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 *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************