Academic Catalog

External Credits for Languages and Literature

Demonstrating Proficiency in Spanish and Placement Credit through Languages and Literature Department

A Spanish placement exam is required for students who have any previous experience in Spanish, including high school Spanish classes, home use (heritage speakers), or study abroad, and for those students who have a lapse of a year or more in their language studies.

If a student takes a Benedictine University placement exam, is placed into SPAN 1102 Elementary Spanish II or higher, and completes at least one SPAN course at Benedictine above the SPAN 1101 Elementary Spanish I level in which he/she earns a grade of “C” or better, the student should submit a “Petition for External Credit” (forms available online on the Office of the Registrar page of the Benedictine University website). After completing the appropriate form, the student should print an unofficial copy of his or her transcript from MyBenU and attach it to the Petition for External Credit form. The form and the attachment should then be given to the Chair of the Department of Languages and Literature for approval of departmental placement credit. Under no circumstances will academic credit or waiver of a language requirement be awarded on the basis of performance on the placement exam alone.

Students seeking a Spanish major or minor should be aware that courses below the SPAN 2201 Intermediate Spanish I level, although they count as hours toward graduation, do not fulfill any requirement for the major or the minor. All students should be aware that a maximum of 9 hours of placement credit in Spanish for language courses are allowed per student. Therefore, if, for example, a student places into SPAN 2202 Intermediate Spanish II or above and has received AP, IB or CLEP credit for SPAN 1101 Elementary Spanish I (3 credit hours) and SPAN 1102 Elementary Spanish II (3 credit hours), that student cannot also receive 9 credit hours of departmental placement credit for any of Benedictine University’s elementary and intermediate language courses (SPAN 1101 Elementary Spanish I-SPAN 2202 Intermediate Spanish II). This rule does not apply to credit obtained through the AP Spanish Literature exam, which typically will be accepted at Benedictine University as the equivalent of SPAN 2291 Intermediate Topics in Spanish Language and Hispanic Literature and Culture (3 credit hours). Once posted to the student’s transcript, AP, CLEP or IB credit cannot be removed, therefore it is highly recommended that students pursuing or considering a major or minor in Spanish consult with the Chair of the Department of Languages and Literature before posting AP, IB, or CLEP credit. The granting of external credit for courses at or above the SPAN 2211 Intermediate Grammar and Composition level will only be considered in exceptional circumstances. Students should also be aware that SPAN 2211 Intermediate Grammar and Composition/SPAN 2212 Intermediate Oral Communications are parallel courses and not sequential courses so that completing SPAN 2212 Intermediate Oral Communications does not imply proficiency in SPAN 2211 Intermediate Grammar and Composition.

It is important to understand that placement tests and language proficiency examinations are fundamentally different. Placement exams (via Webcape and/or interview with instructor) simply allow academic advisors to identify a language course offered at Benedictine University (in Arabic, Chinese, or Spanish) in which students are most likely to succeed given their current level of proficiency, but under no circumstances are they used by themselves to grant credit and/or to fulfill any graduation requirement. Only if a student takes a Benedictine University language placement exam, is placed into a 1102-level class or above, AND completes at least one language course at Benedictine above the 1101 level in which he/she earns a grade of “C” or better, can he/she then petition for up to 9 semester credit hours of departmental external credit as long as no AP, CLEP,  IB or State Seal of Biliteracy credit has been posted for these courses or equivalents. ACTFL language proficiency examinations are closely proctored and more comprehensive and rigorous than placement tests used to determine whether students have reached the proficiency level necessary to satisfy the language requirement of a particular program.

New External Credit Articulation in Modern Languages (IB, AP, CLEP, Seal of Biliteracy, and Credit through Department)

AP Score (Language) 1 2 3 4 5
Credit hours granted1 0 0 SPAN 2201 SPAN 2201 + SPAN 2202 Same as 4
Placement (students may choose to take the Webcape placement test to potentially obtain a higher placement) SPAN 1102 SPAN 2201 SPAN 2202 SPAN 2211 Same as 4
Potential additional external credit through department2 SPAN 1101 SPAN 1101 + SPAN 1102 SPAN 1101 + SPAN 1102 SPAN 1102 Same as 4
1

The total number of credit hours granted in a modern language, regardless of mode—AP, IB, CLEP, Seal of Biliteracy, and Credit through Department—cannot exceed 9.

2

In order to obtain credit through the department, the Benedictine class in which the student was placed (or any other pre-approved by the department) must be taken and completed with “C” or higher.

AP Score (Literature) 1 2 3 4 5
Credit hours granted1 0 0 SPAN 2291 SPAN 2291 + QLR Same as 4
1

The three hours obtained by posting this credit do not count toward the 9 credit-hour limit for modern language placement credit.

Seal of Biliteracy Courses
Credit hours granted1 SPAN 1101 + SPAN 1102
1

The total number of credit hours granted in a modern language, regardless of mode—AP, IB, CLEP, Seal of Biliteracy, and Credit through Department—cannot exceed 9.

IB Score (Group 2 - Language Acquisition) 1 2 3 4 5 6-7
Credit hours granted1 0 0 0 SPAN 2201 SPAN 2201 + SPAN 2202 Same as 5
Placement (students may choose to take the Webcape placement test to potentially obtain a higher placement) SPAN 1102 SPAN 2201 SPAN 2202 SPAN 2211 Same as 5
Potential additional external credit through department2 SPAN 1101 SPAN 1101 + SPAN 1102 SPAN 1101 + SPAN 1102 SPAN 1102 Same as 5
1

The total number of credit hours granted in a modern language, regardless of mode—AP, IB, CLEP, Seal of Biliteracy, and Credit through Department—cannot exceed 9.

2

In order to obtain credit through the department, the Benedictine class in which the student was placed (or any other pre-approved by the department) must be taken and completed with “C” or higher.

Demonstrating Language Proficiency in Languages Other than Spanish

Candidates for the B.A. degree in some programs (e.g., English Language and Literature, History, Philosophy, Writing and Publishing, Theology) are required to demonstrate competency in a second language by successful completion of at least one language course typically at or above the 2202 level. Students in the Scholars Program are required to demonstrate the ability to speak, read and write a second language at a level equivalent to six semesters of college study (completion of 2211 and 2212).

In addition to the major and minor programs in Spanish, the Department of Languages and Literature offers courses in Arabic and a minor in Chinese. Benedictine University students can also use the University’s consortium agreements with North Central College and Aurora University to take courses in languages not offered at Benedictine. Students who want to take advantage of these agreements must obtain a “Consortium Exchange Course Authorization” form from the Office of the Registrar (approval from the student’s academic advisor and the consortium University’s registrar are necessary before a student may register for a course at the host institution).

While the final decision regarding fulfillment of a student’s second language proficiency requirement rests with the student’s program, the Department of Languages and Literature has traditionally helped students in other programs satisfy these requirements by proctoring proficiency examinations in Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Korean, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Russian and Spanish. Writing (online-based or paper and pencil exams) and/or oral proficiency examinations (conducted online or by phone interviews) in dozens of other languages can also be arranged through LTI (Language Testing International), a partner of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). It is the student’s responsibility to pay the fee associated with these proficiency examinations. For information on the ACTFL language proficiency tests, contact Dr. Rafael Iglesias at (630) 829-6268.