Quiz and Test Formats

Kanji Quizzes

Ordinary 20-point kanji quizzes will consist of questions arranged under three columns: a kanji column, a yomikata column and an English column. You will answer the questions by filling in the blank with information required under the column.

漢字 読み方 English

1. 魚 ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

2. ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ こうじょう factory


You would answer question one by filling in the blank under the 読み方 column with the answer 「さかな」 and the blank under the English column with the answer “fish”. You would answer question two by filling in the blank under the kanji column with the characters that have the reading 「こうじょう」 and the meaning “factory”:「工場」。

Comprehensive kanji quizzes will be worth 100 points. All questions will be taken from the readings in the textbook. One type of question will be to give you a quote taken from our readings with kanji underlined, you will then tell me the reading of the word in either ひらがな or カタカナ and the meaning of the word in English. Another type of question will be to give you a quote from our readings with blanks where kanji had been. Under the blanks will be the reading for the word in ひらがな. You will then fill in each blank with the appropriate kanji.

Midterm Exams

Midterm exams are 50-question tests. Each multiple-choice question is worth two points for a total 100 points. Each midterm exam is divided into five sections.

The first section is comprised of sentences taken directly from your textbook. Each sentence had a particular grammar pattern that I took out and substituted with a blank. You find the correct grammar pattern from the given choices to fill in the blank. The resulting sentence must be grammatically correct and make sense. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories so that you recognize the sentence and remember what it was saying. You should also review the grammar patterns that appear in the Sentence Pattern section of each lesson, directly following the vocabulary list for each story. This first section of the test consists of seven questions worth 14% of the total score.

The second section takes excerpts from the stories and asks questions about the contents of the material. The questions are designed to check your comprehension of the material. Sometimes questions about the content of the material are asked and answered in Japanese. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories, be able to translate any sentence into English and attend class to check up on your comprehension. This second section is the longest section of the test; it consists of 25 questions worth 50% of the total score.

Please note that these first two sections are worth 64% of your total test score. Also notice that all of the questions in these two sections regard material taken directly from your textbook. The single most important thing you can do to study for the midterm exams is to read and understand your textbook materials.

The third section will test you on your ability to use the kanji and grammar you have learned. I test your ability to apply what you have memorized by giving you a letter written to a person who is at your level of Japanese knowledge. You read the letter and answer multiple-choice questions about the letter’s contents. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, remember grammar patterns and practice translating. This third section consists of eight questions worth 16% of the total score.

The fourth section tests your ability to take a Japanese sentence and translate it into English. You are given a Japanese sentence and five choices for a “translation”. You are to choose which English sentence is the best translation of the actual meaning of the original Japanese sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, memorize vocabulary and practice translating. This fourth section consists of five questions worth 10% of the total score.

The fifth section tests your knowledge of the grammar patterns that appear in the textbook readings. I give you an English sentence and a Japanese translation of that English sentence. However, I leave a blank in the Japanese translation. You are given five choices to fill the blank. The resulting sentence must be a grammatically correct sentence that has the same meaning as the original English sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to learn the grammar patterns that appear in our textbook readings. The textbook often reviews these grammar patterns in the Sentence Pattern section of each lesson, directly following the vocabulary list for each story. This fifth section of the test consists of five questions worth 10% of the total score.

After you have taken a midterm exam, you have the option of going over the questions you missed with your teacher. This test review is a good idea if you get an unsatisfactory score. In the process of going over your test, you may better understand a concept or you might learn some new test taking strategies. In order to review a test: (1) Go to the Testing Services website, you can either type the address

https://testing.byu.edu/

into your browser or go to the BYU web site https://www.byu.edu and follow the links by clicking on the Student tab, then clicking on Academic links and then clicking on Testing Center (listed alphabetically in the underlying menu); (2) Follow the instructions on the Testing Services web site to visit the Student Page; (3) On the student page, find your test results for your Japanese 300 test; (4) Write down the numbers of the questions you missed on a piece of scratch paper; (5) Bring this piece of paper with you when you visit the teacher either during his office hours or during your appointment.

Please review your midterm exam before your next scheduled midterm exam. For example, please review Midterm Exam I before you take Midterm Exam II. Your teacher will only review the previous midterm exam with you, NOT all the exams you have taken so far.


Comprehensive Final Exam

The comprehensive final exam is a 100-question test. Each question is worth one point for a total 100 points. The comprehensive final exam is divided into two parts.

Part I will add up to a total 40% of your final score. Part I is further divided into two sections.

The first section is a fill-in-the-blank kanji quiz. The first ten questions consist of words written in kanji. You write in the yomikata for each word. The second ten questions consist of words written in hiragana, you are also given the English definitions for each word in parentheses. You write in the appropriate kanji for each word. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji. This first section consists of twenty questions and will be worth 20% of the total score.

The second section is comprised of sentences taken directly from your textbook. Each sentence had a particular grammar pattern that I took out and substituted with a blank. You find the correct grammar pattern from the given choices to fill in the blank. The resulting sentence must be grammatically correct and make sense. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories so that you recognize the sentence and remember what it was saying. You should also review the grammar patterns that appear in the stories. This second section consists of twenty questions and will be worth 20% of the total score.

Part II will add up to a total 60% of your final score. Part II is divided into three sections.

The first section will test you on your ability to use the kanji and grammar you have learned. I test your ability to apply what you have memorized by giving you two letters written to people who are at your level of Japanese knowledge. You read the letters and answer multiple-choice questions about each letter’s contents. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, remember grammar patterns and practice translating. This first section consists of forty questions worth 40% of the total score.

The second section tests your ability to take a Japanese sentence and translate it into English. You are given a Japanese sentence and five choices for a “translation”. You are to choose which English sentence is the best translation of the actual meaning of the original Japanese sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, memorize vocabulary and practice translating. This second section consists of five questions worth 5% of the total score.

The third section tests your knowledge of the grammar patterns that appear in the textbook readings. I give you an English sentence and a Japanese translation of that English sentence. However, I leave a blank in the Japanese translation. You are given five choices to fill the blank. The resulting sentence must be a grammatically correct sentence that has the same meaning as the original English sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to learn the grammar patterns that appear in our textbook readings. This third section consists of fifteen questions worth 15% of the total score.