improvement of english high sakes from the perspectives of japanese test takers

Test takers’ perspectives have always been turning points in betterment of language assessments (hamid, 2019). to take account of these perspectives, the views of five japanese university students who were selected through convenience sampling were investigated towards the high-stake language tests as administered in japan and the ways that english language tests and english instruction in japan can be improved through 30-minute-long personal interviews. japanese students suggested that their self-confidence needs to be improved in learning english, taking english exams, and their english abilities and they need to feel not afraid of making mistakes; a funny atmosphere needs to be constructed in english classes; their writing and speaking abilities need to be improved; and english should be taught practically and interestingly in classes. in terms of test technicalities, they suggested that english test difficulty, high examination fee, and distance from the test center were other difficulties they have encountered in taking english high stakes. they also suggested that daily english conversation needs to be tested; english-only classes need to be provided for the japanese students; english should be taught with songs at schools; english meetings and meet-ups with english-speaking students need to be held; and support circles need to monitor students’ english study. what they expected from the japanese government was paying for the english exams on the parts of the students to enable them easily take the tests; making students aware of advantages of taking such exams; and making them aware of the differences among english tests.