TESTING LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN JAPANESE UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS

Several major Japanese universities have recently included or are
shortly to include an English listening comprehension section in their
entrance examinations. It may be expected that a large number of
other colleges will follow suit. This paper examines the nature of
listening comprehension, and the problems of testing it, with emphasis
on those problems relevant to constructing university entrance
examinations. Section 1 looks at the importance of college entrance
examinations in Japan, and their effect upon classroom instruction.
Section 2 examines the nature of listening comprehension~ reviews
theories and research, and provides criteria for creating and evaluating
listening texts. In section 3, the most common methods of testing
listening comprehension are discussed in terms of these criteria, and in
terms of practical implementation and washback effect in the classroom.
Practical recommendations are made for constructing comprehension
tests suitable for Japanese university entrance examinations.