Dear Parents and Students,
Due to COVID-19, the world language department will not be holding placement tests. In lieu of testing, students will be placed in their fall courses, based on their current proficiency levels as determined by their current language class.
Should a student and teacher agree, at the start of the semester, that a student is not enrolled in the appropriate course, a schedule change request form can be filled out and reviewed with their guidance counselor.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. We hope you are staying safe throughout this challenging time!
Kind Regards,
|
Ms. Stratton
Assistant Principal
|
Ms. Guerard
Instructional Leader/ WL Dept. |
- Students who are enrolled in French 1B, Japanese 1B, Mandarin 1B, and Spanish 1B should enroll in level 2. No placement test is needed. At the beginning of the year we occasionally move students up or down a level based on their proficiency.
- Students who have prior knowledge of French, Japanese, Mandarin or Spanish and are not currently in a world language class in the district need to take a placement test at Paly so that we can see where they might fit into our program. Prior knowledge includes immersion programs, after school programs, and target language spoken at home.
- The placement test is a proficiency-based test that involves speaking and writing. It is not based on any specific curriculum but measure global knowledge and experience. Once the test is graded, we determine if the student will fit into the current offerings at Paly. Sometimes students are very fluent in the target language and are far beyond anything they could learn in our classes. We recommend that those students choose another language.
- Level 1 courses are designed for students who are truly novices in the target language and know less than 25 words. We never allow natives speakers into any class below level 3 because their presence is intimidating to the true beginner in the class. They can work as aides but not take a lower level class.
Most students coming to Paly do not need to take a placement exam in world language.
The exam measures current oral and written proficiency in the language. This exam is not a final exam skip test based on a particular curriculum. The test has been designed to measure a student’s language proficiency and determine where he/she would fit best into our program.
Incoming 8th grade students whose oral and written proficiency meets the standard for AP Language should take the class in 10th grade since AP classes are not open to 9th graders.
Contact Carla Guerard, World Language Instructional Leader with any questions.
