Here at Stonehill College, we use 4 factors to determine placement: the results
of a placement test; the number of years of studsy of the FL; the grades in that
study; and the elapsed time since that study. Until 3 years ago, we used the
University of Wisconsin tests, which were given on-campus during Orientation and
which include a listening comprehension component. Three years ago, though, at
the behest of the Orientation Committee (which wanted back the 2 hours taken up
by the Wisconsin test), the Department Chair agreed to use the BYU tests, which
are taken off-campus (by 15 May) and do not include a listening comprehension
component. A home-grown Italian test is also web-based.
  Most of us question the results of the placement process and those questions
have become more strident with the BYU tests. We have no control of the
off-campus testing environment. Last June, about 600 incoming first-year
students took the tests; sixteen scored 1, one scored 3, one scored 11. A total
of 140 students were required to "See Foreign Language Department" during
Orientation, mostly to explain gross discrepancies between their HS grades in FL
and the score on the placement test. One student told me that she forgot to take
the test until 11.45 P.M. on the last possible day; another that she had a
Spanish-speaking friend help her; another that he used a dictionary. We did not
get that with on-campus testing, though, of course, some students did less well
than they could have, hoping to achieve an "easier" placement.
  The lack of a listening component troubles us, too, since listening is the
weakest part of many students' game; it is not reflected in the BYU score.  

________________________________

From: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum on behalf
of LLTI-Editor
Sent: Fri 10/10/2008 2:20 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ##8962.17 (!) Online Placement

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