International Languages

Placement

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

• take an in-house Spanish placement exam 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.
• take the Spanish 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 students who are unsure whether to start their coursework with Introduction to Spanish Conversation and Culture or Elementary Spanish I may be helped by a description of certain distinctions between the courses:

SPAN 1303 Introduction to Spanish Conversation and Culture I emphasizes the development of basic listening comprehension and speaking skills.  The course covers less grammar and vocabulary than Elementary Spanish I and, therefore, moves at a slightly slower pace.  Students who have had little or no previous Spanish or other foreign language experience and prefer to work on developing basic conversational skills may prefer to start with this course.

SPAN 1003 Elementary Spanish I moves more quickly than Introduction to Spanish Conversation and Culture.  The focus is on 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.

SPAN 2033 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: Placement test and permission of International Languages Department. 

Students who have additional questions regarding placement should contact Cindy King, International Languages Coordinator, at 986-6921.    

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