Speakers
Description
Many English teachers in Japan prepare students for IELTS Speaking without ever experiencing a high-stakes communicative speaking test themselves. This interactive session introduces a project that created a Japanese-language speaking test modelled on IELTS Speaking, exploring speaking test design, construct validity, pragmatics, and examiner expectations. Participants will try selected speaking tasks and reflect on the test-taker experience, gaining fresh insight and empathy into what students face in high-stakes speaking tests.
Abstract
What is it like to sit a high-stakes foreign-language speaking test such as IELTS? For many English teachers in Japan, the honest answer is: we don’t know. Unlike English, Japanese has no widely used communicative speaking test. The JLPT, for example, contains no speaking component. Consequently, IELTS teachers in Japan are often preparing students for an experience they have never had (Fu et. al. 2025, Legge and Morrish, 2025).
This interactive session introduces a project by two native English speakers and two native Japanese speakers to address that gap. Together, we attempted to create a Japanese-language speaking test modelled on the IELTS Speaking exam, designed to give English teachers a chance to step into their students' shoes. What began as a simple task, translating IELTS prompts into Japanese, quickly became more complex, raising issues of linguistic equivalence, discourse style, cultural pragmatics, and politeness. These challenges forced us to confront questions about construct validity, examiner expectations, and emotional and cognitive loads placed on test-takers.
After a short introduction to the rationale and design process, session participants will have the chance to try selected test tasks themselves (in English or Japanese), providing a brief but enlightening window into what students experience when taking a high-stakes English speaking test. The session concludes with a guided reflection and discussion.
By putting teachers temporarily in the role of test-takers, this interactive workshop aims to promote greater empathy, sharper assessment literacy, and more reflective classroom practice, while having a bit of fun along the way.
Keywords
IELTS Speaking, Teacher Training, Speaking Exams, Japanese,
Short summary
Many English teachers in Japan prepare students for IELTS Speaking without ever experiencing a high-stakes communicative speaking test themselves. This interactive session introduces a project that created a Japanese-language speaking test modelled on IELTS Speaking, exploring speaking test design, construct validity, pragmatics, and examiner expectations. Participants will try selected speaking tasks and reflect on the test-taker experience, gaining fresh insight and empathy into what students face in high-stakes speaking tests.
References
Fu, L., Ducker, N., Thomas, N., (2025): Have you prepared them psychologically? An idiodynamic investigation into foreign language anxiety in IELTS video-call speaking tests, The Language Learning Journal, DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2025.2578720
Legge, T., & Morrish, J. (2025). Teachers Taking Tests: How Does Taking an IELTS Test Influence Teaching Practice and How Effective Is It as a Teacher Training Method?. Explorations in Teacher Development, 30(2), 55-69.
| Title | The challenges of creating an Japanese speaking test for English teachers |
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