ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some important issues in Heritage language (HL) proficiency measurement, focusing on children who are learning Japanese-as-a-heritage language (JHL). It reviews existing instruments for measuring the Japanese proficiency of Japanese HL children, focusing on the heritage and foreign/second language differences as well as methodological concerns in measuring child language proficiency. The chapter also reviews the available proficiency measurement instruments for JHL children; to report how the reliability and validity of those instruments have been reported; and also discusses possible improvements that could be made in the future. It focuses on any kind of Japanese language test or assessment procedure designed to tap learners’ language knowledge and/or abilities to use the language. The chapter shows that articles were selected based on the following two criteria: Japanese language proficiency is measured in some way, and the examinees are children and/or adolescents who are learning JHL.
