New JLPT specifications
Friday, December 11th, 2009
I read an interesting document about the new JLPT specifications for the test starting in 2010 from the Japan Foundation.
Considering the search terms people use in Google these points are a big departure from the old test:
There are no plans to publish collections of complete copies of tests administered in past years.
and
The goal of learning Japanese is not to memorize vocabulary, kanji, and grammar, but to become capable of using them as a means of communication. The new test is to measure both “Japanese language knowledge, including vocabulary and grammar,” and “the competence required to perform communicative tasks using language knowledge.” Therefore, we determined that it is not appropriate to publish “Test Content Specifications” which includes the lists of vocabulary, kanji, and grammar.
and
Failure to exceed the minimum acceptable score in any scoring sections will result in a fail for the entire test, even if your total score is above the minimum acceptable score.



