English Proficiency of Japanese Students : Comparative Study Based On TOEFL

This paper discusses the English proficiency of Japanese students on the basis of 1991～1993 TOEFL Tests. The concept of the TOEFL Test, its validity as a proficiencytest, and the comparative position of Japanese students are examined. The poor performance of Japanese students is often attiributed to the lack of the linguistic affinity to English, but this is partly negated by the studies of the performance of students from European and other Asian countries, leading to the conclusion that there are some serious deficiencies in ELT itself in Japan.