Development of Japanese vocabulary tests for globalization

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K02631
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese language education
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: SATO Naoko 千葉大学, 国際教養学部, 准教授 (40251152)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 松下 達彦 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 准教授 (00255259) ; 橋本 美香 川崎医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (70462041) ; 笹尾 洋介 京都大学, 国際高等教育院, 准教授 (80646860) ; 田島 ますみ 中央学院大学, 法学部, 准教授 (90534488)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 日本語語彙量測定 / 日本語語彙サイズテスト / 漢字変換力テスト / 日本語学術共通語彙テスト / 日本語学術語彙知識 / 日本語使用者 / 日本人大学生 / 日本語学習者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, we developed language tests that measure the vocabulary knowledge of native Japanese speakers and learners of Japanese as a second language, in order to be able to cope with the current situation where Japanese speakers have a variety of language backgrounds.To be specific, we developed the following 3 types of tests: Vocabulary Size Test for Reading Japanese, Kanji Conversion Test, and Japanese Common Academic Word Test. We administered these tests to Japanese native speakers and learners of Japanese.
The results indicate that Japanese university students have knowledge of roughly 40,000 words; despite this extensive knowledge of general vocabulary, they have limited knowledge of common academic words; learners with kanji and non-kanji backgrounds have different knowledge for different types of words; and the rate for learning a word seems to vary according to Japanese proficiency level. We also validated the tests that we created and modified poorly working items.

Free Research Field

日本語教育