Placement Test Support
Everyone planning to take their first Carleton University Modern Language course must take the Language Background Questionnaire (LBQ), but not everyone needs to complete a placement test.
Language placement tests are required for any of the following reasons:
- In their Language Background Questionnaire, a student demonstrates prior knowledge in or experience with a particular language that is equal to or above that taught in an introductory course level.
- During the first few weeks of class, an instructor notices a disconnect between a student’s demonstrated language proficiency and the level of the class in which they are enrolled.
- A student has studied the language since they last completed a language course at Carleton University.
- It has been over three years since a student last completed a language course and their current proficiency needs to be assessed.
- A student completed a placement test in a previous testing cycle, prior to March 1, but never completed the course they were placed into and their results have expired.
Students required to take a placement test will receive an email notification from the School. As each language has its own testing procedures, this notification will include specific instructions on how the placement testing process works.
Questions/issues about how to start the testing process should be emailed directly to language-placement@carleton.ca.
Also, students who were not instructed to take a placement test but wish to, can contact us directly at this same email (above) to discuss options. Only students with permission from the School are eligible to take this test.
| Language | Placement Testing Procedure |
| ASL / Arabic / Mandarin Chinese / Korean / Portuguese / Russian | Language-specific process. Students will be contacted directly with details. |
| German | Online placement test on Menschen (textbook) website. Results to be emailed to CristinaFinger@cunet.carleton.ca through the site. |
| Italian / Japanese / Spanish | Online language placement tests on BrightSpace. |
German
Our German placement test can be found on the Menschen website. When prompted, please enter the email contact for Cristina Finger (cristina.finger@carleton.ca) who will assess your submissions.
Italian / Japanese / Spanish
Italian, Japanese, and Spanish have online placement tests. These tests are located on the “Modern Language Placement Tests” course in BrightSpace. The videos below show you step-by-step how to enrol in the course and select your test. Be sure to include the enrolment code from the notification email.