KOREASCHOLAR

This study investigated the test scores and student responses about placement in the General Education English Program by level and major. Using composite scores of College Scholastic Ability Test for English (CSAT) and the in-house speaking test (SEPT), the study placed students into four levels (2–5). It also categorized 1,847 students into three groups: Humanities and Social Science (HS), Business Administration and Law (BL), and Science and Engineering (SE). Higher levels showed significant differences in oral proficiency while having similar results on the CSAT. Lower levels attained similar scores on the SEPT but represented a vast range of CSAT scores. Participants across all levels understood the purpose of the placement test, perceived the content of the SEPT as appropriate, and positively responded toward the accuracy of placement. HS and BL scored higher on the test than SE, confirming the contrast between engineering and non-engineering majors. HS, however, showed more positive evaluation on the accuracy of placement than BL and SE. Across groups and levels, all participants opposed exclusively using CSAT in course placement. This study discusses utilizing data by various variables to enhance differentiated instruction and to meet unique needs of students at all levels with different majors; it also addresses using CSAT scores as the exclusive criterion.

I. Introduction
 II. Literature Review
  1. Differentiated GEP Curricula Grounded in Placement Test Results
  2. In-house vs. High-stakes Language Tests for Placement
  3. The English Placement Test at S University
 III. Methods
  1. S University’s GEP and Participants
  2. Instruments
  3. Procedure
  4. Data Analysis
 IV. Results
  1. The Overall Results
  2. Differences by Level
  3. Differences by Group
 V. Discussion
 References

• Sangkyung Kim(Soongsil University)