First Advisor

Patricia J. Wetzel

Date of Publication

1-1-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Foreign Languages: Japanese

Department

World Languages and Literatures

Language

English

Subjects

Language teaching, Immigration, Japanese language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers, Language and languages -- Examinations, Emigration and immigration -- Health aspects -- Japan

DOI

10.15760/etd.190

Physical Description

1 online resource (v, 77 p.)

Abstract

This thesis argues the necessity of new standards for Japanese language teaching in Japan, responding to diversifying social needs. The current situation for foreign workers in Japan is a pressing issue in the light of declining fertility rates and a rapidly aging population. The focus of chapter 1 is this paper particularly focuses on issues regarding acceptance of nurses and certified care workers under the scheme of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between Japan and Indonesia in 2008, as a new policy to import more foreign skilled workers into Japan. This chapter demonstrates the nation's passive attitude toward accepting foreign workers as well as the growing demand for more consistent immigration policy in terms of language. Chapter 2 discusses the validity and accountability of the current major influential assessment tool in Japan, Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). It includes a discussion of how linguistic `proficiency' is understood in the JLPT and reveals its problems, comparing JLPT with other influential measurement tools in the world such as the American Council on the Teaching Foreign Language-Oral Proficiency Interview (ACTFL-OPI) and the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

Portland State University. Dept. of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/7028

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