Department of Modern Languages: Placement and Credit by Exam

Placement and Credit by Exam

Placement Test

CLEP Examination and Credit

Advanced Placement (AP) Policy

Policy on Placement of Native or Near-native Speakers 

General Guidelines

Please note: The following policy and procedure statements pertain to students who begin college as degree-seeking students in Summer 2004 and after. The WKU general education foreign language requirement states: "Students who begin their college career as degree-seeking students during the 2004 summer term and thereafter will be required to take the second semester level or higher foreign language course."

Students who were first-time college students in summer 2004 and after , must fulfill the foreign language general education requirement of "proficiency at the second semester level." They can do this by successfully taking a 102 (second-semester of first year) course, by taking a department exam for 102, by gaining appropiate CLEP or AP credit or by placing into and successfully passing a course at the intermediate (201 or 202) level or higher. The Modern Languages program strongly recommends that students with good language skills in French, German, or Spanish and those who plan to major or minor in one of these languages after having studied it previously take the placement exam to insure correct placement. Other students who want to begin the study of a new language in order to fulfill the general education requirements should enroll in the first semester course of that language. If you began your college studies in the summer of 2004 or after and wish to continue a language that you studied for 2 or more years in high school, you must begin that language at the 102 level or higher. See the Modern Language general education policy statement.

Information about the WKU Language Requirement (pdf)

 

Placement test

The placement tests in French, German, and Spanish are available on the Web and may be taken at any time convenient to the student. It only takes a few minutes to take the exam on-line. On the basis of the score earned, the student can be placed at the appropriate language level. It is important that the student enroll in the designated course as soon upon entering Western as possible in order to capitalize on language skills. Contact the Department of Modern Languages with questions (modern.languages@wku.edu or 270-745-2401).

Instructions on how to access the examination site:

1.  Go to this website: http://webcape.byuhtrsc.org?acct=wku
2.  Put in this password: <hilltoppers1> (all lower case)

How to interpret your placement score:

Your score will immediately be shown to you after completing the test and it will be sent to the Department of Modern Languages at Western KY University. The system does not use email to notify students of their results. Therefore it is important for you to make a record of your score and of the WKU course placement it indicates. If you need to see your results at a later time, you must log in to the exam site again, fill in the top part of the survey exactly as you did when you first took the exam, and then press the resume button. (This process also works if the exam is interrupted as long as you have answered at least one question.) You can interpret your score by looking at the following score equivalences. For example, if your score on the French test was 278, you should enroll in FREN 102.

 

French

0-249 (French 101)

250-310 (French 102)

311-364 (French 201)

365-399 (French 202)

400 and up (French 300)

 

German

0-249 (German 101)

250-310 (German 102)

311-364 (German 201)

365-399 (German 202)

400 and up (German 300)

 

Spanish

0-249 (Spanish 101)

250-345 (Spanish 102)*

346-390 (Spanish 201)

391-429 (Spanish 202)

430 and above (Spanish 300)

 

CLEP examination and credit

The Department of Modern Languages recognizes scores earned on the CLEP examination in French, German, and Spanish and awards 6 to 12 hours of credit (the equivalent of 2, 3, or 4 semesters of elementary and/or intermediate language study). Students who are enrolled in a French, German, or Spanish course at the 200-level or above and who wish to gain credit for courses they have placed out of by taking the CLEP exam must do so before completing a college-level course in that language. In addition, they must take the exam according to these deadlines:

1. by the end of the fourth week of the fall or winter semester

2. by the end of the first week of a biterm or of the May or January term

CLEP scores received from students already enrolled in a French, German, or Spanish course after these deadlines will not be recognized by the department.

We strongly urge students to take this examination before entering Western, so that their foreign language placement will be certain. Contact the Testing Service at WKU (270-745-3159) for information on testing dates. A fee is charged.

 

Advanced Placement (AP) Policy

Credit for AP (Advanced Placement) achievement: Students can earn 9 hours of credit for AP scores. In all cases, the University foreign language requirement in general education is fulfilled.

(a) A score of '3' on the AP examination earns the student 3 hours of credit for FREN 201, SPAN 201 (Intermediate French/Spanish I), or GERM 201 (German III) and fulfills the General Education foreign language requirement.

(b) A score of '4' on the AP examination earns the student 3 hours of credit for FREN 202, SPAN 202 (Intermediate French/Spanish II) or German 202, (The German-Speaking Lands) and fulfills the General Education foreign language requirement.

(c) A score of '5' on the AP examination earns the student 3 hours of upper-division credit (for French language AP exam: FREN 320; German language AP exam: GERM 330; Spanish language AP exam SPAN 371; French literature AP exam: FREN 314; Spanish literature AP exam: SPAN 374) and fulfills the General Education foreign language requirement.

(d) The student presenting an AP score of 3 will be given the opportunity to earn an additional 6 hours of verified credit, which will be listed on the transcript as FREN 101 and 102, GERM 101 and 102, or SPAN 101 AND 102, by taking a course at the next level beyond that which s/he has earned through the AP exam, success fully passing that course with a 'C' or better, and then paying a fee.

(e) The student presenting an AP score of 4 will be given the opportunity to earn an additional 6 hours of verified credit, which will be listed on the transcript as FREN 102 and 201, GERM 102 and 201, or SPAN 102 and 201, by taking a course at the next level beyond that which s/he has earned through the AP exam, successfully passing that course with a 'C' or better, and then paying a fee.

(f) The student presenting an AP score of 5 will be given the opportunity to earn an additional 6 hours of verified credit, which will be listed on the transcript as FREN 201 and 202, GERM 201 and 202, or SPAN 201 and 202, by taking a course at the next level beyond that which s/he has earned through the AP exam, successfully passing that course with a 'C' or better, and then paying a fee.

This policy is in effect as of April 7, 2003. See the following table for an overview of the policy and the course credit granted for the various examinations.

MLIS Department Policy on AP credit

French Language
Score 3 4 5	Hours 9 9 9	Course 101, 102, and 201 102, 201, and 202 201, 202, and 320

French Literature
Score 3 4 5	Hours 9 9 9	Course 101, 102, and 201 102, 201, and 202 201, 202, and 314

German
Score 3 4 5	Hours 9 9 9	Course 101, 102, and 201 102, 201, and 202 201, 202, and 330

Spanish Language
Score 3 4 5	Hours 9 9 9	Course 101, 102, and 201 102, 201, and 202 201, 202, and 371

Spanish Literature
Score 3 4 5	Hours 9 9 9	Course 101, 102, and 201 102, 201, and 202 201, 202, and 374

 

*Note for Honor students: Students interested in taking the section of Spanish 102 should score at least 325

 

Policy on Placement of Native or Near-native Speakers

International students studying at WKU may not fulfill the general education foreign language requirement by taking a lower division course in their native language. They have two options in fulfilling this requirement:

1. Complete the necessary coursework in a foreign language other than their own.
2. Complete an extra 3-hour general education course in any of the areas listed. Approval from the Office of International Programs is required and an approval form for the substitution should accompany degree program submission.

Native speakers of French, German, or Spanish may not enroll in lower division courses in the respective language. After consultation with Modern Language faculty, they may enroll in an appropriate upper division course, but they will not gain verified credit for lower division courses upon successful completion of the upper division course. If they wish to major in the language, their degree program requirements may be reduced. Lower division courses may also be closed to near-native speakers, after an evaluation by Modern Language faculty.