{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,2]],"date-time":"2025-08-02T18:03:56Z","timestamp":1754157836414,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,20]],"date-time":"2009-11-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1258675200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,20]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to describe how and why Texas A&amp;M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) has developed a system aiming to effectively place students in freshman and developmental English programs. The placement system includes: triangulating data from external test scores, with scores from a panel\u2010marked hand\u2010written essay (HWE), written at the University under proctored conditions, and also data from a range of computer based tests, including a computer assessed essay. This is discussed within the broader context of placement testing in general.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>Notes on the evolving process have been kept for the last three years, and this case study is written by a \u201cplacement evaluator\u201d, using these notes as a starting point.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>TAMUQ has found an integrated approach to placement testing to be effective.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>The number of institutions integrating internal and external testing for placement is growing. TAMUQ's perspective may be of value to many academic institutions. The paper outlines the types of assessments used at TAMUQ in order to appropriately place students in classes. It describes the strengths and shortcomings of both external test data and placement software, and argues that relying on either alone (or in conjunction) to decide starting points for students in English programs is a flawed approach. The need for integrating authentic HWE samples and opinion from English faculty is discussed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/17415650911009218","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,12,5]],"date-time":"2009-12-05T07:17:16Z","timestamp":1259997436000},"page":"244-253","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Placement testing: man and machine, doing the best we can?"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Douglas","family":"McPherson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b1","unstructured":"ACT (2008), English as a Second Language (ESL) Placement Test, ACT, Iowa City, IA."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b2","unstructured":"California Polytechnic State University (2006), Writing Skills Program, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b3","unstructured":"Cambridge University Press (2005), Cambridge English Readers Placement Test, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b4","unstructured":"Camus, L. (2008), Learn English Placement Test."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b5","unstructured":"(The) College Board (2008a), Accuplacer, The College Board."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b6","unstructured":"(The) College Board (2008b), College Planning Made Easy, The College Board."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b7","unstructured":"De Anza College (2008), Placement Test: English, De Anza College, Cupertino."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b8","unstructured":"EnglishEnglish.com (2004), Free English Placement Test."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b9","unstructured":"ETS (2008), California State University Placement Tests: What is the EPT?, Electronic Testing Services."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b10","unstructured":"Iowa State University (2007), English Placement Test for Non\u2010Native English Speaking Students, Iowa State University, Ames, IA."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b11","unstructured":"Kasai, M. (2004), Using Act English Scores For Writing Placement, University of Southeastern Illinois, Eldorado, IL."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b12","unstructured":"Mills, A., Swain, L. and Weschler, R. (1996), \u201cThe implementation of a first year english placement system\u201d, The Internet TESL Journal, available at: http:\/\/iteslj.org\/Articles\/Mills\u2010Placement.html (accessed September 2009)."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b13","unstructured":"TAMUQ (2008), What Exams Are Required?, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Doha."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b14","unstructured":"University of Alabama at Birmingham (2005), English Placement Test, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b15","unstructured":"University of Wisconsin (2008), English Placement Test, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b16","unstructured":"World\u2010English (2005), English Grammar Placement Test."},{"key":"key2022021220224840300_b17","unstructured":"University Testing Services (UTS) (2007)."}],"container-title":["Interactive Technology and Smart Education"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/17415650911009218\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/17415650911009218\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T00:21:28Z","timestamp":1753402888000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/itse\/article\/6\/4\/244-253\/431469"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Reggie","family":"Kwan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,20]]},"references-count":17,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,20]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/17415650911009218"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/17415650911009218","relation":{},"ISSN":["1741-5659"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"1741-5659"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,20]]}}}