CREDIT BY EXAMINATION IN POLISH

Policies Effective for the Academic Year 2008-2009*

*This is to be used as a guide only. Policies are subject to change.

UT Austin provides you with the opportunity to earn course credit by examination. Such credit will satisfy degree requirements in the same way as credit earned by passing a course, except that it will not count as credit earned in residence. Although you may take tests before you enroll in UT Austin, you must be a currently or previously enrolled student in order to receive credit. Unsuccessful attempts to earn credit by examination will not become part of your official transcript.

Faculty members in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies select the test, set the levels of performance required for credit, and specify who is eligible to earn credit by examination. DIIA-Student Testing Services assists the department by communicating policies, giving the test, and reporting the credit.

Polish Proficiency Test with UT Austin Writing Sample

You may attempt to earn credit by examination in one to four Polish courses--Polish 506, 507, 312K, and 312L--by taking the Polish Proficiency Test (PPT) with UT Austin Writing Sample. Information about the PPT is given below.

Students for whom the Placement Test is Required or Appropriate
Students who have prior knowledge of Polish (regardless of how it was acquired) and who do not have college credit in Polish must take the Polish Proficiency Test with UT Austin Writing Sample before they can enroll in their first UT Austin Polish course.

Students transferring college credit in Polish are not required, but are strongly encouraged, to take this placement test and to use the results to help them choose their first course in Polish at UT Austin. Transfer students may also use the placement test to earn additional credit in Polish or to earn credit for lower-division courses from which they were exempt without credit at another institution. In no way will Polish credit already earned be jeopardized by the results of this test.

Students who do not intend to enroll in a Polish course but who wish to attempt to earn credit by examination may also take the placement test.

Eligibility for Credit by Examination in Polish
You are eligible for credit only in those courses for which you have neither a passing nor a failing grade.

Description of the Polish Proficiency Test with UT Austin Writing Sample
The PPT consists of 135 4-option multiple-choice items. Each examinee receives a test booklet containing the test questions and a separate, machine-scorable answer sheet on which all the item options are indicated.

The PPT is divided into three sections: Listening Comprehension (50 items), Reading Comprehension (50 items), and Structure (35 items).

In the Listening Comprehension section, you will hear Polish passages consisting of utterances spoken by a single individual, excerpts from conversations between two speakers, and longer single-speaker passages such as news broadcasts, advertisements, public interest announcements, and so forth. Following each passage in Polish, you will be asked a question in English for which you must choose the correct answer from among four options printed in English in the test booklet.

Each item in the Reading Comprehension section will present you with a Polish text, followed by a question about the text and four possible responses, printed in English. This section is designed to assess your ability to understand a variety of printed texts ranging from a few words (e.g., street or store-front signs, announcements) to passages of paragraph length (e.g., excerpts from newspaper or magazine articles, personal and official correspondence, popular stories).

The Structure section has two parts. In the first, you must choose from among four options the correct word or phrase that is missing from a text. In the second, you must indicate from among four underlined words which one contains an error.

The questions are printed in a single test booklet. Your responses must be marked on a separate machine-scorable answer sheet. The total testing time for the PPT is approximately two hours.

Description of the UT Austin Writing Sample
For the UT Austin Writing Sample portion, you will be asked to write a short composition about yourself, containing at least 15 sentences and including certain routine information (specified on the exam) about your life and studies. You will have a half-hour.

TEST ADMINISTRATION

The Polish Proficiency Test with UT Austin Writing Sample must be taken on the UT Austin campus.

Test Periods: This test is offered on the UT Austin campus during scheduled testing periods several days before class registration in January and August.

Test Registration: You must register for the test online.

Test Registration for Students with Disabilities: If you require academic accommodations or assistance due to a documented disability, you should contact these two offices at least five business days before the day of the test:

• Services for Students with Disabilities, in the Office of the Dean of Students at ssd@uts.cc.utexas.edu,  http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ssd, or (512) 471-6259 to seek approval for authorized accommodations;
• DIIA-Student Testing Services at (512) 232-2662 to register and make arrangements to take the test.

Registration Fee and Test Fee Payment: The total test fee is $70 (subject to change). When you confirm your registration for a test you will be immediately billed a non-refundable test registration fee of $15. The remainder of the test fee will be billed after you take the test. Payment is due within 14 days after the test administration.

Repeating the Test: You may take the Polish Proficiency Test with UT Austin Writing Sample only once.

Admission to the Test Room: When you register online you will be given the location of your test room. You must present, at the test room, a generally accepted form of identification that includes both your signature and photograph. Without such identification, you will be admitted only if you bring and relinquish a photograph of yourself. You should take several sharpened No. 2 pencils to the test room; all other test materials will be provided.

Test Results: Results are available within a few days after the test date. Once they are available, results may also be found online.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Q. May the same placement tests in Polish be taken more than once for credit?

A. No.

Q. If I earn credit by examination in Polish, must I then enroll in a UT Austin Polish course in order to receive credit earned by examination?

A. No. The credit earned by examination is yours-regardless of whether or not you enroll in subsequent Polish courses. Many degree programs require a specific level of proficiency in at least one foreign language, so your decision about enrolling in additional courses may be influenced by your degree requirements.

PETITIONING/CLAIMING CREDIT

UT Austin students must petition (or claim) their credit to have it appear on their official transcript. DIIA-STudent Testing Services reports petitioned credit to the Office of the Registrar.

PREPARING FOR THE TEST

As a test of general language proficiency, the Polish Proficiency Test with UT Austin Writing Sample is not based on any particular textbook or course of study, but on the kinds of language-use situations that are encountered in real-life contexts outside of the academic setting. Because this type of proficiency can be achieved only through continued study and practice with the language, it will probably not be helpful for you to study intensively any particular textbook just prior to taking the test. The suggested preparation for the test is to carefully study the test directions and sample questions in this handout until you are thoroughly familiar with the procedures and question types used in the test.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR THE POLISH PROFICIENCY TEST

*POLICIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

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