The Significance of Evaluating Minority Students' L1 and L2 Language Competence : From TOAM of Two Chinese Students

The study is about the Significance of Evaluating Minority Students' L1 and L2 Language Competence from TOAM of two Chinese students. In Japan, minority students' Japanese (L2) proficiency is considered more important than their native language. Since their Japanese proficiency level is normally low, their study capability tends to be discounted. After being evaluated their L1 and L2 with TOAM, they show great study capability and potential, which apply to both L1 and L2. The result shows: (1) we should only determine the student's cognitive academic language proficiency after understanding his L1 and L2 capability, and to avoid judging from just L1 or L2, (2) we should understand identifying the superior and inferior language between L1 and L2. It suggests providing customized support to each minority student, and it is necessary to pay attention to not only the study obstacles but also the source of language learning. We should leverage both resources for L2 and L1 when help minority students with their school learning