Proficiency and placement exams in Japanese are offered for registered students at UW. Students with no previous exposure to the Japanese language are able to register for JAPAN 101 via MyPlan or MyUW at any time. For full information, please see this page.

The Asian Languages & Literature department does not offer placement or proficiency exams to students outside of UW (e.g., high school students seeking admission, prospective students, extension students,etc.), nor does it offer testing in languages or dialects not currently taught in the department. UW Students looking to take a proficiency test for a language or dialect not taught by the Asian Languages & Literature department should contact the UW Language Learning Center (LLC).

No. While the UW recognizes AP and IB coursework in Japanese as a challenging academic program that provides excellent preparation for university study, credit awarded does not equate to automatic course placement. College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exams are scored on a scale of 1 – 5. At the UW, scores of 3 or higher are considered for college credit awards or placement into UW courses. The table below shows the UW’s departmental policies for awarding course equivalencies and credits for each exam.

Areas of Inquiry

•     SSci = Social Sciences

      NatSci = Natural Sciences

      A&H = Arts and Humanities

   

  Basic Skills Credits

   

      C = Composition

      RSN = Reasoning

      FL = Foreign (World) Language

In most cases, credits are awarded for IB subjects in which the student has earned a grade of 4 or higher. Consult the table below for specific information about credit awards in particular subjects.

Higher Level

Standard Level

If you have an existing background in Japanese and want to continue your Japanese studies at UW, a placement test is required before you can register.

Students with no Japanese background can register themselves for JAPAN 101 directly.

Students who have taken college-level Japanese classes (including AP and IB courses) should fill out the Japanese Placement Survey Form.Students who have taken college-level Japanese previously do not need to take the online placement test through AVANT.

Students who havetaken high-school level Japanese, are self-taught, or are heritage speakers should first read the instructions found here before signing up for a placement test. Once that has been done, students can register for and complete the AVANT online Japanese Placement Test found here. To ensure correct reporting of results, students should use their UW.edu email addresses and include their student ID numbers when registering.

Once the placement test in Japanese has been completed, students should then fill out the Japanese Placement Survey found here.

The College of Arts & Sciences has a graduation requirement that needs students to demonstrate proficiency in a world language at college level through at least the first year. Students can meet this requirement either by taking and passing JAPAN 103 at UW, by passing an approved equivalent course at another college, or by taking the Japanese Placement Test listed above and getting a score that shows ability above a level equivalent to JAPAN 103.

Students wishing to take the online test to demonstrate proficiency can learn more and register here.

Once you have registered and paid for Japanese Placement Test, AVANT will send further instructions regarding proctoring and test scheduling. If you have any questions on testing administration, or need technical assistance with proctoring, please contact Avant Assessment Support at support@avantassessment.com.

There is a fee for both the online AVANT Japanese placement test and AVANT Japanese proficiency test. For full information on costs, please see here. Unfortunately, there are no exam fee waivers for financial hardship available at this point in time.

The placement/ proficiency exam in Japanese is offered online by AVANT, and will cover all four primary language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Questions are based on real-world, everyday situations. AVANT measures a test taker’s language ability according to Benchmark Levels that are based on ACTFL national standards. Once students have registered and paid for their chosen proficiency test, AVANT will send further instructions regarding proctoring and students can then schedule the date and time for their test. Students are responsible for ensuring their systems are compatible with the AVANT exam and proctoring systems.

Please note: the AVANT proctoring system is not currently compatible with Chromebooks. Access to computer workstations is available through the UW Library system when campus is open, and students can also borrow laptops for home use through the UW Student Technology loan service.

Yes. If you would like to study to prepare for placement testing, or to brush up your skills prior to starting Japanese class at UW, here are materials that might be helpful:

• First-year Japanese Review: https://canvas.uw.edu/enroll/A9MKAP
• Second-year Japanese Review: https://canvas.uw.edu/enroll/PYL7WA

Additionally, you can find sample tests available here, a user guide here, and a technology guide for remote testing here.

Students who have completed the placement exam to determine which level of Japanese class they should register for should complete the Japanese placement survey form. A faculty member will review form submissions and contact students with information on their placement.

Students taking the Japanese test for the purpose of fulfilling a proficiency requirement should contact the UW Language Learning Center (LLC) via email. If students need to prove their language abilities at the 2nd year or higher level (e.g. for students of the Jackson School or the Certificate of International Studies in Business program at the Foster School), please contact the Japanese language coordinator, Akiko Iwata via iwata3@uw.edu.

Students can take the AVANT placement/ proficiency test at any time during the year. There is currently no limit to the number of times a student can take placement or proficiency tests in Japanese. We recommend students try to give themselves at least 4 weeks between tests to allow sufficient time to study in a way that will see scores improve in a meaningful way.

It is important to note that the Department of Asian Languages & Literature has internal deadlines for reporting scores to the registrar’s office. If students take their test after a deadline for a given quarter, scores will be reported the following quarter. For full information, see this page.

Unfortunately, the department is not able to provide breakdowns of proficiency test scores for exams taken through AVANT for students. Test results are valid for one year.

No. These exams are purely to either place students into the correct class or to fulfil graduation requirements for language proficiency. First-year (elementary) or second-year (intermediate) foreign-language credit is not granted either by examination or by course completion in a student’s native language. “Native language” is defined as the language, or one of the languages, spoken in the student’s home during the first six years of their life and in which they received instruction through the seventh grade.

Students who misrepresent the extent of their background so as to gain entrance to a course at the elementary or intermediate level may be dropped from the rolls of that course.