Students enrolling in Baker University’s foreign language programs during the next school year will be specifically placed in certain classes thanks to placement exams for the foreign language classes.
Students in foreign language classes took the placement exams, called WebCAPE. The exam is calibrated by Brigham Young University. The multiple-choice test is taken online. Questions are presented in either French, German or Spanish. These results will better aid in placing students enrolling in a foreign language at Baker. ?
Department Chair Cynthia Appl said the test will be used to place future students. However, she said current language students are required to take the exam to give language professors a better idea of what results they should expect.
“We have to administer the test to our current students in order to ‘calibrate’ it,” she said.
Until this test was implemented, students enrolling either were placed in a class based on how many years’ experience they had in high school in a foreign language or an oral exam with a professor in the foreign language department. Professors in the Language and Literature department have been wanting to implement such a placement test for a couple of years, but until now there has not been a satisfactory placement test found, Appl said.?After much research the placement test from BYU was selected. The results of the online test are seen instantly, which is a benefit of this exam.
Sophomore Margaret Kisner said she does not think the test covers all areas.
“I think it’s a good idea to see on an average your abilities, but it’s not testing what Baker considers important for certain levels,” she said.
Assistant Professor of Spanish Pablo LaRosa said the placement test will be useful to incoming students who don’t know which level in foreign language to enroll in.?LaRosa said a simple placement test cannot give a definitive range of the student’s abilities.
“It’s better if students would have a writing sample, but it’s impractical. This is not an achievement test, it’s just to place students,” La Rosa said. “It will not be the only thing taken into consideration (when placing a student.)”
Appl said she told her students not too take the tests too seriously.
“I told students not to make anything out of the result they received, as it is only meaningful in the context of one other institution,” she said.?”We will set our own ranges, once we look at the data we get from our current students.”
Kisner took the German placement test.
“It would be good if the students had access to the numbers,” she said. “It would be better to apply it to this university and make it more comprehensive.”
The placement tests are in the beginning stages and will be used to measure their effectiveness in the future.
