ENGLISH
AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
TESTING INFORMATION AND SAMPLE
Northern Virginia Community College – Woodbridge Campus
You
must first submit your application for admission to the college.
You must bring a current picture identification in order to take any
tests.
Northern Virginia Community
College requires a specific English skill level for entry into many of its
courses. The purpose is to help you be successful. The primary tool for
determining your skill level is a computer-based test called ACCUPLACERTM
developed by the College Board.
The ACCUPLACERTM
LOEP (Levels of English Proficiency) test is divided into three sections:
Reading Skills, Sentence Meaning, and Language Usage with a total of 70
questions. Depending on your score, you may be asked to write an essay.
You will need to be able to type your name, student number, and birth
date on the computer. Then you will use a mouse to click on the correct answer.
All questions are multiple-choice.
You must answer each question before you can go on to the next one. Once you
have moved on to the next question, you cannot go back and change your answers.
However, the computer will ask you to verify each answer before moving on to the
next question.
The test is not timed, but you must plan to spend three hours for the test. The
computer will only print results when you have finished the entire test. Some
students will finish in a shorter amount of time. Depending on your score, you
may be asked to write an essay, if not, you will receive your placement
immediately.
You are responsible for being prepared for test taking. That includes feeling
well, having glasses (if needed), allowing adequate time, and testing in a
serious manner. Retests are not allowed except according to college policy. If
you pass this test, you should register for the ESL or English course that is
recommended. Your placement is good for one year. If you receive a placement and
do not register for an ESL or English class, you may retest in one year. If you
do not pass the test, you may retest in six months; however, we recommend that
you take an intensive English course through the Continuing Education Office, 2nd
Floor, Room 226, or take ESL classes through adult education in your area.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC to read this
file. You may go to the Open Computer Lab—Room 336, or to the Library to view
or print the sample test.
You
will need to arrive at least three hours prior to the Testing Center’s
closing time.
Please call 703-878-5616/5787 for current testing hours.
The Testing Center is on the 4th Floor, Room 436
Below are examples of the
kinds of questions you will see in the 3 test sections.
Although they are not real questions from the test, they are similar
enough to give you a good idea of what to expect.
The correct answer shows as a darkened circle ●.
Reading Skills:
You
will read short passages (on various topics) and answer questions about
them. There may be 1 or 2
questions for each passage. Some
questions will be about information which you can find directly in the
passage. To answer the
other questions, you must infer from what you have read.
Examples—
Electronic technology has
produced significant changes in the way that humans interact.
Before telephones, computers, and digital pagers, people
communicated primarily by writing.
We had to sit down, compose our thoughts, and then spend some
time writing them down on paper. There was also a delay between the expression of our ideas
and their reception on the other end, but folks were patient enough to
wait. With technology,
however, communication happens in “real time.”
We don’t take time beforehand to consider what we want to say,
and how to say it best. We
express ourselves directly, and bluntly.
Now we are irritated when no one answers the phone, or get overly
anxious if we don’t receive an immediate response to an email or page.
We want all of our communication to happen instantaneously.
The author
of this passage probably believes that the effects of technology on human
communication are.
O
not very important
● mostly
negative
O
not well understood
O
almost negligible
|
|
Sentence
Meaning: To
answer questions in this section, you will choose the sentence that has
the same meaning, or choose a word or phrase to fill in the blank.
Examples—
“Stop
putting me on.”
The
speaker means
O “I prefer to
dress myself.”
● “Don’t lie to me.”
O “I don’t
want you to put things on top of me.”
O “Don’t
think that I am the same as you are.”
The
federal government is not ____ any economic problems for the second half of
the year; all the indicators are positive.
●
anticipating
O
accommodating
O
asphyxiating
O
administering
|
|
|
|
Language
Usage: This
section has questions on grammar and vocabulary.
You will be asked to choose the correct word to fill in the blank
or to select the grammatically correct sentence.
Examples—
I
saw a young girl at the corner. She
was singing.
O I saw a young girl at the corner,
she was singing.
O
She was singing, the young girl who I saw her at the corner.
O
At the corner, she was a young girl singing.
● I saw a young girl who was singing at the corner.
Since
I moved to the U.S., I __________ my opinion about Americans.
O was changing
● have changed
O
changed
O had changed
|
Your performance on the placement exam will qualify you for one of seven
possible levels.
·
Level “RCE” means
you are recommended for NVCC Continuing Education or other community ESL
programs. College level courses are
not recommended at this level.
·
Levels 002 provides
intensive instruction at the low intermediate level.
·
Levels 003 through 005
consist of one to three courses each and provide instruction in reading
comprehension, vocabulary development, and oral and written communication.
·
Levels 006 and 007 are
college composition courses for credit.
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