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Language Placement Exams
Overview of Placement Exams
Placement examinations in foreign languages, written English, and
oral speech, are administered to determine the level at which the student
will begin certain general studies requirements, although units are
not awarded. Light preparation for these exams may prove helpful.
The English and oral speech exams are required only of students
whose native language is not English.
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Foreign Language Placement Examination
The general studies curriculum at Pepperdine requires all students
to complete up to three semesters of a foreign language.
Students may choose from Chinese, German, Greek, French, Hebrew,
Italian, Japanese, and Spanish to fulfill the foreign language
requirement. (Greek and Hebrew are taught through the Religion
Division.)
Placement into Chinese, Italian, and
Japanese will be determined by the Modern Languages faculty. The
French, German, and Spanish Placement Examination MUST be
taken online (see below).
The placement exams offered are designed to place the student at
the first (151), second (152), or third (251) semester level. A high
score on this exam will require the student to come to the
International Studies & Languages
Division to be further tested. If you are a freshman, you can do this
when school begins. If additional testing places the
student above the third semester level (252 and above) the general
studies foreign language requirement will be fulfilled and, with
faculty approval, students will qualify to take courses numbered 252
or higher.
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Who is Required to Take the German,
French, and Spanish Exams?
Those required to participate in German, French and Spanish exams
are students who have studied one of these languages in high school
and have not earned college credit for that language and wish to
enroll in that language within the next year.
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Who is NOT Required to Take the German,
French, and Spanish Exams?
Those not required to participate in German, French and Spanish
exams are:
Students who have not previously studied one of these
languages. Students earning foreign language college credit with a grade
of "C" or higher. International students who can verify academic study of their
native language through the high school level (the general studies
foreign language requirement is waived for international students
in this category; thus, the placement exam is unnecessary). Please
consult the Office of International Student Services at (310)
506-4246 if there are questions regarding this matter. Students who have earned Advanced Placement (AP) credit in
one of these languages. Students who have received a grade of "3"
on the AP exam will be placed into the third (251) semester level
and receive credit for 152. Those who have received a score of "4"
will have satisfied the GE requirement in foreign language and
receive credit for 251. Students with a grade of "5" will receive
credit for 252, and will thus be eligible for upper division
courses. Students who have earned Advanced Placement credit, but
have not received their score, should take the
online exam. Once they have received the AP score, they will be
awarded appropriate credit regardless of the online placement exam
score.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Expiration of Placement Exam Scores
Students should take the indicated course within one
academic year of taking the placement exam.
To take the German, French, or Spanish exam, follow the instructions
listed below. If you have any additional questions, please call the International Studies and Languages Division, (310) 506-7446.
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German, French, and Spanish Placement Examination
The French, German, and Spanish examinations are available Online. Students may access the exam
online 24 hours a day. Any student who is considering meeting
the foreign language requirement with Spanish, German, or French MUST
take the test.
Guidelines for Taking Online Language Placement
Exam
The purpose of this test is to place students in the proper
level ensuring that they will not be too challenged nor too
frustrated. Therefore, you should not consult any material
(dictionaries, books, class notes, friends, etc.) when taking this
test as it would skew your results and place you in a class that
would be too difficult or too easy for you. Please keep in mind
that Pepperdine University has very high standards for Academic
Integrity which apply fully to this test. Further information is
available at:
http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/academicintegrity/ When you finish taking the test, you MUST wait until you see
a score on your screen. Failure to do so may invalidate your test.
After you receive your score, save and print the screen for your
records. In the
event you score above 393 in the French exam, above 547 in the
German Exam, or above 413 in the Spanish Exam, you
should come to the International Studies and Languages Division to
be further tested.
If you are an incoming freshman, you can do this when school
begins. This
evaluation will check proper placement into upper level courses or
the possible exemption of the foreign language requirement.
Instructions for the Taking Language
Placement Exam
Make sure the computer you are using meets the
Web Browser
Requirements listed below.
Go to the following web address:
http://webcape.byuhtrsc.org?acct=pepperdine
When asked for a Password, enter the following:
Password: waves1
(NOTE: All lowercase)
From the drop-down menu choose the language:
German, French,
or Spanish and click on the "Begin" button. On the next Web page, enter your personal data and complete
the entire questionnaire:
ID# = enter Campus Wide ID (CWID) # (Required!) Take the exam without any outside help (see Guideline 1 above) Take the exam only ONCE. Only your first completed attempt
at the test will count. If your computer freezes when you are
taking the test, go back to the test site and enter the password.
Enter you name and CWID and you should be able to resume
your test. When finished, wait until you see a score on your screen.
Save and print this screen for your records.
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System Recommendations for Online Exam
- OPERATING SYSTEMS/RAM:
- Win98: 64MB or higher
- Win2000: 128MB or higher
- WinXP: 256MB or higher
- MacOS 8.6-9.x: 128MB or higher
- MacOS X: 256MB or higher
- BROWSERS:
- Windows: Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher (IE 6.0 preferred)
- Mac: Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher
- INTERNET CONNECTION:
- High-speed internet connection strongly recommended (DSL, cable modem)
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Web Browser Requirements for Online Exam
Most browsers (e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 and
Netscape Navigator 4.0 and above) can be used to take the online
placement exam if the security level is set to 'moderate' and any
pop-up blockers have been uninstalled or deactivated.
If you experience difficulties, be sure the following browser
conditions exist:
- Do not block pop-up windows
- Frames-capable browser
- Forms-capable browser
- Javascript enabled
- Cookies enabled
- Do not use proxy servers
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Notice to AOL Users
Some AOL users may experience difficulties taking the online
Spanish Placement exam. If you do not receive a score and do not
receive an email confirmation, take the test again. After the second
attempt if you are still unable to receive your score and/or email,
we recommend that you try a different ISP or visit a local library
or internet cafe that offers internet access.
Troubleshooting Language Placement Exam
- Do not click off the exam once you begin
- If "Post Results" appears and clicking does not work, press
and hold the CTRL key when clicking on "Post Results"
- Wait for the small pop-up window "Posting exam results" to
finish, the window will close automatically. Do not close the
small pop-up window manually.
If you have any technical problems, please contact Jennifer Cha at
jennifer.cha@pepperdine.edu
Please be as specific and provide as much information as possible
about the problem. Also please include the name and version number of
your Operating System and Web Browser, if possible.
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Frequently Asked Questions
I
have missed the deadline for taking the Placement Exam. What should
I do?
I have scored above 393 in the French exam, above
547 in the German Exam, or above 413 in the Spanish Exam. What
should I do?
I have taken the Language AP exam, but I don't have
my score yet.
I
studied a language in high school, but now I would like to study
another language. Do I need to take the Placement Exam for the
language I know?
I studied some Spanish, French or German in
high school, but not very much. I would like to enroll in the first
semester of that language. Do I still need to take the exam?
I have
taken the CLEP. Is my score valid at Pepperdine?
I have taken an IB language course. Can I
get credit for it?
I have completed one or two semesters of a
language at another college or university. On my DAR, this/these
course/s were listed in the "Electives" section, but with the units
listed as '0'. Do I
need to take the Placement?
I have missed the deadline for taking the
Placement Exam. What should I do?
Go ahead and take the exam.
If
you then need to enroll in a language course and would like to do
so during your first semester, you may attempt to add the class
during add-drop week as the openings we have will go to those who
took the test in a timely manner.
I have scored above 393 in the French
exam, above 547 in the German Exam, or above 413 in the Spanish
Exam. What should I do?
You must come to the International
Studies and Languages Division during your first semester at
Pepperdine to be further tested. You will have not met the
requirement until you have been tested by the division.
I have taken the Language AP exam, but I don't have my score
yet.
If you have not
received your Language AP score by the Placement Exam deadline, you
should take the online exam. Once you receive your AP score, you
will be awarded appropriate credit regardless of your placement
exam score.
I studied a language in high school, but
now I would like to study another language. Do I need to take the
Placement Exam for the language I know?
No, you don't.
However, if you have some knowledge of the language you now want to
study, and would like to meet the requirement with this language,
you must take the Language Placement Exam for that language. If the
language you want to study is other than French, German or Spanish,
please contact the International Studies and Languages Division
during the first week of classes.
I studied some Spanish, French or German
in high school, but not very much. I would like to enroll in the
first semester of that language. Do I still need to take the exam?
Yes, you must take
the exam. If you don't, and you register in 151 (first semester),
your professor will not allow you to stay in his or her class
unless you take the exam.
I have taken the CLEP. Is my score valid
at Pepperdine?
While you may receive
elective credit for your CLEP exams (based on your score and type
of exam), we will not award you actual language credit.
I have taken an IB
language course. Can I get credit for it?
Yes, you can. For
further information, please contact Virginia Groves in
International Student Services at
Virginia.Groves@pepperdine.edu
I have completed one or two semesters of a language at another
college or university. On my DAR, this/these course/s were listed
in the "Electives" section, but with the units listed as
'0'. Do I
need to take the Placement?
As you
have successfully transferred in foreign language classes, you need
not take the placement exam. You may not have received units for
these courses because you have earned more than the maximum of 64
transferable units. To determine which Pepperdine language course
to take, please check the evaluation on your DAR: If your language
course is equivalent to the 151, you should register for 152. If
your language course is equivalent to 152, you should register for
251. If your class is equivalent to 251, then you have completed
the language requirement.
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