Teaching in High Schools in Japan–The Center Test

If you are teaching in Japan, you probably have heard of the Center Test.  If you haven’t, and you are teaching anywhere in the education realm, you had better learn what it is and why it is important.The Center Test is the largest entrance exam taken in Japan.  This year, it was given on Saturday and Sunday last weekend, January 14 and 15.  The first day are the “art” subjects like English, Japanese, and history.  The second day tests are math and science.

This test is taken by high school students in their last year, all at the same time across the country.  The results of this test determine what universities many of these students can go to.

One caveat here–this test is used by most schools in one form or another.  For some, it is only a reference, and for the few students that do very well, they can get an automatic “in”.  For others, it is the first test the applicants must take, with the university requiring that the applicants take another second test made by that university.  For some who take the special recommendation entrance exams, they still need to take the Center Test, often made to do so by the recommending high school.

Why is this test so important?  Why should we English teachers pay attention to it?

For an English teacher in Japan, the Center Test is important because most high schools base their education programs on what is on these tests.  It is crucial for them to “cover” all the points that the students may be asked about on the test, and lots of class in the final year of high school  time is spent rehearsing by doing past Center Test problems.However, all is not what it seems here, or what you might expect.  Let’s take a look at the test.

One glance at the English Center Test tells us three useful things.First, the directions for the test are in Japanese, but the rest of it is in English; there are no translation questions.   This is an important point because, for some reason, most English teachers in Japan prefer to teach English in Japanese.  Illogical, but sadly true.Second, there is also a listening section.  Obviously, this means that speaking and listening has come to have importance.  How each school handles this seems to vary greatly.I would encourage anyone teaching in Japan to take a look at the test.  Even if you teach at a conversation school, the Center Test is a common topic about which you can say something intelligent.  If you are teaching junior or senior high, the Center Test is probably being talked about right now at your school.  It looks good if you can join the conversation, and if you can add something, that is even better.

Before we continue, I advise your to take a look at the Center Test by downloading it here or by running a search in yahoo Japan for the Center Test.

I’ll talk more about the test in future posts.