Theoretical framework for placement testing of Croatian as L2

Razredbeni su ispiti namijenjeni odabiru kandidata za upis i smještanje u skupine na fakultete i druga učilišta po nekim kriterijima. Vrlo je važno da budu pouzdani i valjani, posebno kada je to presudno i za ispitanike i za programe kojima pristupaju, poput vrlo kratkih intenzivnih tečajeva. U ovome se radu raspravlja o različitim vrstama razredbenih jezičnih ispita te navodi primjer jednoga takvoga ispita inojezičnoga hrvatskoga. Navode se kriteriji njihove podjele i temeljna načela njihove izrade. Propituje se i položaj gramatike u suvremenoj nastavi stranoga jezika te ispitivanju jezičnoga znanja. Razlaže se i teorijski okvir jednoga postojećega razredbenoga ispita za sveučilišni tečaj inojezičnoga hrvatskoga te se pokazuje njegova prikladnost.Reliability and validity are important for any placement test, but it is more important in some cases when it is crucial to place students in appropriate classes at the university or other educational program. Such is the case in short term intensive language courses, since misplacement could cause students to spend a considerable part of the language course in an inappropriate group. According to the various criteria, language placement tests can be syllabus or proficiency oriented, norm-referenced or criterion-referenced, discrete point tests or integrated tests, etc.\ This paper deals with one type of placement test for Croatian as L2. The type of course (short intensive language course), the learner\u27s first language, their experience with formal instruction in Croatian as L2, as well as their number and level of Croatian knowledge influences test design and it\u27s type. The discussed test is a syllabus oriented, multilevel and discrete point test. It is used for assessing the students\u27 grammar competence, vocabulary, syntactic structures and their writing skills. In the paper special emphasis is put on the importance and place of grammar in modern language curricula and language testing. It is also shown how the proposed test discriminates between language learners at different level of Croatian language knowledge on the bases of three language features: cases, present tense and prepositions. The verbal-case agreement (for instrumental case) and two verb classes (ati -im, ati -em) discriminate between low and high beginners, as the less frequent prepositions (za $+$ G, uz $+$ A) discriminate between high beginners and intermediate level