Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERNMENT POLICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1993 > CHAPTER 2 �6 3 (1)

With regards to pre-college students, in order to increase the motivation of those who possess a strong desire to learn the Japanese language, measures that need to be taken include: examination of the possibility of requiring, as a prerequisite for admission to an institute, a rudimentary knowledge of the Japanese language obtained through independent study; consideration of means of providing assistance to excellent pre-college students( and provision of accurate information concerning enrollment in Japanese language institutes in Japan.

Necessary measures to be taken with regard to foreign students educated in universities include consideration of the creation and establishment of standards and guidelines regarding Japanese language ability required of foreign students, consideration as to a means of viewing Japanese language education and specialized education as an organically connected whole, and preparation of a flexible system that will provide supplementary lessons in Japanese to those whose language ability is still insufficient after university entrance.

It is also necessary to provide appropriate assistance for the respective needs of foreign trainees, Indo-Chinese refugees, returnees from extended stays in China, businessmen and researchers.

In order for foreigners to blend smoothly into the life of the community, it is desirable that more extensive opportunities to learn the Japanese language be provided within the community and that volunteer teachers have more chances to master Japanese language teaching methods.

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is an important gauge by which Japanese language learners can measure their own ability in the language. As the number of people taking this test is growing year by year, it is necessary to consider administering it twice or more a year, as well as considering when and how it is carried out.