answer but let me be your consulent since I have been working in the theatre field for more than 10 years, both in Italy and in USA. The best way to assess the ability of a candidate to entertain is to make him or her facing a real audience. Recording the audience response will give you a real measure to compare different candidate. Of course composing an average audience is kind of hard but not impossible.
Thank you for following until here, we are approching the problem of the JPN test.
For entartaing an audience for just 3 minutes, for instance, every candidate needs to prepare a short speech, rehearsing it enough times to be sure it does not overpass the duration of three minutes. Doing so he developes a special skill, I would call performing skill which is tipycal of perfomers, especially improvisational performers , that let the performer beaware of the passing time so the perfomer knows with a certain degree of precision when the last line must be addressed. In case of the speesh is already written, the skill entails the rythm, in cas of improvisational performance the skill is even stronger...
I think now you are beginning to understand the relationship with the performer skill and the language test...
During the Japanese proficiency Test time must be checked by each candidate individually, no signs of time passing during each section reach the candidates. In oder to prepare themselves for the test, candidate must train themselves to look at their watches or stopwatches...but, forgive me to ask you, is that a language skill?
For my experience that is a performer skill. Do you need to measure the performances skills of somebody who wants just learn Japanese?
This is of course is rethoric question and if you just look through the international literature about the subject of language testing, you surely would find different approach. Even so nobody will confirm that in order to asses a reading or writing skill or listening skill you need to assess simultaneously the performance skills. Those are relatives to speaking skills to whom you do not assess during the Japanese Proficiency Test.
I beg your pardon but there is one more point.
I know it is a long letter but it took me also more time than I thought to organize it. I tried to write in the simplest way in order to explain what I believe could be a improvement in your very well organized test process.
Since the JPN test are held not only in Japan but in different countries around the world I had the opportunity to raise questions to candidates who took the tests overseas, for instance in Usa, China, Italy or Thailand. The reality is that the JPN has some different standars in different countries. Sometimes, like I would normally expect during a language test, the Official Test Administers gives warning signs of the time passing and sometimes not....
I believe that depends from the different costumes of the places, even so, the language test should test the language skills and not the performing skills. In order to solve this theoric and pragmatic dilemma, I would suggest to chose a precise time warning for each section and give the administers instructions of how to deliver those, in every part of the world the test takes place.
Yours Sincerely
Edited: 2015-10-09, 8:40 am