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Low scores spur retooling of Arabic test

The Army has pulled the new version of the modern standard Arabic language test out of circulation and is modifying it after soldiers overall posted unexpectedly low scores.

When the new version of the test went online a year ago, following the introduction of more rigorous versions of all the Defense Language Proficiency Tests, or DLPT 5, it was expected that scores would dip, and they have.

But Arabic test scores “went down more than people had anticipated,” said Mika Hoffman, dean of testing at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, Calif.

About 4,500 military students at DLI have taken the DLPT 5 in modern standard Arabic in the past year. Only about 1 in 6 have been able to score above the second of three levels, compared with about 4 out of 6 test takers in languages such as Spanish and Russian.

Hoffman could not give specific examples of problems with the Arabic test because the contents are not meant to be made public. All the language tests are being reviewed, but Arabic “does have some specific problems,” she noted.

“It would typically be the way some things were phrased. It would be, for example, an answer that was supposed to be a wrong answer could actually be interpreted so that it was a correct answer,” Hoffman explained.

Modern standard Arabic is the language in which the Koran was written and which is typically used when Arab speakers are formally addressing someone.

It is the form of Arabic understood anywhere in the Arab world, and that is why it is taught at DLI, Hoffman said.

However, everyday Arabic is a quilt of at least 12 major dialects and many more sub-dialects that Arab language students would pick up in different regions after learning modern standard Arabic.

“One reason why I think Arabic has been a particular problem is no one is really a speaker of modern Arabic, so you may get people who are native speakers of Arabic who don’t do as well as they ought to on the test because they’re not as familiar with modern standard Arabic,” Hoffman said.

The exam is scheduled to be back online by Jan. 1.

In the meantime, soldiers who have scored poorly on DLPT 5 have two options, according to an Oct. 16 MilPer message announcing the temporary suspension of the test.

They can retest on DLPT 4, even if they tested on the DLPT 5 within the past six months. For this case only, the message says, soldiers may retest within six months of the last test.

The effective date for foreign language proficiency pay will be the date the soldier retests on the DLPT 4, but scores on the retest will stand, even if they’re lower, until the soldier can take the DLPT 5 again.

The second option is to keep the current DLPT 5 score until the next annual test date. Foreign language proficiency pay will be based on score.