The Design of a Web-based Placement Test for College-Level Chinese Language Programs

This study reported on the design of a web-based Chinese placement test at the college level that was capable of automatically grading and making placement decisions. It can be used by the majority of Chinese programs at U.S. universities and consists of 60 multiple-choice questions covering grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. To ensure validity and discriminability, the placement test was tested with 102 Chinese learners at three proficiency levels at a large state university. The results were compared to multiple established measures of L2 proficiency, including a cloze test. The correlation analyses revealed that the placement test scores significantly correlated with the cloze test scores, the final exam scores, and self-assessment, indicating that the placement test was accurate in assessing L2 proficiency and effective at discriminating between adjacent levels of instruction. We recommend that college-level Chinese programs use this placement test or use it as a model in their design of Chinese placement tests.