Tomoko Iwai, Kimi Kondo, Dianne S. J. Lim, Grace E. Ray, Hisaaki Shimizu, and James Dean Brown
University of Hawai`i

for the
Performance Based Testing Committee Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures University of Hawai`i at Manoa

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This report presents the results of the first stage of an on-going curriculum development project aimed at creating performance based tests for the first and second year Japanese language courses at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa. That first stage is a needs analysis of the learning needs of first and second year Japanese language students as perceived by the students and their teachers. This introductory section will lay the groundwork by discussing a number of relevant issues including the following: (a) the community background (including the vitality of the Japanese in Hawai`i), (b) the Japanese Language Program and the students at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, and (c) a literature review on needs analysis (including subsections on needs analysis in general education, needs analysis in ESL curriculum development, and needs analysis in Japanese curriculum development).