Do Background Variables Predict Students Scores on a Japanese Placement Test? Implications for Placing Heritage Language Learners

• Main Author: Kimi Kondo-Brown
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages 2004-01-01
• Series: Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages
• Subjects: Japanese; Implications; Predict Students' Scores; background variables; discriminate
• Online Access: http://www.ncolctl.org/files/Do-Background-Variables-Predict.pdf

This study investigated how well heritage language background and other background variables predict the variability of students' performances on Japanese placement tests. Nine hundred thirty-two students participated in the study. The results showed that the parental language variable alone can predict the variability of incoming students' performances to a considerable degree on three proficiency measures adopted in the present study. Follow-up analyses of distributions of student scores on these proficiency measures wherein the parental language variable had the strongest predictive power were also conducted. The results suggested: some multiplechoice Japanese placement tests that may effectively discriminate among students without a Japanese parent may not necessarily be effective for discriminating among heritage language students with Japanese parents; however, a simple writing performance test proved to be an effective placement tool for discriminating among students with any parental background.