A Research Toward Establishing Hokuriku Gakuin Standard Using a Global Standard ‘gation into the Growth of Japanese Students’ ies from Primary through Tertiary Education — MIRA F YH — WIAD < AGPREBEA FY — OED TR — FRALOW AE AAAPEHOMMDOMOCOV COME — YONEDA, Sakiko"? HUGHES, Jason ** Abstract ‘Student performance on Cambri ESOL examinations (CEFR Pre-AI to BI) was assessed. Subjects ‘were students of Hokuriku Gakuin, a private schoo in Japan educating students a all academic age levels. Subjects ranged from elementary school aped to univensty-aged, Subjects sat» mock Reading snd Writing cection-only exam OR the mock exam AND an offical exam caverng all exam setions (iil exam ress indicate high performance oa th Listoning section atthe elementary schoo! level As potion of overall score, Listening score declined ab agelevel increased while Reading and ‘Wing (RW) some increased with agplevel. high coalition was found between RW perfomance and overall sl performance, suggesting RW ability may bea reliable indiator of overall exam performance ability andor English ability. Keywords : CEFE, Cambridge Examinations (YLE, KET, PET), co lervatary school univers. 4Introdueton: Background and Previous Research “This is a pat of search conducted with the sp post of the Hokus Cain University & hor Cole lege ln Scho! Gant 009, 2010, Hokuriku Gakuin (HG) ise private school sys. tom contig all age eves. fom Kindergarten © univer), acted inthe Hokuricy region of Japan, ‘Since an American misanary established the school 125 year go, a 1885, the school has ban known fer providing “septal” English education. The RES, RWPRKE ANGE ORRRRNIEH paxane ERPRAPRMIM 95227 2URH total stant holy is roughly 1400 (all stds from ‘ndergarten to unvesityinelded, [As opposed to private schools in Japan's lrper wan aes, private seeols in the Hokarha Distt (er ott be a highly rege in terms of prestige 1 they are inmost major Japanese cites. Stes a- tend HG with varied motives: Some seck edeation based on Christian Humanity; some wan 0 study English some do not want t goto thei acl b= li shoot, ee. Academic evel a this school vary scroll ae level in he Japanese education yom, ‘terms of Engh bil, university students ange fom the 96 othe 160 on the TOEIC Bridge pace- rent, which would be equivalent to Pre-AI BL ‘ofthe Commen Exopean Farework of Reference forAmARAE RRPRARMAPIIN 3% “Languages Learsing, Teaching, sessment (CEFR). (One of he entire of HG's English edveation 's tha al academic age levels, fom kindergarten 'o university, have English classes taught by native English speaking teachers. Another fete i tht all ‘he schools except fr the kindergartens have feign Sister schools wih which interaction and afiaon tive students hardin experience learning En language and foreign cure ‘As plbalization further inuenes the Hokurike Area, English language communicative competency, -eading and writing includ, wll be increasingly in- portant As leading English education schoo! in the ca, HG decided in 2008 to conduct research toward stablishing the Hokuriku Gakuin Standaed i five Fields rligion, math, Japanese, English and career development. HG English teachers and resoarchers ecided to conduct research using 4 global standard, the CEFR and Cambridge Examinations produced by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinstons (Cambiige ESOL), which cones withthe CEFR. ‘The merit of using Cambridge ESOL examinations lis in their plobal recognition and range of age- spprorinteexasinstion aiable for ealating tet (ahora all ages fom len 1 adus(€ Tale 1) Provious research (Asakura, el, 2009: 337- 5341) shows the Waiting section ofthe Cambridge ‘oy Engh Test (KET), which eset at CEFR level -A2, proved to challenging for some groups of si- ents ranging fom junior hgh schoo! to junior col- ego (average sore was 46.98% wile 70% is needed {o pas) Thore was also high degree of variance whore test sections were concerned (efor Past 1, the average score was 69.37% while for Past 6, 11.68% was the average score). This research also contumed that adminstecing the same test the entire group isu valid means of eompering Enlish reading/ ting ability, but ht it such comparisons tend tobe de-motvting for low achievers. AS are- sul it was cided tat CEFR tests administered students sbould mateh student by her han age fiom 2010 onward. Other research (Yoneda 2010) showed that S* syades, aged 11-12, can achieve CEFR Pre-AI level ‘Tablet Standardized English Examinations in Relation to CEFR cai | cere pee] tose |roncnie] sre a ~ | = aie (Table adapted based on Morishita (2008: visi), Edestionl Testing Service (2001, 2005), ne Cambridge ESO. (20085).) —100-and that hei Tstening sore was bate he word verge in both 2005 and 2007. However, writing was 0 obstacle to laring Eng eto a dierent eng systom in addon fo ier x fngusisouures of Japanes compared to Bog ih ‘An issue of importance in Japan at present is how best o foster in Japanese studens, English len- ag sills adequate tothe task of coping in business and ether contents ina global setng (Ministy of. dvcaton, Culture, Spon, Science and Technology 2002), As HG encompasses all academic ag levels, it provides an advantageous envionment in which to conduct long-term eseach within te Japanese shoo! stem, wich normally segmented at each adem ic stage making longterm essessmeat over diferent scademic age levels «formidable chalenge bocause ofthe necesary cooriation aces vavious seademie This paper wi Cambridge ESOL test and Cambridge University Press mosk-test versions of the Reading and Write ing section only (Cambridge University Press 20103, 2010 snd 201%). hn for Japanese children Aisuse the results of official 2. Reseach Questions and Aims ‘The esearch quions and sins ares fllows (1) What level of Eos ability do Sspanese stu dents attain by Grade 6 (he final year of cement shoal? (2) Towtat depres do stadents improv their English bility afer gredotng From elementary seoo!? (@)Are reading and writing skis he bass of lan ge learn? To investigate theses questions, Cambridge ex minatons were conducted and will be discussed in the Following chapters. 3: Data Gathering, Results, Analysis, and Discussion of Achlevement Tests ‘Two sus of txts were conducted to evaluate English abilities: offal Cambridge ESOL test and Camiridge University Press mock-test versions ofthe Reaing and Wine ston only (Cambridge Univer sy Pres 2010, 20105, and 2010) 2.1 Methads: Cambridge ex ‘Achievernnt Teste Cartridge examinations were used fo the foe lowing reasons: (Te tests ae taken by over 3 millon people in 130 countas(Camlidge ESOL 2000), rake ing tht relevant fo research seeking to eal ste sudents using global stand (2) The wets ae designed forall ational, cue ‘ures, and ages, al sets fom elementary schol to univesity can be evaluated equitably (6) Me tess evaluate four sil (4) The tests are continuously tse for vali nd reiilsy (Cambridge ESOL 2010). (5) The ess are contd with the CEFR and are accompanied by concrete statements of pb ble ability at ny given evel (Cambridge ESOL 2009), 3.2. Ofieal Tests As previously stated, HG students’ abil predominately fll ino re-AL to BI levels. For this reason the Cambridge YLE of examinations (States, Movers & Flyers), an two ofthe Man Suite he Key English Tes (KET) andthe Preliminary English Test, (PET) were used (Table 1) Starts exainstions wee eld in November 2007, 2008 and 2009 (These the tests wore conducted 8 apt of research sop- ted by Grant-in-Aid fr Scientific Research (C ) 19520537 far 2007-2009 by the Japan Society foe he Promotion of Science (ISPS MEXT). Movers and yer wore eld in Mah, 2010, KET and PET were elim etry, 2010 Al tts asses the or skills 321. Subjects ‘The subjects, 149 HG students, were enoled et [HG in March 2010, These subjects rprestat 12.68% ofthe whole enoment of HG School Sytem (ex- loding kinderatenars).The dts area lows ~101-RS ene RICHER 3 Sates (58 studeas) (6 Graders t Hokuriku Gakuin Elementary schol (GES) 20072000, Movers (29 studens Junior High School 1H) I: 13 students 1H Astute 1:3 eudens Senior High ehool (SH) 1:9 students yor (20 student: HD: dens JH: 9 suds SH: 8 ster KET (17 studen: S12: 6 stants Univ. & junior college QC) students PET(22 student): SHI: 2 stents HD: 9 students Usd JC: stents Studats above he elementary shoo! evel were clther graduates of Hokuriks Cakvin Elementary Sehool(HGES) or sor-HGES students whose Eag- lish sores were igh in regular English cases. To be fui with she ts, ining sessions were gen a ch level before the tests ware administered 13:22, Analyse and Dicusion of the Resuls ofthe ‘oftcat Test 32.2.4, Understanding exam rs ‘Starters, Mover, an Flyer are the thee levels ofthe Young Learners English Tests (VLE) of Cam Iwidge ESOL examinations. These tess were crested forchirn aged 7-12, bat 13year ld west kes ean he pet sit these et a wal HG received per- lssion for eandiates aged 13-plus to sit VLE exams. ‘To case understanding ofthe following discus sion on exam results, few nts on intepreting YLE. rests are mentioned here. YLE examinations mea sure four skills (eding and writing, listening end speaking) without assessing pass results. Results are shown by the number of Univesity of Cambridge “abil” tte on rest cad of. Figure 1). KET and PET asses asi ests wt "pss" 181704, The Reading and Weting soon contains 0% ofthe total marks fr KET, while the Listing tnd Speaking sections each contain 25% of overall Gunns aes = EBs, Figure Understanding YLE Rost Unversity of Cambridge ESOL 2010d) Fgure2_ PET Statement of Results Univesity of Cambridge ESOL 20100) =12-exam mats, For PE, each of he four sills account for 25% of overall emma, Figue2is «sample ofthe sateen ofthese for PET, 32.22 Analysis and Discussion of the Results of the Five Offical Tests Figure 3 shows he results ofall Give tests com {acted at HI broken down in erms ofthe fl tage shila, Sine PET is the only test that shows reading nd writing sete, both sil ae averaged ‘oat for PET ta be comistent wit he other four tats. For KET and PET, the results for eoch of the four ills ave shown in 5 ands as in Figure 2. For com ison purposes, band scores (as depict in Figure 2) wore converted to namerie values ecores within the lowest ond, band I, were asgned vale of 1.0, ‘he next band up was assigned 2.0 and 0 on up 12 50 for scores in the highs band). HG merc value average for each ex ae represented in Figure 3. ume sore of 3.0% eonsdered ordi” forall (ets inlding VLE (et Figure ‘The 6 graders at clementary school st the YLE Sunes (set at CEFR Pre-At level) exam. Figure 3 shows that tore das achieved the level of CEFR PreAl as thei avenge for ‘This esl was above the “borderline” coe of 3.00 Encouraging, HG students scored above the world I sections ofthe tet. average forthe listening Section (4.27 for HO vs world average score of 3.73) (YLE Exam Report 2003). Unfortunately, the higher the academic age Tove the pore den performance on the Listening section tended tbe: One posse explanation i that Bash pronunciation was uf and made the test. alleging for junior and senior igh sco! studens who bad been predominutely exposed to American- English-speaking eochers whereas forthe elementary schol stents, the native English speaking teachers ‘nile fom varying nationalities, In aiton, advice for oversoming robles arising fom dfercnce in Engh pronunciation was given as pat of st prepa ration atthe elementary sehool level. These factors could acount fora degie of elementary schoo sb- et relative stength nthe Listening ection. Asa potion of ove score Listening Score de- lined as ago-deve increased wile Reaing and Wet- ing score inereased wit geevel. This tndoncy may ba teflestion of elas focus on ending and writing shillsat higher academic age ves. Pas ats forthe five tet evel ar shown in Fig ue 4, For KET and PET 70% isn “pss”, While tere smo oficial “pass” score for YLE exams, a sere of, 10 shields out of 15 on YLE exam (Sater, Mover or yet is eg by Cambridge ESOL a he bereh- rk at which to stare prepating for the ext highest ((-Bsow Nek, 2 Wank, Barden 4G Excl) Figure 8 Camixidge Examination resus broken down by the four sis =103—RRARK: ERORAONMNROR #39 Figure 4 Pass Rate ofthe Five Ola Cambridge Examinations at HG teat level (as deserbed in Figue 1), Thus, forthe purposes of comparing pus rates across exams, YLE (Guanes, Mover and Flyer) et takers who achieved 10 shields or more were consiered to have “passed” hat est vel Figure 4 indicates tha, forthe most pat, he Iigher the tat evel the lower the pas ate though ther ita inal difference babween the passe for Main Suite exams (KET and PET) andthe YLE ex. amg (Stuer, Moves, and Flyer). A nee fr frter investigation aries fom the disparity beeen KET and Flyers pss ete. AS both exams cortespood to the CEFR A2 level, one would expect pass rats be Silo t least es dpa than ndeted in Fig- ‘re 4 One posible explanation that Fjers est ok- tended to ave sil superior othos ofthe KET. he test fmt counterparts, Anotier posits ‘of Flyers, ish wih cla and plctues was mre ean- iat endl than KET, exam signa fr cand- ates aged 13 or above. ‘Yoneda & Endo (2010) report tha Japanese VLE performance tended to be weaker than Taiwanese pe formance on all sestions ofthe Starters and Movers teat, tw speculated that these difrences could ‘theres ofditering national eduction pliey and degre to which English i wsed a ol of com ‘munication ona diy basis the te mations. Indeed, hil Tivansse sores onal seton of Starters and Movers exceeded world averages, Japanese scores were consistently below this benchmark especially whee Reading and Wing section performance was oncered. Ths, one might expect, Tavanase VLE cxamineesouperfonmed Jepanese examinees in all categories but with marked diferences in the Read- ing and Writing seston athe Starters level and sti, thovgh to ese degree athe Movers level. Interest ings eps between average national scoes inal ca pores decreed from State 10 Movers and from Mover to Fyre with Jpanete average scores on Flyers exam actually exceeding nt only those af ‘heir Taiwanese counerpans bu the woul average es ‘voll in both the Reading and Wetlag and Listening sections (YLE Eram Report 2008) From this dat, it sppeas clea that whatever impediments Japanese sucess exist cart on (aly diferent weting Syste or othe) ean be overome ‘To asses students long term development, ‘Yoneda & Endo (2010) compared the results of ste denis who st Starters in elementary school Gade 6 snd those who st either Mover o Flyers te years Inter, Figure 5 contains data for current Je. High 3° year students (1415 year ld) who steer Movers sndor Flyers afer having st Sates tre yess prior 15 Grade 6 elementary sceo! sents. As this was the fst group to participate in these exams ithe only up fr which such dat exists as yt ‘As Flgue 5 shows, YLE achievenentteodecies observed inthe final year of elementary school (" rae) carey over into secondary education with paps exween highimedium sehievers and low achievers ‘coming inseasingly pronounced, These daa under- score the significance fear achevenent tendencies, reFigaro 5. Comparison ofthe results of Starters at Grace 6 an thoes of Moversiyers in June High Schoot (Revsed able of Yoneda Endo 2010) those of grade inthis case, a5 they relate to probable Tong-tem achievement. 323. Findings and limitation of els study ‘The ining suggest that the difonees in wit ing system between English and Japanese mst be taken into account atthe slementary school level children stage ih four wring systems 2 Japa nese Baglsh). Students who become secusomed to ‘he English wrtng sytem can progress smcohly wo higher performance ability while dase who seule in the * ade tend to cootnuesugaling with meager progress in secondary eveation, ‘A liiation ofthis research that nly iid potlon of HG's stent body st the exam the 2 interval, which means this study dct not give fal: spectrum analysis serss all academic age level Concur, owing to time and budget restctions, Inving all NG staens st official Cambridge exams is unrealistic at present. Another obstacle i that Cam twidge examinations are, a yt, potas well-known sd, ths, not highly esteemed in open as they ao In othr pons ofthe world, poteatiallyitrring wie «andate motivation o perform tothe best oftheir shies on them. 3, Mock Teste Based on previous experienc, the researchers ocided to give mock ets propriate foreach age- level i elementary school (ES), jnir high schoo! GND, ssi high stl (SH an university (Univ). “The sins of hit mock esting were fll: (1) To obtains fllspecirum grasp of HO-stident English ably inelusive ofall academic age levels (2)o evaluate student ables using Cambridge (6) To ind common mistakes, tthe extent tht hey xs, for purpotes of guiding fare lesson leasing (4) To gue the degree to which students end to Improv per year ofinstneton Previous researc at HG found tht high achiew- 8 onthe Reading nd Wriing section tend to be high achievers onthe Speaking section (Asakura ta 2008: 341), Based on this tendency, the research eam sensed a Cambridge University Press-proluced mock version of YLE's Reading and Wing sexton to students ranging fom elementary shoo o univ sity (Cambvidge University Press 2010, 2010b, and 20100), Administtion ofthe Reading and Weting seeton of Stators, Movers and Flyers requires 20, 30 and 40 minutes, respectively. Meck testing waz planed to be adminitared an two oecasions fo ach cademi age lvel once tthe begining ofthe schoo! ysarand agin athe end of te achoo! yes: This paper ll analyze a acute ist series of mock tess term of ims (1) and (2) above. 331. Subjects All 625 subjects, were students enol in the HG Seboo! system, ie. ES, JH, SH, and Uni. The Jona high schoo hes two couses: Advanced Course (Adv) and Regular Course (Rog). The senior igh 105Rene eT RNATERREN BS school bus thee courses: Advanced Course (AGW), English and Science Course (Eng), end Regular ‘Couse(Rep.) The Univ divides all frst yea dens ofthe required English Communication course into four separate clasts: clases “A” through "D", based 7 placement test performance. The "A" classi he ‘ighes sehioving class wie the "D” lass the low et achieving class, “The dtl ofthe levels ofthe ets nd he ot ents ae follows: Sars ($4 sues) HGES: 34 sixth Gragers (G5) JHL20studets Reg) Movers(283 suds JH: 9 stadens (Rep) 38223 students (Reg), 1st (Ad) JH 23 sudo (Reg) SHI: 4S ments (ReE) HD: 75 sudent(Reg) SH: 1 student (REE) ‘Unis 27 sade (Class). 20 studs (lass) yer (288 student): 13:9 suds (Ad) SHI: 58 students (Eng), 24 stdents (Ad) ‘SH: 54 students (Eng) 1 stants (AC) SH: 4 students (Eng), 24 stadents (AC) ‘Un 27 sues (Cals), 2 tens (its) Table 2 Results of Mock Teste: Ciase/Course, Tests and Average — Moss i Tastee | wemge | cistmone | menge | chatmune [eee cs $612 THA 1528 THA GS TAL Reg 3130 THA a0 | stitre | S07 TD Res. wor | SiAw | TB Ree. 30 | seeg | Sal ‘SHIR [san ‘SHAW. 7a sare | 8a | Spe | sae SiR | sas | Siam | 7975 Uninc a8 UA BS Uae sos ‘Uni 6138 Figure 6. Rests of Mock Testing Using the YLE i fea ae ar ~106-As Tenn Ha Ci San n+ Ob Sint 882 Analysis and Dicusion of he Results the Mack Testing “The reste of ech els are shown ae parent ge in Tble2. Scores (cxpreel a percentage) foreach tat sown in Table 2 wereescued according "Formal aligneninking excise May 2008: CEFR ratings foe levels & sks” by Papp and Salamoura (2008), whos ratings for reading ae 1.79 for Starters, 2.63 for Movers, and 310 for Fer. Using these coffins, the tree YL tests, ept being stat diferent sbil- ity levels, can be camped. Results of each eass/ our are shown in Figs 6 “The rms show ht steed to ty atthe (CEFR AI evel in wstng right up tothe university level, which apport previous resis, Figure 6 shows that he highest 3 grep fat oF 20) ae mostly “Ade ance lasses, which emphasize a varity of subjets rather than fcusng iron English, At HG univers, students? majors ate ser Eascaton or Soci! Wel- fae. This my indicate tat genera ty habits andor cogatve abilities et English aiies wa greater tent thin does academic cts on “English” sch as that provided by enlment in an English & Scence- ‘cused couse of stuly (Eng. at HG's Senior high level 333. Findings and lntaton ofthis study This sees of mock testing seems toi that lowachieving tudes ely on (Ls. elementary ‘schoo lee tend to rnin low achievers hroushout their teademie carer wile thove who atin CEFR, Pro-Al (compte mi o high achiever) prog ree further and eater th hero achieving cour: terpars. This suggests that earyronset base English dation is important om 3 log-tenm point of ew, and that low achievers require great dea of extra apport early oni they are tnd = good chance of saping fom the abose-entoned red. Whi these ‘generalizations are tated solely on this inital round ‘of mock testing they are nonetheless supported by tendencies demonstrate in previous esearch (Yoneda 0d &Endo 2010), Since mock tess covered the Reading and Writ {ng section ony, iis dangerous to conclge that results ae indicative of “verll English abilities” From the CEFR poin of view Listening and Speaking seston ofthe lo shold alo be conducted, though time and monetary considertionspreclde doing this UHO. The next chapter discusses the relay of = ing te Reading ané Weng Seton of the exams to predict key outcomes on al-est versions ofthe ex am ichveof al section and no only the Reading and Writing section, 4. Retail of Using Renting & Weng Performance 54 Predictor of Overall Exam Peformance 4. Method ‘Subjets sat Cambridge YLE exams onto oc: ‘ons he fist n Mach 2010 nthe second in Apri 2010. The March 2010 exam was a ofc fll-test ‘version of either the YLE Movers or the YLE Flyers ‘sxam, The April 2010 exam asa mock Reading sh- ‘iritng-secton-only (mack RW) exam (Cambridge Univesity Press 2009 a, ane). Only subjees who ‘wrote the me level of exim in March 2010 and Apt 2010 is, Movers then Movers or Flyers then Flys) ‘were need in this std. 42. Subjects ‘Atwil of 38 subjects were included inthis stud ‘Subjocts wore students of HG and, a the tine of he Mah 2010 ofici ull-s exam, ranged in acaderic ‘rade level fom JH grate one tough to SH grado ‘he. Owing to Apis sts a te beginning of the Japanese school yer, subjects rangi fom JH grade ‘og to Uni frat year athe tie ofthe Api 2010 mock RW, Despite vastly greater names of HG a ens sing official andor mock exams daring this io, the subjects chosen for inceson inthis stay were the omy oes who st the sme Teel oF son bot osasons (ie. Movers hen Movers again or Fly- rs then Flyers agin). Tweaty-wo subjects sat YLE “Movers and 16 subjects st YLE Fler 107ARORA PEMA 33 43. Analysis and Discussion of Reso strong postive corti was found beeen student performance on tbe uppe two levels of Cam byidge YLE (Movers and Flyers) and student perfor nee on mock RW es seta hese same YLE level Fire 7 contrasts oficial ful-test sores with rock RW scores (correct answers wee converted 10 etcetages for comparison parposes). AS shown in Figuce 7, there is» high positive coreaton apparent between the two sore in indvicual cass, Further alysis revels relatively strong creation betes these two sores (rf. 72) when Movers and Flyers ‘ute ae caleulted together. The corelaions become ‘ven srger wren Movers rests (0.9) a8 cle Ine separtly fom Flyers. The same ss rue for Fly cn ele (0.77) when caeulated separately fom Mover While average official overall sores and mock RW scores are similar for both Movers and Flyers ‘est tke, there an important ference, For Mov ‘em, scores onthe oficial ilvesion of Movers were ise, on average (66979) than were average scores for the mock RW examinations (59.20%). Ineresting- ly, where jes was eoncemee, scores onthe official ‘lesion of Flyers were lower, on average (71.25%), than wore average sees forthe mock RW examina ins (78.13%) Thus, where Movers is vonered he Inclusion ofthe eter sections ofthe tes (Speaking & Listnin) brings over Scores up in comparison (0 what a prediction based on mock RW performance would suggest. Coney, where YLE Flyers isco cern it appears ht he reverse tendency is indicat ec Inclusion ofthe ches sctions ofthe tes (Speaking & Listning) will brng their overall scores down in comparison to what mock RW performance would suggest. 1 Bnaings and Linitations "These analyses guest that student peformance co» the mack RW examinations ean provige a srong Indication of likly pcfrmance on wholes oficial tia student performance on YLE examinations ean be ‘cotsierd a rleble mensrement of actual “overall English bili” thes analyses give suppor othe no- tin hat pevfrmane ona Cambridge-snsioned YLE Reading and Weng etion mock-est canbe used 0 ‘make predictions on gerera ability with some degree of eontdence However, tase nalyses were based on a sample sive of « mere 38 students. Owing to this consider. asion, any prediction on YLE whole-tet performance or gorenlization of “overall Ealish silty” derived fom pecfommance of Cambidge VLE mock RW ex- ination must be tngered with extreme cation es similar tendencits ar obsewved in futue tesearch (ficial YE Over et Sores Compared Mock YLE Reafing Secio- ONLY Sees case Figure 7 Compaiaon f Offa VLE Tet Scores and Mock LE Reading ard Witng-Sectin-Only Scores oeconducted vith a more statistically rlieble simp siz. The smll sample ize limite these findings tin igung suggestions for fare esc ‘5. Conctasion ‘his poser covered thre studies ondited to ‘ward esting tong tem eduction atgy, The Hokuriku Gakuin Stndard.Offiest YLE exams and mock VLE exams wore conducted to ass endemic achievement of salons within the HG schools tem across eademie loves ranging from elementary school to untesiy sing global sandr, the CEFR, and Caio exsninaions. Fre, ebb test was conduct ‘These sues have contributed answers othe e- search gusts rat poi (0) Waat lov of Engh silty do Japanese stents ain by Gade 6 (he final yar of elementary school? Mock tating showed that the average was 56.12% (HOES) snd 51.75% UHI Reg). The results in this paper itd ta the stent i oot chive the CEFR Pre AL in Reacing and Wein, However, previous clases of HOES 6* gad stent i inact schiove the CEFR Pre-Al on the oficial ts (ll ee ions inluded). The RW section ends wo eng down ‘overall HGES test sore while the Histening section beings thm >. These suis ina that eading end swing could an obstacle in English sig tthe ES evel. At oe same tne, as sala the case with man sje, cases ae difrent each yer, mak Ing itnecessy to temper tis aseron with nao ance for the eso lass vgsies and her potent inten, (2) To what dere do stents improve their English ability ate gadaning fom elementary school? ‘Oficla test rors show that some stents roach CEER 1 level (pat eof 45.45% on the PET exam). At the same time, mack ts ests show tat tow achat fo rin low achievers with shi scores never xvancing beyond those of "beginne” English lnguige lames, inespectve ofthe volume ‘of English instruction reeived. High achievers on ‘VLE exams tend tobe tho enrolled in advinced lasses, though the clases Focused on a vatiety of| sbjeets es opposed to being English ocured css hough more inventiantion is ered on this spe of the rte (G1 Are eadieg and wring sis the has of tanga leaming? The analyses save supper othe notion tha p= fommance on 2 Cambridg-sanctioned YLE Reating- and-Wrtiag-seedon-only mock test ean be utd to ‘make predictions of gene blity wih some degree of confidence. In conclusion, thes staies 25a whole give i sighs ino the sate of English edvaton fam elenen- tary school upto university at HG, Another ser of mock test re planned fr ne 2010. This wil give vs ater understanding of he strengths and weakases ‘sigue te HO's approach to English edveation, The ext ead pesos more challenging sep iso cer how beso apply and shire these rests forthe tir ‘ment of English edueaton st ech of H's aad leyls encompassing al levels of Japanese eduction) ‘and peraps, y etersion, English fcationtraugh- out ap, [otes:All sections ofthis paper were writes by Sikiko Yoneda except for Caper 4 which was ‘writen by Jason Hughes. The paper was eited for English grammatical aceuracy by Jason Hgts < Bien) > ‘Assn, Hy Yona, 8 Lyte, G, Wend Cena estan Mein, Higa T, Kava N, a, e200. A Rech fr Hehr Gl a- in Sato of Expl Eveaon nak in and Progress tonal the Future Meno of Hott Gatun Unni and Hotty Gobir Cage No AMEE LAER ERIS set) 1g sor He) 336 ase! Ting Serve (201) TIC Soe te Holders. eas) (RNA TOBIC 2271. ened Apel 29, 2010, fen pula PasnsTOSICSTEP 29019 —109-PAS ROAM RHRNERER HSS Eel Teg Seni), Carat leo TOE. 1 Briand TORI Tt. eae) (FTOEIC Begs = TORCTA MOAT TIER. 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