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August 2009, Week 3

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From:
LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:32:08 -0400
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--- Forwarded Message from Mike Ledgerwood <[log in to unmask]> ---

>From: Mike Ledgerwood <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum   
<[log in to unmask]>
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #9209 language proficiency testing
>Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:34:19 -0500
>References: <[log in to unmask]>

Deanne, you'll get lots of different advice on this, I think.

Since I'm now Chair of World Languages and Cultures at Samford I  
belong to the ADFL (Association of Departments of Foreign Languages)  
and its listserv.  This is an issue that comes up every year on this  
listserv.  Let me tell you what we do at Samford and see if that helps  
at all.  I can also share what I have heard from ADFL. As an aside the  
Chair of your dept. should probably belong to this group if she or he  
doesn't.

Samford does accept CLEP, AP exam, and IB (International  
Baccalaureate) Exam results.  I can give you the scores we accept if  
you wish.  These scores are used for placement.  We have just started  
to use the (former) Brigham Young Univ. WebCAPE exam for placement  
this summer.  This has worked well for us even if it is only offered  
in French, German, Spanish and Russian for now.  Not inexpensive but  
worth the price.  All of our spring first and second year students in  
all of these languages took the test in the spring as did most of our  
faculty to see what kinds of scores equated to every semester  
placement.  (I, myself, wound up taking it in French, German, and  
Spanish multiple times.  I even took it in Russian four times which  
was interesting since I know no Russian and have a hard time with the  
alphabet.  Placed into first semester three times.  But once I spent a  
lot of time decoding the test and placed into second sem.!)

Most of Samford's majors require four semesters of language.  For  
students who place into third year language, they are required to take  
one course at that level to prove that they actually have the  
knowledge to succeed at that level.  This is considered "proficiency".

Samford has a lot of "MK" students (missionary kids).  They have lived  
all over the world.  For these students we use another BYU test which  
is a written exam to place them.  Exam is about 60$ (?) which the  
student has to pay. This exam is available in the vast majority of  
languages you'll have to deal with.  Since Samford also has a critical  
languages program that offers Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Italian,  
Japanese, Portuguese, Thai, Russian, and Swahili, students who place  
into levels below third year can continue to take those languages.

Finally, for International students, we look at their HS and/or  
college transcripts and use a service (again students pay for this) to  
translate them, as needed, that also gives equivalencies for credits.   
While this isn't official policy yet, Samford is looking to have non- 
native-English student come in with the language requirement satisfied  
if they graduated from HS in their native non-English-speaking  
country.  Then their language would be any needed ESL courses here.  I  
think using the fact that these students had to take the TOEFL would  
not be a bad thing either.

Hope this helps.

Best, Mike

P.S. How long have you been at Kutztown?  One of my colleagues at  
Samford is from Kutztown.  Her dad was a sociology prof there and I  
visited her there a long time ago and worked at the Folk Festival.

Mikle D. Ledgerwood, Ph.D.
Chair of World Languages and Cultures
Professor of French
Samford University

[log in to unmask]

President of the International Association for Language Learning  
Technology

On Aug 13, 2009, at 2:19 AM, LLTI-Editor wrote:

> --- Forwarded Message from "Cobb-Zygadlo, Deanne" <[log in to unmask] 
> > ---
>
>> From: "Cobb-Zygadlo, Deanne" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: language proficiency testing
>> Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:07:45 -0400
>
> Hi,
> The last posting in the archives on this issue appears to have been
> from 2006 and so I am hoping that maybe we could revive the  
> discussion.
>
> One of the issues I have been asked to lend a hand in since joining KU
> is in determining how best to handle language proficiency testing on
> campus.  The faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences has a language
> requirement but there is a growing need to recognize the first, second
> or third languages of our students who are entering our programs.
> Traditionally, with languages that are taught on campus, this would
> involve either a computerized language placement/proficiency test or
> an interview with a faculty member.  For students who speak a language
> not taught on campus, the language department has found qualified
> individuals with expertise in the language to test the students on a
> one-time basis.  This is time-consuming and can be costly.  And with
> an increasing number of students coming in with less commonly taught
> languages, it is becoming more and more cumbersome.
>
> Does anyone's university make use of educational transcripts?  What
> are the policies in place for this?  What about languages from areas
> of the world which may not produce transcripts?
>
> Does anyone recognize TOEFL scores as evidence of L2?  Under what
> circumstances?
>
> We are trying to think of inventive means by which to acknowledge our
> students prior knowledge through equitable means.
>
> Thanks,
> Deanne
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> Deanne Cobb-Zygadlo
> Director, Language Resource Center
> Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
>
> phone:  484-646-5865
> email:   [log in to unmask]
>
>
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> Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask])
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