Comparing EIKEN Writing Part 1 and IELTS Writing Task 1: Task Design and Pedagogical Implications

This study compares the newly introduced Writing Part 1 of the EIKEN Test in Practical English Proficiency (実用英語技能検定) at Grade 3 and above with Writing Task 1 of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in its Academic format. Although both tasks assess non-opinion writing, they differ substantially in input type, cognitive demands, and use of source material. EIKEN Writing Part 1 requires learners to extract and synthesise information from a short written text, while IELTS Writing Task 1 asks test takers to describe visual information without relying on source language. These differences have important implications for classroom practices within the Bunkyo English Communication Center (BECC) courses for Education Department students, where writing instruction currently progresses from basic sentence construction to paragraph development and then to simple opinion writing. This paper suggests that attention should now also be given to early-stage instructional tasks such as summarisation, information selection, and controlled paragraph organisation. This closer alignment with the taskspecific demands of external English tests may better support both learners’ writing development and assessment readiness.