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L A N G U A G E T E S T I N G
A N D P L A C E M E N T
The Department of World Languages and Cultures
at TCNJ offers courses in Arabic, Chinese, French,
German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.
The Classical Studies Program offers courses in Latin.
American Sign Language is offered in the Education
of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Program, in the School
of Education, Department of Special Education,
Language & Literacy.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. Who needs to take a placement exam?
In order to enroll in a language course,
all students need to take the placement exam
between May 11 to June 5.
2. How do I take the placement exam?
For French, German, Italian, and Spanish, the test is
online at this link. The pre-test questions will direct
you how to proceed. Students are allotted 40 minutes
to complete the test.
Students who already speak one of these languages
because they grew up in a home where that language was
spoken should contact the director of that program to
determine their proficiency level.
French: Dr. Ariane Pfenninger apfennin@tcnj.edu
German: Karen Fenner fennerk@tcnj.edu
Italian: Dr. Simona Wright simona@tcnj.edu
Spanish: Dr. Joe Goebel, Jr. goebel@tcnj.edu
For Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, the program
directors for those languages conduct the exam in
person.
Arabic: Nelly Taha tahan@tcnj.edu
Chinese: Jia-Yan Mi mi@tcnj.edu
Japanese: Holly Didi-Ogren ogren@tcnj.edu
Russian: Alex Berg berga@tcnj.edu
For American Sign Language, contact
Dr. Steven Singer at singers@tcnj.edu.
For Latin, contact Cecilia Colbeth at colbeth@tcnj.edu
by June 3, 2020 to make an appointment.
3. Who is exempt from the placement exam?
No one is exempt; every student who wishes to enroll
in a language class, or fulfill a language proficiency
requirement or who wishes to receive credit for a
TCNJ language class must take the TCNJ language
placement exam.
Students who place out on the TCNJ Language Placement
Exam and validate their exam score will receive
TCNJ credit for language II and language III courses
if they also:
— Earned a score of 5 on an AP test in any of the
languages covered by the online placement test
(French, German, Italian, and Spanish).
— Completed the International Baccalaureate Higher
Level examination and received a score of 7.
4. How long do I have to wait to get my score?
Your test score will display immediately after submitting
your last answer. You will also get your score in email.
Scores will post to PAWS overnight, at which time you'll
be able to enroll in the appropriate course.
5. What happens if I earn an exemption score
on the online test?
Students must validate their exemption score in the World
Languages and Cultures office before Friday, September
18, 2020. These students should make an appointment by
writing wlc@tcnj.edu.
6. Placement and requirement information
and policies
Academic Integrity
Please review the TCNJ policy on Academic Integrity.
The policy notes: "Plagiarism occurs when a student
submits as his own the work of others .... This includes
but is not limited to copying from a fellow student,
copying from an internet source, and copying from a
book or other published work." It is our assumption that
you will complete the language placement test alone
without help from other people, internet translators, or
other internet resources. If you receive help, you are
