Foreign Languages
Credit by Exam | Cultural Competency | Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessments | Oral Proficiency Interview | Placement Exam | Retroactive Credit Program | Senior Assessment |Assessment Report
Students with experience in Chinese or Japanese may receive academic credit for such experience through a program of “testing out” (for French, German and Spanish see Placement Exam). The guidelines for testing out of a course require that the student be enrolled in the University at the time of the examination and be working toward a degree at Missouri Southern. The student must complete all “test out” examinations with a grade of at least 70% (“C”) before a grade is issued in a more advanced language course. The student may not have taken an examination within the preceding six months for a given course. The examination may not be used to replace a previously earned grade. Please, refer to the MSSU 2010-2012 catalog for details.
NOTE: Foreign Languages Department “test out” exams are NOT CLEP or Advanced Placement exams. Your exam results are applicable to Missouri Southern State University only.
A student may test out of the first four courses of a language - 101, 102, 203, 204, by following these procedures.
After you take the exam, it will be graded and brought, along with the receipt, to the department secretary to process. The credit for the language level will appear on your transcripts as soon as the processing is completed, generally within a few weeks.
Contact the department to hear results and/or enroll in a foreign language course.
In addition to linguistics, foreign language graduates must demonstrate they have acquired a general knowledge of culture within their target language. The Cultural Competency Assessment (CCA) is a required senior assessment modeled after the PRAXIS exam and encompasses several key areas including history, literature, lifestyles, sociolinguistics, and geography. The CCA is twenty-five questions in length and takes approximately thirty minutes to complete.
This assessment is free of charge to graduates.
Double language majors may request a day and time other than Senior Assessment Day to take the CCA for their second major.
2010 Cultural Competency Topics
French Study Guide | German Study Guide | Spanish Study Guide
As part of Senior Assessment, foreign language graduates are required to take the Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessments for Reading and Listening. These assessments gauge a student's ability to read and listen at the Intermediate High level, the required level for graduates. This level meets benchmarks set by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The reading portion has the student answer questions based on given passages or sentences. The listening portion has the student answer questions based on heard conversations or narratives. Each assessment is thirty-five questions in length and takes approximately fifty minutes to complete.
This assessment is free of charge to graduates.
Double language majors may request a day and time other than Senior Assessment Day to take the MLPA for their second major.
The Oral Proficiency Interview is a thirty-minute interview that gauges oral (speaking) proficiency in a particular language and is conducted over the Internet using the Department of Foreign Languages lab computers. This form of assessment is required for foreign language majors as part of Senior Assessment and those wishing to enter the Medical Interpretation Spanish/English Program. The OPI is recorded and rated officially by Language Testing International (LTI) according to required benchmarks set by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), an internationally recognized authority on foreign language standards.
Students may use their ratings for resumes, job interviews and portfolios. The Department of Foreign Languages keeps an official certificate of ratings available upon student request, however a student also may request an official copy from Language Testing International. Note: Some links may direct you to sites not associated with our institution. These sites may offer general or specific information independent from the agencies that administer or support the programs above. MSSU or the Department of Foreign Languages does not take responsibility for the content of these sites, attest to their validity or encourage memberships with them.
To request a copy of OPI Frequently Asked Questions and/or set up a mock or official interview contact the department. This pdf gives some information to Seniors who are about to take the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) for graduation.
Call for pricing and applicable fees information.
Students with previous foreign language experience in French, German or Spanish (for Chinese and Japanese (see Credit-by-Exam) must be examined for proficiency to ensure proper enrollment in a foreign language course. The exam has two assessments: Reading and Listening. Each assessment is approximately 50 minutes in length and has multiple choices. No materials are available to study for this exam.
NOTE: Foreign Languages Department placement exams are NOT CLEP or Advanced Placement exams. Your exam results are applicable to Missouri Southern State University only and DO NOT give you credit. See footnote for credit options.
Exam Policies:
To take the placement exam:
*Upon successful completion of a higher language course a student may petition to receive credit for lower courses. See Earn Retroactive Credit under Department Assessments.
MSSU students may qualify for credit for previous foreign language experience. Language learning in courses prior to entering MSSU can be validated by successfully completing a language course higher than the entry level (101) course at MSSU with a grade of “C” or better. A student with prior language experience may apply for credits for lower level language courses (retroactive credit) after successfully completing a higher level language course. S/he may earn a maximum of twelve hours of retroactive credits for a foreign language. The number of credits received by the student petitioner depends on the level of the language course taken by the student (102, 203, etc.) and on that student's successful fulfillment of each of the procedures described below. The student should fill out a Retroactive Language Credit Request Form and follow the procedures described on that form in order to be considered for retroactive credit. If a student earned retroactive credit at another campus, admissions will normally allow the credits to transfer.
To be eligible to earn foreign language retroactive credits…
A.…the language course must be an in-house course of the same language at a higher level,
B. …AND the course must be designated appropriate for earning retroactive credits,
C.…AND the student must fulfill the stated requirements of the course and earn the appropriate grade ("C" or better).
D....AND the student must submit the properly completed Retroactive Language Credit Request Form (available at the Department of Foreign Languages) in a timely fashion.
Complete List of Equivalencies:
| Course Taken | Eligible retroactive credits for lower level courses |
| 102 | 3 hrs. credit |
| 203 | up to 6 hrs. credit |
| 204 | up to 9 hrs. credit |
| Upper Division courses | up to 12 hrs. credit |
Retroactive Credit Cost:
Students must pay a fee equal $15 per credit requested. No credit will be awarded until the appropriate fee is paid to the Business Office and the receipt is presented to the Foreign Languages Department.
For example:
A student places into 203, takes that course and earns a “B” grade; the student has followed A through D above to earn credit for 101 and 102. NOTE: All foreign language courses are 3 credit hours.
S/he pays:
Course Cost
101 ($15.00 x 3 credit hours) $45.00
102 ($15.00 x 3 credit hours) $45.00
Total $90.00
The student now has retroactive credit (no letter grades) for 101 and 102 and academic credit (letter grade of “B”) for 203.
Contact the department for any questions or concerns.
Every graduate of Missouri Southern is required to be assessed for General Education performance and Major Field of Study performance.
General Education performance is handled through the Center for Assessment & Institutional Research which uses the computerized Measure of Academic Proficiency & Progress (MAPP) assessment. Graduates should receive a letter from that office to inform them when General Education assessments will be and what time to schedule.
For Major Field performance, our department uses a combination of four assessments which includes the computerized Minnesota Language Profiiciency Assessments for Reading/Listening (MLPA), the Cultural Competency Assessment (CCA), and the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). Students graduating in May, July or December of the same calendar year must complete all three assessments in the Spring semester of that year, unless special circumstances arise, in which case the student should petition the Head of the Department of Foreign Languages. Graduates should receive a letter from the department to inform them when Major Field assessments will be and how to schedule their OPIs.
On Senior Assessment Day, usually held in February of spring semesters, all graduates take MAPP assessment either in the morning or afternoon. Depending on MAPP scheduling, foreign language graduates take the computerized MLPA (Reading/Listening) and the CCA earlier or later that day.
From mid-February through April, foreign language graduates take the Oral Proficiency Interview. See Department Assessments for specific information. Graduates schedule their OPIs through the department secretary.
See What You Should Know If Graduating From MSSU for procedural information.
3950 Newman Road
Joplin, MO 64801-1595
(417) 625-9300
Copyright © 2013 MSSU
