Student placement in Language Ab Initio and Language B

One of the most interesting, and often controversial, discussion in a Group 2 workshop is the one about student placement in the Language Ab Initio and Language B courses.
We've all taken part in these conversations and we've all made up our mind as to which students we allow to enrol in either course.  Or … has the decision been taken for us ?
In past years the IB provided some guidance by stating that the Language Ab Initio course is designed for students who have no or very minimal experience with/in the target language.  The Language B course, on the other hand, is supposedly destined for students who have relatively significant experience with/in the target language.
Vague boundaries that offer too many possible interpretations and applications.
What does it mean to have had 'minimal exposure' to the target language ? Many possible scenarios present themselves and deserve their own discussion and reflection :
- is a year of language study in one secondary school the same as a year of language study in another secondary school ?
- is there a number of class hours we should count, in case one secondary school offers three weekly hours of language acquisition whereas another secondary school only offers 40 minutes per week ?
- is there a particular curriculum that must have been followed for us to decide whether the student has had 'minimal' or 'significant' exposure to the target language ? Can we assume that every MYP school covers the same language acquisition curriculum in its last two MYP years ?
- to what extent does 'living in a target language culture" contribute to the student's minimal or significant exposure, and how do we measure it ?
- can we assume that a teenager who lives in a target language culture automatically picks up 'significant' amounts of language ? Over how many years ?
- if one of the parents speaks the target language but the family uses another lingua franca, is there an unfair advantage for the child when studying the same target language ?
- and what about the comment "I've studied <language x> for seven years but I haven't learned anything and I still can't say anything !" …
All of these questions, and many more, don't have a straight-forward answer.  Schools will be looking at their Language Ab Initio candidates and their Language B candidates on a case by case basis.  A combination of the answers to the above questions may be a good start in the decision-making process.

But … we are aware that there are other factors at work, factors that don't have much to do with previous learning, prior exposure, minimal knowledge, basic understanding, scattered schooling … factors that don't look back into the student's past but rather at the student's future …

Shall we list these factors and nod in agreement when we recognise one that's at work in the school down the road ?

- school pressure to achieve high grades
- parental pressure to achieve high grades
- student pressure to achieve high grades
- school's ability to publish and parade its excellent DP results
- keeping it simple and putting Language B and Language Ab Initio in one classroom
- keeping it cheap and putting Language B and Language Ab Initio in one classroom
- pressure on teachers to produce high grades (appraisal)
- 'well, everyone else does it ...'
- etc.

The IB guides tell us that the students in Group 2 should find an appropriate academic challenge in their Language B course or their Language Ab Initio course.  Surely a student who's had five years of prior study isn't going to get challenged in the Language Ab Initio course.  If that student claims not to have learned anything in those five years, it's probably a good time to start learning a different language.  

What's your take on this ? Any anecdotes or real-life situations to share ? And how does your school deal with the above pressure points ?

Click that 'Reply' button please ...