THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT PLACEMENT William Paterson University has a 0- to 6-credit, college wide foreign language reading requirement that all students must satisfy before graduation. The University does not automatically accept high school foreign language work as equivalent to college-level study. Upon admission, all incoming freshmen and transfer students are required to take a foreign language placement test to determine the appropriate level at which the student should begin the study of a language. Students may place out of the foreign language requirement when they obtain scores of 80 percent or better in the placement test. Students with very limited or no background in a language whatsoever are placed in a Basic I section and choose among one of the languages currently offered in the department. If students decide to take a language they have never had before, they enroll in a Basic I course. Once enrolled in a Basic I section, students have to take a Basic II section in the same language. Upon passing a Basic II section, students have completed the requirements for basic language study. Likewise, those students who are placed above a Basic II section (such as Intermediate I or Intermediate II) have satisfied the college wide foreign language requirement. They can further their study of a particular language and culture by taking Intermediate I and Intermediate II, which are accepted general education courses, or they can use those credits to take any upper-level general education course(s). The department honors advanced placement in foreign languages by granting 3 to 6 credits, depending on the AP scores. Students who wish to complete their language requirement in one semester can register for Intensive Spanish I and II, SPAN 106 (6 credits). First-year students who wish to complete their language study in consecutive semesters (Basic French I or Basic Spanish I in the Fall, Basic French II or Basic Spanish II in the Spring) should contact the Department of Languages and Cultures for the numbers of the Basic sections that will be included in the Linked-Language Program in the Fall. Students in a linked FR 110 or SPAN 110 course are guaranteed a seat in the corresponding Basic II section the following Spring, with the same professor and at the same scheduled time. This option allows for faster language development through class continuity.