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Accuplacer™ ESL

If you grew up speaking a language other then English, you should take the ESL Accuplacer tests, which include reading skills, sentence meaning, language use and listening tests. The scores that you receive on the ESL Accuplacer tests determine your course placements.

As of Fall 2005, MCTC has converted the ESL courses to ESOL courses.

ESL Accuplacer tests are computer adaptive; that means that your response on one question will determine the level of difficulty on the next question.

All tests are untimed. Scores will range from 23 to 120 for each test.

ESL Accuplacer Reading Skills

You will read passages of 50 to 90 words and then answer questions about your reading. The reading passages will be about a variety of different topics. You may read about the arts, or science, or history. Half of the test questions ask about information that is stated in the passage. The other half will ask you to identify the main ideas, or fact vs. opinion, or the author’s point of view.

ESL Accuplacer Sentence Meaning

You will be asked to fill-in a blank with a word or phrase, or combine two sentences. The skills covered are writing skills including the proper use of nouns and verbs.

ESL Accuplacer Language Use

This test measures your understanding of English vocabulary. The sentences come from a variety of different subject areas. You will be asked questions about basic and important idioms, particularly terms of beauty, age, greatness, and size, adverbs such as before, after, during, and prepositions of direction and place (from, to, at, etc.) There are 20 questions on this test.

ESL Accuplacer Listening

You will listen to a series of brief passages in which one or two speakers are talking. Following each passage, you will hear a question about the passage and will be asked to respond to a multiple choice question about the passage. You may take notes as you listen and may replay the passage and answers twice. There are 20 questions on this test.

Arithmetic

The Arithmetic test measures your skills in three primary categories:

  1. Operations with whole numbers and fractions include:
    • addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
    • recognizing equivalent fractions and mixed numbers.
  2. Operations with decimals and percents include:
    • addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
    • percent problems, decimal recognition, fraction
    • percent equivalencies, and estimation problems
  3. Applications and problem solving include:
    • rate, percent, and measurement problems
    • geometry problems
    • distribution of a quantity into its fractional parts

A total of 16 questions is asked.

Elementary Algebra

There are also three categories in the Elementary Algebra Test:

  1. Operations with integers and rational numbers include:
    • computation with integers and negative rationals
    • the use of absolute values, and ordering.
  2. Operations with algebraic expressions include:
    • evaluation of simple formulas
    • expressions, and adding
    • subtracting monomials and polynomials
    • the evaluation of positive rational roots and exponents
    • simplifying algebraic fractions, and factoring
  3. Equation solving, inequalities, and word problems include:
    • solving verbal problems presented in algebraic context
    • geometric reasoning
    • the translation of written phrases into algebraic expressions
    • graphing

A total of 12 questions is asked.

College-Level Mathematics

The College-Level Mathematics test assesses proficiency from intermediate algebra through pre-calculus. The categories covered include:

  1. Algebraic operations include:
    • simplifying rational algebraic expressions
    • factoring and expanding polynomials
    • manipulating roots and exponents
  2. Solutions of equations and inequalities include:
    • the solution of linear and quadratic equations by factoring
    • expanding polynomials
    • manipulating roots and exponents
  3. Coordinate geometry asks questions about:
    • plane geometry
    • the coordinate plane, straight lines, conics, sets of points in a plane
    • graphs of algebraic functions
  4. Application and other algebra topics ask about:
    • complex numbers
    • series and sequences
    • determinants, permutations
    • combinations, fractions
    • word problems
  5. Functions and trigonometry presents questions about:
    • polynomial, algebraic, exponential, logarithmic
    • trigonometric functions

A total of 20 questions is asked.

Sample test questions

If English is your second language, then these sample questions are for you.

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