Educational Objectives

The primary objective of the Second Language Proficiency Test (TPLS) is to determine the proficiency level of the respondent in order to propose appropriate courses as well as tailored learning activities within those courses.

At the end of the test, the result is given as a number from 1 to 10 corresponding to a level on the linguistic scale.

The teacher and student can then consult the proficiency level descriptions for information on what the student is able to do at that level. The teacher can also use this information to plan learning activities to help the student progress to the next level. As a result, the TPLS goes further than a traditional placement test, such as the eTCALS, which is designed strictly to assign a student to a course level according to his or her results. Note, however, that a test manager in a subscribing college has the option in the management module to associate a course number with each of the 10 levels. 

The proficiency of students taking an upgrading (mise à niveau) course is at the lower levels of the scale. A level 10 result means that the student may be more proficient than the maximum level measured by the test. Ideally, college graduates should reach level 8: subsequent university training should enable students to fine-tune their proficiency and achieve level 9 or higher during their university studies.