Accurate placement to ensure student success
As one of the largest academic units at the university, the English Language Centre (ELC) has become the first and only centre in mainland China to be accredited by both the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP) and the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL).
The main objective of the ELC is to teach English for academic purposes. This encompasses academic skills training, to enable students’ success during their academic studies in an English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) institution. The ELC conducts an English Placement Test for all undergraduate Year 1 students, and then delivers credit-bearing English language modules for most degree programmes.
Flexible English language testing, from any location
Linguaskill’s flexibility means it can be used as a placement test on entry to courses, to assess progress, and as an exit test. The ELC initially adopted Linguaskill as a diagnostic test for postgraduate degree students in December 2020, in addition to existing test options. Following this, the ELC decided to also use Linguaskill as the placement test for its Year 1 students in 2021. The university had originally intended to examine all students on campus during induction week. However, due to sudden outbreaks of pandemic cases, the education authority postponed students’ arrival to campus and the new academic year began online.
As Linguaskill can be fully administered online and provides online invigilation, students were able to take the test from wherever they were based around the world.
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As Linguaskill doesn’t have any set dates or venues, the ELC was able to choose which dates they ran the test sessions. More than 4,000 local and international Year 1 students took the test in late August and early September. All the sessions were conducted with remote proctoring to guarantee exam integrity.
Fast and detailed test reports
The ELC was able to assess and report candidates’ scores quickly and efficiently. Given the large volume of sessions, group test reports were provided to allow easy comparison of candidate scores and Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels. This enabled the ELC to place students onto modules that were most suited to their language proficiency.
Linguaskill has enabled the ELC to provide an accurate, online placement test for its Year 1 students whilst Covid restrictions were in place. Feedback from the ELC has been positive and in October 2021, XJTLU also recognised Linguaskill as an English language test for its postgraduate admissions. Linguaskill will further assist the university in selecting the best students and provide a reliable and convenient assessment solution for all future applicants.
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