The Assessment of Listening Ability in the New Japanese Test Format of the College Entrance Examination and Its Teaching Implications — A Case Study of the 2024–2025 Gaokao Japanese Tests

Based on the listening sections of the 2024 national Gaokao Japanese paper, the January 2025 Zhejiang paper, and the 2025 national Gaokao Japanese paper (60 recordings and question sets), this study used content analysis to examine the characteristics of the new listening test format and their teaching implications. Three salient characteristics emerged: high demands on precise and quick question reading, frequent synonym substitution between questions or options and the audio text, and abundant conversational interaction information in long audio. These correspond to three psychological factors identified in prior research: learners' anxiety-awareness in listening activities, lexical processing speed, and planning-and-evaluation awareness in the listening process. The paper accordingly proposes AI-generated listening practice mimicking the new format, discrimination training on similar-meaning sentences, group-based synonym summarization, and a tick-marking strategy for sustaining attention. Teachers should reduce listening anxiety, improve lexical processing speed, strengthen planning-and-evaluation awareness, and continue to consolidate basic vocabulary and grammar.