LaPlace e.V. is a charitable association, which emerged from the collaboration of several researchers from the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA). By providing free online language placement tests, which take 20 minutes and can be completed via cell phone, LaPlace provides flexible and research-based infrastructure for other NGOs working in the field of education.
Currently, we have six teams developing C-Tests for the following languages: English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Spanish.

If you are an NGO interested in using our tests or a researcher developing programmes for displaced persons interested in using our tests or supporting our group, don’t hesitate to contact us via the contact form or a personal email.

In light of current global political developments with increasing numbers of displaced people, language proficiency is a key role in enabling migrants’ and refugees’ access to educational resources. Initiatives such as Kiron are aiming to provide refugees with such access. However, in order to assess people’s language abilities prior to admitting or directing them to suitable courses, research-based instruments that can flexibly be administered are still lacking.

As a first step to foster language acquisition and, thereby, education in general LaPlace and its members are developing a battery of so-called C-Tests in multiple languages that are to be made available online for formative, inclusive and low-stakes placement purposes to NGOs and non-commercial organizations working with displaced people.

With regard to placement purposes, C-tests have been repeatedly shown to be practical, reliable and useful tools (e.g. Eckes & Grotjahn, 2006; Harsch & Hartig, 2015). C-tests are short language proficiency tests that can be taken online and can be scored automatically. A battery of such placement tests targeting different CEFR levels provides a highly valuable resource for language learners and users around the world.

The C-Test results are aligned to the CEFR-levels via the DIALANG tests, an already aligned and well-established testing system which exists for a range of languages and can be taken online. This allows reporting the placement results in terms of indicating at which CEFR level the test taker is to be placed.

See a demonstration of one of our C-tests here.