Language Placement

This page is updated each year as we approach summer orientation programs, so students are encouraged to check back after May 1 for final placement test information.

Students at Ohio University have many opportunities to study languages and placement options exist for those languages. Students who would like to begin with a new language do not need to take a placement test but should register for the beginning course (E.g.: 1110) during their orientation program. 

Students who have prior experience or speaking ability must take a Language Placement Exam prior to registering for any of the below languages. 

For more information about each department's process for placement testing, scroll down the page or select a language in the table below:

Modern Languages 

Language placement tests for the Department of Modern Languages are available online as multiple-choice tests for French, German and Spanish. 

If you have no prior knowledge of or experience with the language you wish to take, you do not have to take the placement test.  Simply register for the 1110 level of the language you are interested in.  If you choose to begin at the 1110 level (French, German, Spanish), once you complete the course, you will not be permitted to take the language placement test in order to skip ahead in the series. 

The process to complete Modern Languages placement tests has a few steps, so we recommend starting the process as soon as possible. More details about the process can be found here: https://www.ohio.edu/cas/modern-languages/placement-testing. We advise you to take the test at least one week before your scheduled BSO date. 

If you have any questions, please email cas.undergrad@ohio.edu.  You may also call the College of Arts & Sciences Office of Undergraduate Student Affairs at 740.593.2845. If you need to leave a message, please include your name, PID, and phone number.

Linguistics

Students who have prior speaking or language knowledge of Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese or Swahili should contact the Department of Linguistics for language course placement information. Students who have no prior background in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or Swahili, or would like to begin with a new foreign language do not need to take a placement test but should register for the beginning course (E.g.: 1110).  Students wishing to take placement tests should preregister by emailing cas.undergrad@ohio.edu. (Subject line:  Language Placement Test Request). The language placement tests are provided online. For more information, visit the Department of Linguistics Foreign Language website.

International Studies

Students who have prior speaking or language knowledge of Akan (Twi), Wolof, Hindi, Indonesian, Khmer, Malaysian, or Thai should contact the Center for International Studies for language placement testing. To take the test, please call the front desk to make an appointment at 740.593.1840. Please plan for up to one hour to take the written test. The tests will not be graded immediately during orientation, but an advisor will work with the student to place them in the appropriate level after the test is graded. For more information, visit the Center for International Studies website.

Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences (HSLS)

Please note, this test is designed for students who have previous experience with ASL and are wanting to test out of the first course in the ASL series. If you do not have ASL experience, you do not need to take this test to sign up for ASL I (HSLS 1110) as there are NO pre-requisites to the course.

Students, with prior knowledge of ASL, who want to place into ANY level of ASL must start by taking the ASL I test in Blackboard. Students who score 79 or below must take ASL I. Students who score between 80 -89 on the test will be eligible to register for ASL II if seats are available; Students who score 90 and above on the test will 1) be eligible to register for ASL II if seats are available 2) will have the option to take the ASL II test.

Students who score between 80 -89 on the ASL II test will be eligible to register for ASL III if seats are available; Students who score 90 and above on the test will 1) be eligible to register for ASL III if seats are available 2) will have the option to make an appointment for a live ASL assessment to place into a higher level of ASL.

To access the Blackboard test students must:

• Request access from the HSLS Faculty member during BSO Class Registration, or send an email from their OHIO University student email account (EX: zz000000@ohio.edu) to: Becky Munhall, Coordinator of American Sign Language Series, at brooksb1@ohio.edu
  • In the subject line enter: ASL I PLACEMENT TEST REQUEST
  • In the body of your email include your
    • Last name, first name
    • ohio.edu email address
    • PID #

The student will be given/sent a link and instructions to access the online test in Blackboard.

Students who have passed the ASL I test with an 90% or higher who would like to take a placement test for upper level ASL courses should contact Becky Munhall, Coordinator of American Sign Language Series, at brooksb1@ohio.edu

• In the subject line enter:  ASL ADVANCED PLACEMENT TEST REQUEST
• In the body of your email include your
  • Last name, first name
  • ohio.edu email address
  • PID #

Classics and Religious Studies

Students with prior experience in Latin or Greek should contact the Department of Classics and World Religions to schedule a placement test at 740.597.2100.

If you require accommodations for placement testing as a student with a disability, please contact Student Accessibility Services at 740.593.2620 or disabilities@ohio.edu

Placements are not exemptions. Each of the placement tests is designed to identify the course in which a student should begin. A placement does not exempt a student from a required course.