Abstraet In 2006, an English listening test was added to the National Center 'Ibst fbr University Admissions (NCT) in Japan. We investigated whether including the Center listening test on the NCT has had positive washback on students' listening skills and attitudes toward studying listening. In Study 1 , test sceres ofuniversity freshmen dating back to 2002 were analyzed to investigate the improvement in students' listening skills. In Study 2, a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate

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... students' motivational aspects. The results revealed three findings. First, the test scores did not show a marked improvement in listening skills after the Center listening test was introduced. Second, the Center listening test might influence students in different majors to a different degree. Third, the majority ofstudents favored the introduction ofthe Center listening test, and most were encouraged to study listening and felt their preparation had a positive efTect on their score. JapanSociety ofEnglish Language Education world, the Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sports, Science, and 'Fechnology (MEXT) emphasized the importance ofcultivating students' practieal communication skilis in the Course ofStudy fbr Senior I-Iigh Schools, which was issued in 2000 and fu11y implemented in 20e3. In addition, the MEXT issued an Action Plan in 2003 to cultivate C'Japanese with English language abilities'i to be able to cemmunicate internationally in the language. One ofthe plans in the Action Plan was to add a listening test to the English subject ofthe National Center 'fest fbr University Admissions (NCT), as the NCT has had a great impact on improving teaching methods and learners' motivation (MEXT, 2003), The NCT is a nationwide university entrance examination administered once a year in Japan and it is a high-stakes test fbr many students since the NCT scores are given significant weight in the admissions process at many schools, As of2012, 685 universities and colleges in Japan use the NCT for admissions, Accordingly, more than 520,OOO applicants take the NCT every year in January (National Center For University Entrance Examinations, 201 2). rlb this widely used test, a 30-minute English listening test with a total score of50 points was added to the 80-minute written English test with a tota1 score of200 points in Jariuary 2006 (MEXI) n. d.). The purpose ofthis