Do you think there should be a speaking exam for the JLPT?

19 comments

1. I’m almost certain that E-Mail correspondence, which some people prefer / require, doesn‘t care about speech.

2. You can learn to speak from textbooks. All I’ve seen have a conversation section. What might be holding people back is either learning Japanese alone, or being too scared to take risks (ie: make mistakes).

   You’d need to design the formate and scope of the tests and what things might come up. Having everything too down pat runs the risk of people memorizing it and getting artificially higher grades.

   I find that the OPI and WPT are pretty good measures.

3. No, because it would raise the prices a crap ton. You have to hire people for that. A lot of people. One person per examinee if you want to keep to schedule.

4. >help employers find people who can actually speak Japanese

   Interviews exist for that reason.

5. Seems like there should simply be a different organization/test for that. Seeing as it would be 1-on-1 conversation, the “scheduled day where thousands of people take the test at once” format is not gonna work.

6. I think it should move to a banded model like IELTS and cover all 4 proficiencies. I have a feeling this would be jarring culturally in contrast to how tests are done for everything else here.

7. The current test can be quickly machine-scored, which keeps the price quite low. Developing a speaking test would require a huge amount of money, time, and training for test scorers. I’m thinking about what goes into the scoring of AP Japanese exams in the US, and trying to imagine scaling that up to the number of people who take JLPT.

   Tests of speaking skills often are done through interviews (OPI in the US, not sure in countries that use CEFR levels). So that’s very expensive for the test-taker to pay for an appointment with a specialist.

8. Yes. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are distinct skills that most people happen to learn in parallel. Why not test them all?

9. I think it would make sense for the JLPT to use the standards also used by the CEFR levels (A1, A2 – C1, C2) and that includes speaking. It would be great to have a common framework to judge language abilities with both for learners and teachers. It’s an important part of the test for other language exams, why should Japanese be different?

10. Personally, I think it would be good. But there’s two problems:

    The first is, the price would skyrocket because more examiners would have to be hired. The ideal way to test speaking would be for one person to do the testing in small groups. Otherwise, you run into problem two:

    The second part is, the test is already quite long as is- four hours for a SINGLE test (despite multiple pp arts) is already hard enough. And based on the number of applicants each year, you’d end up being at the test for another two or three hours, even if a strict time limit was put in place. Technically, a change or two to the format has already been done, and convincing the organization in charge to make further changes… Good luck.

    So as useful as a speaking section would actually be, it’s much cheaper and faster to have the test be something you can just put in a machine and score.

11. >this would hopefully force people to turn away from the textbooks

    Half of the people in this sub already hate textbooks with a passion and could use more of them, not less.

    I think it’d be good if there was a speaking exam as well, but it would definitely make the exam fee higher. JLPT is one of the cheapest language certifications to get at the moment, and the fact it’s a multiple choice text checked by a computer, with no need to grade writing or conduct oral exams, is very much a factor here.

12. While I can see the benefits, the logistics outweigh them. The cost would artificially narrow the pool of people who could take and pass it.

    People—especially those hiring—know, or should, the test’s limitations. It’s a benchmark for proficiency to categorize ability levels, but a full interview if speaking is required should be conducted regardless.

    Perhaps a second more expensive variant could be introduced, at least for N2+.

13. CORN

14. If JLPT had a speaking section, many people wouldn’t be able to pass. All N2 people would be downgraded to N5.

15. I don’t think so. Employers can actually try to talk to the candidates to asset if they can really speak the language or not.
    The price to add that to the JLPT would also be crazy.

16. I passed N2 but I don’t feel like I “deserve” it because my speaking skills are nowhere up to that level. While having a speaking and writing portion jacks up the price, it increases the value of a certification because it’s weird that speaking which is an integral part of language isn’t tested. It’s a common issue in my company where people are N3 and N2 certified but can’t really speak or write emails to clients so having a speaking portion would at least filter out those who can actually speak and wield the language.

17. Introduce a logical yet radically different approach to what they’ve been doing for decades…

    You are not from these parts, I can tell.

18. Output would be a great idea for the JLPT, particularly speaking. Logistically, it would be difficult to administer and expensive; plus scoring would be less objective and more subjective.

    I met a few N1 passers who were unable to speak beyond very basic beginner phrases, which isn’t ideal.

    Learners just need to be aware that output requires additional learning strategies beyond the JLPT.

    IME, learning how to speak boosted my other Japanese skills significantly, and forced me to improve all areas, especially listening and popular vocab/grammar/phrases. I found learning to speak beyond basic phrases to be very tough but fun and rewarding. I really like speaking with Japanese people.

19. I don’t think the JLPT necessarily needs that. However, there should be some kind of alternative test that also has a speaking and an essay writing component, similar to how most European language proficiency tests work. These things can coexist.