Is the Michigan Test an adequate tool for placement at the University of Qatar

Abstract

The English Department at Qatar University is one of the most popular departments in the university in which students like to enroll. To enable students to cope with the requirements of the department, and to be able to learn and use the English language, the department requires that students must pass an entrance exam. This entrance exam must perform as a monitor for the criterion of accepting students in the English Department. Therefore, the English department accepts students to be majors of English on the basis of passing an entrance exam. The entrance exam used is the Michigan Placement Test Battery. This study attempts to investigates the following questions: (1) Is Michigan Placement Test (MPT) an adequate basis for accepting students as English majors? (2) Is there any relationship between the different areas that are tested in the (MPT) and the courses which are offered in the first two semesters by the English Department at (QU)? (3) Is it time to use another (ESL) or (EFL) test as an entrance exam for the English Department at (QU)?