Abstract
The present study employs validation study on the English language test of the Japanese nationwide university entrance examination- the Joint First Achievement Test (JFSAT). Two studies are presented. The first examines the reliability and concurrent validity of the JFSAT-English test. The reliability was acceptable. Criterion validity was estimated by correlating the JFSAT-English test and English language ability measure (a carefully constructed cloze test) and was found to be satisfactory. The second study reports on a construct validation study on the test through internal correlation study. The JFSAT-English test was divided into five subtests. Examination of the correlation matrix indicated that the paper-pencil pronunciation test had low validity with almost no significant contribution to the total test score. It is argued that though the JFSAT-English test can work as a reliable and somewhat valid measure of English language ability, the paper-pencil pronunciation test should be eliminated and a listening comprehension test might be included as one of the subtests in the JFSAT-English test. The other subtests, however, showed satisfactory validity

Keywords:
Japanese University Entrance Examinations, English language tests, JFSAT-English test, TOEFL Listening Comprehension Test

To view the full article please see the PDf or MS Word file.