Placement and Testing
Comprehensive
Exam for Graduate Students
Reading Proficiency
Exam for Graduate Students
INFORMATION
FOR UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS ON PLACEMENT & TESTING
The University of South Carolina requires that
all students achieve proficiency in one foreign language. When a
student enters USC, his/her foreign-language proficiency is measured
by a placement test in the language studied previously (usually
the language studied in high school). Newly admitted students take
placement tests administered during Orientation weekends, and they
should refer to information sent them when they are accepted for
admission For additional information, please go to their website:
http://orientation.sc.edu/pt.htm
As a courtesy for current USC students who have
missed the regular testing dates, and who have no placement score,
the Placement test will also be administered by the Department of
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. To check Placement information
for a specific language, please click the link below:
Arabic | Chinese | French |
German | Italian | Japanese | Latin
| Portuguese | Russian | Spanish
Each College sets the level of proficiency required for graduation
from USC. If a student gets a high enough score on the Placement
Test to satisfy his/her College, then no further course work in
foreign language is required.
If the student's score is not high enough to satisfy the College
requirement, then additional course work in a foreign language will
be necessary. Before taking a foreign-language course at USC, a
student must have a foreign-language proficiency score on record.
The placement score will indicate the level at which the student
should begin studying a foreign language at USC.
If a student wishes to study a second foreign language at other
than the beginning level, he/she should also take the test in that
language for placement purposes.
For Arabic -TBA . Please contact Stephen Sheehi at803-777-5254.
For Chinese, please contact
Dr. Tan Ye at 803-777-6908.
For French Phase I: Only for students
who have never taken the USC French Placement Test and who have
not yet taken a French course at USC-Columbia or at one of the USC
two-year campuses or a South Carolina Technical College.
Spring Semester:
The French Placement Test will be given on Thursday, January 8 at 11:00 p. m., on Tuesday, January 13 at 2:00 p. m., and on Friday, January 16, at 3:00 p. m. (last day to drop and add classes). In order to take this exam, students must sign up by e-mailing jjd@sc.edu at least 24-hours before the test time and requesting to take the test on one of these dates. Only e-mail requests will be accepted. The students will then receive confirmation of the appointment, the location of the test, and a form to be printed out, filled out and brought to the exam. Any student without an appointment, without the completed form, or without a picture ID (USC or state ID) will not be able to take the test. Students should arrive 15 minutes early and plan to stay for the entire one-hour exam.
Newly admitted students take placement tests administered during
Orientation weekends, and they should refer to information sent
them when they are accepted for admission. For addtional information,
go to http://orientation.sc.edu/pt.htm
109 RETEST: Students who already have a French Placement score,
who have at least a B in FREN 109 and who may be eligible to test
to exempt FREN 110 must contact Prof. Lucille Mould at mouldl@sc.edu.
You cannot take the French Placement Test again; this is a different
test, and you must register in advance to take it. It is given in
January and in July.
The following conditions must exist in order to qualify for the
FREN 109 retest:
1. Your major is in a School or College other than the College of
Arts and Sciences, or Music.
2. You completed FREN 109 with a grade of B or higher.
3. You previously took the regular version of the French Phase I
Placement Exam and received a score of F-1.
Some questions about placement can be answered by the office of
the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures: 803.777.4881
Phase I of the French Placement Test lasts 50 minutes, plus about
15 minutes of administration time (1 hr. 05). There are 45 multiple-choice
questions written in English: 25 questions for listening, and 20
questions for reading. No specific information, grammar or vocabulary
is tested; instead, the test evaluates your skill in understanding
natural
speech and authentic written texts.
INTERPRETING THE RESULTS:
Students scoring F-1 should register for FREN 109; F-2, for
FREN 121; F-3, for FREN 122.
Students scoring F-4 must take the second phase of the test.
Phase II consists of an interview and two short compositions.
Students should take the Phase II exam before registering for
a French class. You will be guaranteed a place in a class at the
correct level after you take the Phase II. For more about Phase
II, see below.
A student may take the French proficiency/placement test only
once: a second score in the same language is not valid. The results
of the placement test are binding; that is, a student may not
take a course at a lower level than his/her proficiency score
indicates.
Phase II:
If you have scored an F-4 on the French Placement Test, you are
in the highest category for the multiple-choice part of the exam.
This means that you have qualified for the second part of the
placement exam but have not yet taken it. You are required to
take this part of the test in order to receive a permanent score
on your records. You will therefore need to take Phase II of the
French Placement Test.
The Phase II exam consists of a short writing test (about 30
minutes) and a brief oral interview (10-15 minutes). If you would
like advice about courses offered by the French Department, that
will also take about 15 minutes.
BENEFIT FOR YOU: If the Phase II examiner determines that your
level of spoken and written French is sufficiently high, a placement
score of F-5 will be recorded for you, and you will have satisfied
the foreign language requirement for any college at USC. Then,
if you take one of the qualifying upper-level French courses and
earn at least a B, you will be eligible for seven hours of "advanced
standing" credit (for French 121 and 122).
The examiner may determine that a score of F-3 should be recorded
for you. In this case you will be advised to take French 122.
If you earn a grade of B or better in French 122 you will be eligible
for four hours of "advanced standing" credit (for French
121).
Plus, your performance on Phase II of the exam will help us know
how to advise you on which French courses would be at the best
level for you.
WHAT TO DO: You need to make an individual appointment to take
Phase II of the exam. Contact Professor John Duffy: e-mail him
at jjd@sc.edu, call him at 777-2377,
or leave a message for him at the Department of Languages, Literatures,
and Cultures (777-4881).
For German Phase I:
The Orientation and Testing
office administers placement tests to new undergraduates on two
Saturdays in April, just prior to Summer Session 1, each Summer Orientation
date, plus just prior to January and August Orientations.
As a courtesy for current USC students who have missed the regular
testing dates, and who have no placement score, the Placement
test is now availavble to every student at any time in the Ted Mimms Language Lab in the Humanities Classroom Building during business hours. Please bring a picture i.d.
German Phase II: The Phase II test will take place on August 20th, 21st, and 22nd from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in the Humanities Office Building, room 904. Please bring a picture i.d.
The writing part will take about 30 minutes; the oral interview
will take about 15 minutes; and if you want advice about which
course to take, that will take about 15 minutes, as well. Bring
a pencil or pen.
Contact Michael Buerstner buerstner@sc.edu
, if you have additional questions.
For Italian, please
contact Dr. Pauluzzi at 803-777-2686.
For Japanese,
the next test will be given
January 8, 2009 10:00 am – 12:00 pm in H 101 (Sony Lab)
Place:
Ted Mimms Foreign Language Learning Center, Humanities Classroom Building
Bring a picture I.D.
For Latin, the fall administration of the Latin Placement test will be Tuesday,
August 28, 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., in the Humanities Office Bldg. room
814. Bring picture ID and pencil. Students must preregister by
calling 777-4881.
For Portuguese,
please contact Dr. de Oliveira
at 803-777-2575.
For Russian,
please contact Dr. Ford at 803-777-9615.
Spanish
SPANISH PHASE I TEST DATES
Thursday, January, 8th, 2009
9:00 am &
2:00 pm
Humanities Classroom Building Room 201
Students must bring with them a No. 2 pencil and a photo ID before they will be allowed to take the placement test. This test takes approximately 50-60 minutes.
SPANISH PHASE II TEST DATES
Friday, January 9th, 2009
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Gambrell Hall, Room 153
Appointments are required. Contact Dee Dee Cronise in the Spanish Program at 777-4881 to make an appointment. Students must bring something to write with and a photo ID. The test consists of an oral interview in Spanish and writing samples in the present and past tense and also a mechanical check of the student’s control of the subjunctive. The test should take around one hour.
SPANISH 109 RE-TEST
Thursday, January 8th, 2009
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Humanities Classroom Building Room 201
Retest Policy: The student MUST MEET all 3 of the conditions below. They may choose to take another version of the Spanish Phase I Placement Exam to try to exempt out of their foreign languages requirement.
1. Your major is in a School or College other than the Colleges of Arts & Sciences
or Music.
2. You completed SPAN 109 with a grade of B or higher.
3. You previously took the regular version of Spanish Phase I Placement Exam and
received a score of S1.
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