The Practicality and Efficiency of Web-Based Placement Testing for College-Level Language Programs.

Abstract: Articulation is one of the principal challenges of all foreign language programs. A key component of the articulation process is an assessment of student language abilities. On college and university campuses this process is usually conducted via a placement test. As developments in proficiency research have progressed, it is clear that programs need information about a student's grammatical command of a language as well as about their integrative use of the language specifically in speaking. This article examines the process of having students test online before their arrival on campus and provides insights into efficiencies brought about by such testing. The data for the article were generated by 679 learners of Spanish and 78 learners of German as well as by their 14 instructors and 2 language program directors. Introduction Byrnes (1990) cautioned thai as foreign language curriculum theory becomes more multifaceted, acknowledging the components of language proficiency, the need for more precise articulation from one curriculum into another would become more complex and more critical. At present, within the context of the Standards Movement and radical shifts in high school foreign language curricula characterized by greater inclusiveness, Byrnes's caution has become a prophesy. The front line of articulation, although admittedly by no means the only dimension of that articulation, is placement testing. Indeed, the placement of students into courses in an effective and efficient manner is one of the primary challenges faced by large-scale university ioreign language programs. Students demand a timely placement that accommodates their foreign language knowledge and deserve a placement that is challenging without being frustrating. Teachers demand placement mechanisms that enable them to calibrate their instruction to the needs of entering students and deserve ones that facilitate the design of tasks that help students learn in the language. Program administrators demand efficient placement mechanisms in terms of personnel and time and deserve ones that are valid and reliable reflections of foreign language proficiency. The essentials shared among stakeholders in the language placement process are often difficult to reconcile. Large-scale, college-level language programs frequently have thousands of students who need to be placed into course levels in a very short period of time. While a faceto-face assessment of each student might be desirable, under such conditions, it is tantamount to impossible. Even traditional paper-and-pencil tests scored by machine do not permit a convenient analysis of individual student performance, so critical to understanding learners' language strengths and weaknesses. The bureaucratic practicalities of running large-scale programs within colleges and universities are also important considerations. Foreign language programs are but one dimension of the undergraduate curriculum. During orientation periods, they compete for time and resources with other academic areas that require placement, such as English language composition and mathematics. In other words, the demands of efficiency often take precedence over, and at times even ignore, research findings about the construct of language proficiency. Research indicates that language proficiency is clearly not limited to grammatical ability and reading and writing abilities assessed in paper-and-pencil tests. Oral language assessment must also be included in any learner profile of language ability. Harlow and Caminero (1990) articulated the point: "If we pay lip service to the importance of oral performance, then we must evaluate that oral proficiency in some visible way" (p. 489). Yet assessment of learners takes time, as dedicated instructors need to examine at a fairly deep level of detail what students are and are not able to accomplish with a given foreign language. In fact, Harlow and Caminero found that 57% of language programs cite lack of time and complicated logistics (such as space and scheduling) as typical impediments to elaborate student assessments. …