Park, Sang-gyu This paper aims to review language area of the Korean National Entrance Exam for Colleges (KNEEC) and to make suggestions for its improvement. For this purpose, this study analyzes test items of language area during the five years of KNEEC (from 1997 to 2000) and compares the items of two tests (those of the 2004 test and those of the 1994 test) in order to investigate changes in the test. The result of the investigation implies that language area of KNEEC has gradually accepted suggestions for its improvement from the literature while keeping its main purpose of cross-subject language competence test and that the test has successfully discriminated test-takers, despite a few failures in difficulty control. The problems revealed through the examination of the test and suggestions for its improvement are as following: First, the language area of KNEEC has relatively given less attention to subject-specific characteristics, i.e. the characteristics specific to the subject of Korean, due to its primary concern in cross-subject language competence. The content and the purpose of the test should be rebuilt in order to improve on this. The content should be presented in the divided sections of listening, writing, reading, literature and Korean knowledge in accordance with the system of the Korean language curriculum. The purpose of the test should be addressed for the sake of more specific activity purposes such as interpretation/comprehension, analysis (summary)/critic, and application with respect to language activities. Second, the current KNEEC (language area) has become a kind of speeded test, not power test, and the items tend to be patternized. The number of passages and items should be decreased to solve the problem of speeded test. More various and specific language situations should be enhanced to prevent fixed item types. Lastly, in terms of the kinds of knowledge tested, we don’t need to purposefully ignore subject-specific knowledge for the sake of cross-subject language competence. It is not that the knowledge is not necessary, but that change in the perspective on the knowledge and in its treatment is necessary. What we need is consent on the concept crucial to the high school curriculum. Positive changes that have been made in KNEEC (language area) should be enhanced and empirical research should be conducted to address negative aspects that have been mentioned in this study and these research results should be continuously reflected on the item development for the sustaining, essential improvement of the test.