今日は朝8時半から息子の言語テスト。アメリカではおそらくどの州も英語以外を第一言語とする子どもたちのために、英語の能力を測るテストを施し、その結果に応じて英語力の不足を補うためのサポートを施すシステムがある。我が家の第一言語はもちろん日本語なので、学校の書類にそう記入すると、カリフォルニア州の法律では必ず入学/編入前に言語テストを受けなければならないことになっているので受験するようにと通知がきた。今日のテストを（いつものように寝坊などして）すっぽかすと、あさってから始まる学校に通えないことになるので、親子ともども気合をいれて早起き(?)して臨む。娘は先立って先週受験済み。
8時半に受付に行くとすでに多くの人がロビーで待っていた。その後、第一言語別にグループに別れ別室でテスト。それぞれの言語にその言葉を話す担当者がいて、書類の記入などサポートしてくれる。配布されるパンフレットもそれぞれの言語に翻訳されたものがあるからすごい（写真）。面白いのは、英語力だけでなく第一言語もテストされること。うちの場合は日本語力がテストされたわけ。息子は英語よりも日本語のほうに気を揉んで、いったいどんな漢字を書けと言われるのかドキドキしながら向かう。
2時間後テストを無事終えた息子に聞いてみたところ、”日本語でエッセーを書かされたよぉ~”とのこと。”テーマは？”と聞くと、”一番好きな場所”とのこと。”ちゃんと書けた？”と聞くと、”＃＊＆％＄＠”という答え。いつも漢字を避けがちでひらがなばっかりの文を書いているので、”漢字も使ったの？”と聞くと、”一番、好き、場所などは漢字で書きましたぁ”とのこと。”よく書けたね。ちっとも最近勉強してなかったのに~”というと、”問題に使ってあった漢字をコピーしましたぁ。" ちゃっかりしてるね。ちなみに、一番好きな場所は日本だそうです。しかしながら、日本語力をテストしてその結果をどうするのだろう？？今度聞いてみます。。。
Today our son had a language test administered by the school district. In most of the states, for students whose first language is not English, there is a system that test their English capability and provide necessary supports according to the results. In our case, the first language is Japanese, and so we filled on the school documents. Under the California law, students are required to take the language test before they are allowed to be in public schools. We are told if we miss today's test, he will not be able to start the school on 9/10 along with other kids. We were very nervous if we were able to wake up in time, since we were on a "summer" schedule for a long time, but we made it there alright. Yeah! Our daughter took the test last week already.
When we arrived in the building, there was quite a few people already waiting int the lobby. After a while, we were divided into smaller groups by the first language, and shown to a test room. For each language, there is a staff who speaks the language to support us filling the documents. They are brochures translated in each language (see the picture). V ery impressive. The interesting thing is that they test not only English but also our first languages. In our case it's Japanese, of course. Our son was more nervous with the Japanese part of the test than with English, worrying about the embarrassment he needs to endure in case he cannot handle some fundamental Kanjis, that is Japanese characters.
After 2 hours, he came out of the building, saying, "Mom, I was told to write an essay in Japanese." I asked him what was the theme. He said it was "the place I like the best." I asked him whether he thought he did okay. He said, "＃＊＆％＄＠." I asked him whether we was able to use some Kanjis, since writing everything without Kanjis looks pretty childish. He said, "I wrote place and like and best in Kanjis." I told him I was impressed that he remembered all those Kanjis. He said, "Well, those Kanjis were in the problem sentence so I just copied." Okay, better than nothing... FYI, the place he likes the best is Japan. Anyway, I wonder why they test his Japanese and how they put the test result in use?? I will find out.
