A Linguistic and Socio-affective Approach to Developing an Online Spanish Heritage Placement Exam

Abstract

This article describes the development and validation of a placement exam designed to identify and place Spanish heritage language learners in the heritage language program at Lehman College, the City University of New York (CUNY), an urban institution located in Northeastern United States (Bronx, New York City). Building upon previous research (e.g., Fairclough et al., 2010; Potowski et al., 2012), we provide an overview of the process we followed, including selecting content, computerization of the exam, and reliability analysis. A combination of quantitative analyses and qualitative observations during the pilot phase allowed us to identify the linguistic areas that were better at discriminating among levels, and the socio-affective factors that had to be taken into account to understand learners’ needs. As we continue to improve subsequent versions of the exam, this approach will allow us to better place students while reassessing and redesigning the curriculum.