Language Test for Admission to Studies in Spanish

Abstract

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese (assistant professor Johan Falk and postgraduate student Cilla Rundström), Stockholm University, in collaboration with the Department of Romance Languages, Spanish Section (docent Gerhard Bauhr and university assistant Ingemar Engström), Göteborg University. Background The current secondary school reform in Sweden has raised a number of questions concerning the admission of students to higher education. Attention has been drawn to the regulations and norms being used to assess the qualifications of the students and handle the admission and selection of the applicants. As a consequence of the new course- based study programmes and local freedom for schools, it is clear that the students in the near future will have even more varied knowledge and skills when they finish secondary school. This makes the formal admission systems based on marks rather arbitrary. The pilot studies that have been made and the experience we have gathered in Stockholm and Göteborg indicate that the mark in Spanish (as well as other marks from secondary school) has a relatively low predictive value, whereas diagnostic testing is a more reliable way of assessing preparation and setting a prognosis. Objective The main objective of this project is to try out different kinds of testing procedures in Spanish in order to get information of their predictive value. In the follow-up study we want to focus on various aspects related to the validity and reliability of tests as a basis for admission to academic studies. Special attention will be paid to the following questions among others: To what extent do test scores correlate with study success and how are they related to different aspects of the students' linguistic ability? What kind of knowledge, skills or talent is "rewarded" by and admission system based on testing? Finally, what can be said about the long-term effects of testing on study results and on quality development in general?