ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Incoming students at Winthrop University can begin earning more foreign language credit beginning fall 2024 with the institution’s recognition of the South Carolina Seal of Biliteracy.
The S.C. Seal of Biliteracy allows students who have taken foreign language courses in high school, or who are native or heritage speakers of a foreign language, to take an assessment and earn a bronze, silver or gold seal. Students completing the exam – in either their junior or senior year of high school – have to demonstrate at least an intermediate mid-level of proficiency in the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking in a foreign language. They also have to demonstrate English proficiency through either their ELA GPA or ACCESS score.
Each seal translates to a different level of language proficiency and provides standardized documentation of a student’s fluency in a given language.
Winthrop is among the first colleges in the state to recognize these assessment scores for placement and credit. The current applicable languages at the institution are Spanish, French and German, although other languages may be recognized as well.
“Recognizing the S.C. Seal of Biliteracy will help us place students in higher level language courses, building on proficiency they’ve already developed. It will also allow students to graduate earlier and save money, as well as giving them more flexibility to add a language minor or major if they desire,” said Scott Shinabargar, professor and chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures.
Shinabargar provided an example: “A student coming in with the silver seal would place into a 202-level intermediate language class, and would receive free retroactive credits for the lower-level language classes after completing 202 here with a B or higher.”
According to the S.C. Department of Education, the program will help advance the state’s commitment to preparing students for college and career readiness in an increasingly international community. South Carolina joins 49 other states and Washington, D.C., in having established state seals of biliteracy as nationally recognized credentials of student language proficiency.
Rocio Zalba with the state department said that the S.C. Seal of Biliteracy gives higher education institutions information similar to that of an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) test. Yet, it is both more accessible and of broader use for students.
“Many high schools don't have the opportunity to offer AP courses in the languages they offer. Students may reach Level 4 in their language of study and not have access to an AP course that could grant them college credit,” she said. “The S.C. Seal of Biliteracy assessment gives all students an opportunity to receive an advanced language score that could grant them higher education credit and also act as a credential that they can present to potential employers.”
Zalba praised Winthrop’s initiative to recognize this credential. “We all know that language proficiency and intercultural competence is a K-16 journey (& beyond). And, the research has found that recognizing the seal tends to motivate students to continue with language study beyond high school,” she said.
Locally, Flor de Lis Morales Torres, who is the assistant director of Global Studies with the Rock Hill school district, said one of the greatest resources in our community is its people. “Rock Hill has a diversity of cultures and languages and the Seal of Biliteracy showcases this wealth within our schools,” said Morales. “The students who earn the seal are so proud of their accomplishment to learn a second language.”
For many of our recipients, she said, the language learned is English, which is often a long and complicated journey. For others, they are able to showcase the fact they maintained the language of their family and ancestors within a whole different culture. For some students, the Seal of Biliteracy is how they are able to prove the successful goal of learning a language other than English through courses offered in our schools. The Seal of Biliteracy highlights and honors the students, families and school district.
“We are so appreciative of Winthrop University, the university located right here in our community, for honoring the rich language and cultural wealth of our community by offering college credit. Our hope is our students will greatly benefit from this,” Morales said.
For more information, contact Scott Shinabargar, shinabargars@winthrop.edu.
