Well, after being asked by some of my students, I tried the English portion of this year's Center Test. Remember, I grew up in the US, so English tests designed for non-native speakers are pretty easy for me, so I got a perfect score. Still, I have some thoughts on the test:
-The intonation and pronunciation sections seem like they would be hard for students who don't attend any English conversation (eikaiwa) classes outside of school. From what I've heard, most teachers in high school don't teach much intonation or pronunciation.
-There were a few points where I could tell that the people who wrote the test were not fluent English users themselves. In particular, there is one point where a character says "I have an image of deserts", which sounds like a direct translation of Japanese. A more natural way to say this might be "To me, deserts are..." or "In my mind, deserts are..."
-The topics for the readings have the same problems that a lot of language tests do - they're boring. I guess the writers tried to make the topics more relevant to test-takers by giving them Japan-centered themes, like the questions about the fictional Japanese movie, but I kept wondering why I should care. The WHO questions were at least based in reality, which made them more interesting.
-The names are hilarious. "Jack" "Anne" and "Carol" sound like names from a sitcom from the 1950s.
-Slightly off-topic, it's discouraging to see that the model language situation for the writers of this test is still "Japanese people talking to Americans about Japan". It would be nice to see more diversity in types of speakers and types of situations students are asked to imagine themselves using English in.
Well, that's it. I understand the whole test was harder this year than in previous years. Hopefully, it hasn't harmed your ability to enjoy your last 2 months of school too much!
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