Department Name

Placement

Students who wish to place into Elementary II or Intermediate language classes without the proper pre-requisites may do so in one of the following ways:

• for Spanish, take an in-house Spanish placement exam (either elementary or intermediate level) at NWACC’s Testing Center located on the third floor of the Student Center.  International Language Faculty will then evaluate the exam and advise students as to where they place in our Spanish program.  The exam is free and takes approximately thirty minutes. For Arabic, French, German, and Italian, contact Cindy King, International Languages Coordinator at cking@nwacc.edu or 479-986-6921.
• for French and Spanish take the CLEP test at NWACC or another testing site.  This reading and listening and reading test takes approximately ninety minutes and costs $90.  Students who score a minimum of fifty are eligible to receive six hours of college credit Spanish on their transcript.  Students who score a 66 are eligible to receive four semesters of college credit.  However, it is important for transfer students to know that not all transfer institutions accept CLEP credit for foreign languages. 

Students who plan to take one of the exams above are urged to do so well before registration period so they sign up for the correct level of Spanish and plan the rest of their schedule accordingly.  For Testing Center hours, please contact Shannon Siebler at 479-419-4317. 

Beginning language students in Italian or Spanish who are unsure whether to start their coursework may be helped by a description of certain distinctions between the courses:

ITAL 1303 Introduction to Italian Conversation and Culture I

SPAN 1303 Introduction to Spanish Conversation and Culture I

These courses emphasize the development of basic listening comprehension and speaking skills.  They cover less grammar and vocabulary than Elementary I and, therefore, move at a slightly slower pace.  Students who have had little or no previous experience in the target language and prefer to work on developing basic conversational skills may prefer to start with this course. The Italian course will include a unit on Italian cuisine where students will practice making authentic pasta dishes.

ITAL 1003 Elementary Italian I

SPAN 1003 Elementary Spanish I

These courses move more quickly than the Conversation and Culture courses.  The focus is the study of grammatical structures and vocabulary, in addition, of course, to some culture.  All four language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—are emphasized in the course. Elementary Spanish I is available as a traditional or hybrid course.

Students who have been exposed to Spanish in their home or community but have never studied the language formally may be interested in enrolling in the following new course:

SPAN 2303 Spanish for Heritage Speakers

This course is designed for native or heritage speakers of Spanish.  Course objective is the development of reading and writing skills appropriate to academic and professional settings through the study of orthography, grammar, advanced vocabulary, the analysis of literary texts, and the writing of compositions.  Lecture 3 hours.  Prerequisite: Permission of International Languages Department. 

Students who have additional questions regarding placement should contact Cindy King, International Languages Coordinator, at 986-6921.  Her office is located in Burns Hall 2422.   

For questions/comments on this content, please contact <Cindy King>.

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