It takes a team of 200 writers, editors, and content specialists more than four months to produce one set of EIKEN tests.
Level comparison
Level description
Can understand and use basic words, phrases, and simple sentences.
Overview of test structure
Grade 5
|
First stage |
Skill area |
Task |
Format |
Items |
Response type |
Time allotted |
Notes |
||
|
Reading |
Sentence completion |
15 short texts (one or two sentences/dialogues) from which one word or phrase has been omitted |
15 |
Multiple-choice (Four printed options) |
25 minutes |
Weighting Items are worth 1 point each. |
|||
|
Gap fill in dialogues |
5 short texts (dialogues) from which one or two phrases have been omitted |
5 |
Pass/fail cutoff Approximately 60% of total possible test score |
||||||
|
Writing |
Word reordering |
A sentence is provided from which four words have been removed and are scrambled. Examinees reorder the words to complete the sentence. A Japanese translation of the sentence is also provided. |
5 |
After putting words into correct order, examinees indicate which words should appear in 1st and 3rd positions.
|
Topics Family, friends, school, hobbies, travel, shopping, sports, movies, music, food, weather, giving directions, introducing oneself, plans for a holiday, one’s recent activities, etc. |
||||
|
Listening |
Conversation completion |
Examinees listen to short conversations and choose the best response to complete the last turn of the conversation. All conversations are heard twice. An illustration provides contextual information about the situation.
|
10 |
Multiple-choice (Three recorded options) |
20 minutes |
||||
|
Q&A based on dialogues |
10 recorded conversations followed by questions. All conversations are heard twice. |
10 |
Multiple-choice (Four printed options) |
||||||
|
Matching |
10 illustrations are provided in the test booklet. Examinees listen to three short statements for each illustration and choose the statement that best describes the action or situation in the illustration. All statements are heard twice.
|
10 |
Multiple-choice (Three recorded options) |
||||||
|
The Second Stage is not administered for Grade 5. |
|||||||||
Summary of Can-do statements
Below are summaries of the main features of the tasks and activities that typical Grade 5 certificate holders feel confident about performing in English in real-life language-use situations.
|
Reading |
Can recognize the letters of the alphabet and punctuation marks, and can understand basic English words, phrases, and sentences. |
|
Listening |
Can understand basic English words and phrases and set expressions. |
|
Speaking |
Can use basic English words and phrases and set expressions. |
|
Writing |
Can write the letters of the alphabet and basic English words and use punctuation marks. |
Download the complete EIKEN Can-do List in English or Japanese
Examinee statistics
Grade 5
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
|||
|
Applied |
315,151 |
Applied |
306,745 |
Applied |
292,599 |
|
Passed |
264,509 |
Passed |
259,329 |
Passed |
241,163 |