1. Corpus-Based Study of Japanese University English Entrance Exams
Kenji Kitao
Doshisha University
S. Kathleen Kitao
Doshisha Women’s College

2. Background About 50% of senior high school students go to college
６５０，０００　to 4-year universities
１００，０００　to 2-year colleges
７５％　to private universities
２５％　to public universities
About half a million students enter through written entrance exams. (250,000 through interviews, etc.)

3. Entrance exams in Japan (Two types)
Center Exam
Centralized exam given by The National Center for University Admissions on the same day throughout Japan
Made up of English exam and content-area exams
Used by public universities and some private universities, either alone or in conjunction with interviews or another test

4. Individual exams
The English exam makes up a high percentage of the total exam score.
Most private universities make their own exams.
There are different exams for different majors or given on different days.

5. Content of the English exams
Reading comprehension (most important)
Multiple choice
Cloze
words or phrases
whole sentences
Translation
Grammar and vocabulary questions
Pronunciation (Center Exam)

6. Research Questions
What is the level of difficulty of words used in the English entrance exams of four major private universities and the Center Exam?
What is the level of readability of reading passages used to test reading comprehension?

7. Our data Center Exam Exams from four major private universities
(16 years)
Exams from four major private universities
University A – 6 exams
University B – 8 exams
University C – 8 exams
University D – 6 exams

8. For vocabulary frequency analysis
Removed Japanese instructions, question numbers and letters, etc.
For readability analysis
Separated out reading passages used for reading comprehension
Did not include dialogues or explanations of charts/graphs used in Center Exam
For cloze passages, restored to original form (i.e., filled in blanks)

9. Levels of Vocabulary Frequency
Percentage of words over 4000 (total words)
Univ range mean A B C D
Center

11. Percentage of words over 4000 (unique words)
Univ range mean A B C D
Center

12. Number of words glossed out of unique words over 4000 in reading passages
Univ glossed words unique words A B C D
Center

14. Center Exam (unique words)
year range mean

15. Center Exam (total words)
year range mean

17. Estimated Percentage of Difficult Content Words (unique words)
Univ. Range Mean
A % 15%
B % 14%
C % 17%
D % 22%
Center % 13%

19. Percentage of Total Words in Reading Passages (means)
Univ. in passages total percentage
A 1, , %
B 1, , %
C 1, , %
D 1, , %
Center %

21. Readability University A range mean # of words 1,280-1,557 1,372
wds/sen
FRE
F-KGL
Fog

22. University B range mean # of words 1,528-1,809 1,698
wds/sen
FRE
F-KGL
Fog

23. University C range mean # of words 929-1,814 1,317
wds/sen
FRE
F-KGL
Fog

24. University D range mean # of words 1,406-1,922 1,543
wds/sen
FRE
F-KGL
Fog

25. Center Exam range mean # of words 757-1,338 1092.25
wds/sen
FRE
F-KGL
Fog

28. Center Exam – changes over time
wrds/sen F-KGL Fog

30. Conclusion and Recommendations
1. Some tests use difficult vocabulary. The JACET 8000 list is useful as a standard against which to check vocabulary.
Resources based on JACET 8000 word list:
Shows what percentage of words are at each level

31. JACET 8000 Level Marker
Produces a text with words color coded according to their level of difficulty.

32. 2. Some tests have readability ratings that indicate that they may be difficult for most students. There are online calculators of readability.
This page calculates number of words per sentence and various readability scales. It lists sentences that might be problematic.

33. Corpus-Based Study of Japanese University English Entrance Exams
Kenji Kitao
Doshisha University
S. Kathleen Kitao
Doshisha Women’s College