Skip to Content | Text-only
College of Arts & Sciences

Placement Exams

The Department of Modern & Classical Languages offers the following placement exams:

French, German, Spanish 

Take the WebCAPE placement exam (see below).
(If you obtain a score of 500+ on the Spanish WebCAPE, you will be asked to take the IASE, an advanced placement exam; see below.)

Chinese, Japanese, Korean Take the SAT Subject Test in the desired language.  If you score at least a 73% then please contact Dr. Yuki Takatori for placement. 
Italian Please contact Dr. Richard Keatley for more information. 
Latin Please contact Dr. Gerard Pendrick for more information.
Portuguese Please contact Ms. Camila Alvahydo for more information.
Russian  Please contact Ms. Natalia Myshkin for more information.

 

WebCAPE

The WebCAPE is a web-based implementation of the BYU Foreign Language Computer-Adaptive Placement Exam (CAPE) series. Exams are available in French, German and Spanish. This exam is used to help students determine the level of language course most appropriate for their current ability.
Please note that the WebCAPE Exam does NOT grant academic credit and is for placement purposes only.

General Information

This exam is available for new or continuing Georgia State University students and to be used for placement purposes only. No credit for languages courses will be granted based on the results of this test. Students who have prior knowledge of a language, but who do not have credit for French/German/Spanish 1001 must take this test before registering for any course above the 1001 level. Prerequisites are strictly enforced.

Students may take the exam from any computer with internet access and a browser. Each test takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. No outside materials may be used during the exam. Please be advised that if you decide to take the exam more than once, only your first score will be counted. Also, per Department policy, you must register for the level at which you place. Your score will remain valid for one year from the date of the exam.

When the test is completed, you will be given your score and a recommendation for a class level. Your score will be emailed to you, as well. Please print a copy for your records and for academic advisement purposes. 

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages automatically receives a copy of your score. There is no need to contact us.  Please allow 1 business day for us to process your results. You will only be cleared to register for the level at which you place.  For example, if you scored a 350 on the Spanish exam you will only be able to register for SPAN 2001, not SPAN 1002. 

WebCAPE Placement by Score

 0-199 FREN/GRMN/SPAN 1001 
200-299 FREN/GRMN/SPAN 1002 
300-399  FREN/GRMN/SPAN 2001 
400-499  FREN/GRMN/SPAN 2002; you will receive an e-mail confirming this
placement and that you have been cleared to register for that level. 
500+ Secondary placement required (for Spanish, please see information below under "IASE"; you will receive an e-mail from the department. You should also consider taking the CLEP Exam for a chance to earn up to 6 credit hours levels 2001 & 2002.

 

WebCAPE Test-Taking Instructions 

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

  1.  Disable all pop-up blockers on your web browser.
  2. Take this exam without outside help or vocabulary/grammar/study aids in a location where you are not distracted.
  3. Use your GSU Panther ID as your ID #.
  4. Once you begin the exam, do not click outside of the exam window or your exam will be invalidated and terminated.
  5. To take the exam, click on the link below. You will be asked for a user name and password. Use the following password: panthers1
  6. Please allow ONE BUSINESS DAY before being cleared for the level at which you placed.
Click here to take the exam

Intermediate Advanced Spanish Exam (IASE)

The IASE is designed to place students who score 500 points or higher on the WebCAPE exam into one or several classes at the 3000-level:

0-49.9% 2501 (heritage/native speakers)
2203 (all others)
50.0-64.9% any 3000-level course between SPAN 3305 and 3310 (recommended that student take at least one semester of 3000-Spanish before attempting 3303)
65.0-79.9% any 3000-level course between SPAN 3303 and 3310
80.0%+ Student exempts from 3303, fulfills 3303 prerequisite and may request credit for 3303 after taking at least one other 3000/4000-level class; register for any 3000-level course between SPAN 3305 and 3310, or courses for which SPAN 3303 is prerequisite.

 

CLEP Exam

The CLEP Exam, administered by the Counseling and Testing Center at GSU, allows students to obtain up to, and no more than, 6 credit hours for the levels 2001 and 2002 in French, German and Spanish only. After taking the test, please allow for up 6 weeks before any credit will show up on our transcipt.

If you are a senior planning on graduating within 2 semesters and intend to use foreign language credit obtained through by taking the CLEP Exam to fulfill your foreign language requirement for graduation, it is imperative that you take the test absolutely no later than the second-to-last semester of your studies at GSU in order to avoid potentially delaying your graduation!

For more information on the CLEP Exam, please visit Counseling and Testing Center's CLEP Exam page. 

You can register for the CLEP Exam by clicking on the link.