Language Placement Testing

The purpose of these tests is to determine which language course best fits the needs of students entering OSU who have previously studied foreign languages.

All students who have had two or more years of the same foreign language in high school must take the language placement test in the language used for unconditional admission to OSU, whether or not they plan to continue language study.

All Heritage Learners (one who speaks another language elsewhere) who graduated from a high school where the main language of instruction was English should also take a placement test. Heritage Learners may choose to test in their heritage language or a world language that they had two or more years in high school.

The Center for Languages, Literatures and Cultures is responsible for administering the web-based placement tests in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Swahili, Hebrew and Arabic.  If you need to test in another language taught at OSU, please contact the department that oversees that language.

Students receive EM credit based on their placement test scores. For example, if a student places into 1102 in any language, he or she will receive credit for 1101.   A student who places out of 1103 will have completed his or her language requirement.  No elementary language credit is awarded to native speakers, i.e., those whose secondary education was in the foreign language.

Students usually take the placement test during Orientation. If for some reason, students are unable to take the test during Orientation, students should contact the Center for Languages, Literatures and Cultures for information about dates and times at cllc@osu.edu or call us at 292-4361. It is strongly advised that you begin your language courses immediately after you have taken the placement test.

When students take the placement test above, results are available immediately.  For other languages, contact the department that coordinates this language.

Students are asked to contact the appropriate language director to discuss their test results.

Students who have successfully passed an Advanced Placement, CLEP, or IB examination are awarded credit and placement proportionate to the score obtained. These students do not normally need to take the OSU placement test, but when going through orientation they should verify that their scores have been received.

These students normally register for the next OSU equivalent course in the sequence. They are not required to take the placement test. Such students should follow the Office of Admissions procedures for transfer credit and contact the Departmental Transfer Credit Coordinator. (Transfer students without language credit, however, must take the placement test.)

Most American students take foreign language in 9th and 10th grade, then quit just as they begin to develop usable language skills. They then have a two-year break in language study before entering college. Ideally, students should continue their language study, taking a 3rd or 4th year in 11th and 12th grade. For those who cannot or do not do so, we strongly recommend a review of basic grammar and vocabulary before taking the placement test.

Answers to this question will depend on the degree-granting unit (e.g., ASC, ENG, BUS, etc.). Students should check with their college advising unit, once they have decided on a major.

In the case of students with a learning disability, special arrangements and/or petitions may be initiated through the Office for Disability Services. If students have been out of high school for over five years, the placement test is not required unless students wish to have their language assessed before enrolling in a language course.

The same guidelines generally hold true for all OSU campuses.

Students can only take a placement test once in each language.