language learning disability. Current users include private and public secondary schools and learning disabilities specialists. The test is also used in research on foreign language teaching or learning, when a measure of language aptitude is needed as part of the research design. One advantage that the PLAB offers to researchers on second language learning is its availability to them. Program placement The PLAB can be used to assess which students may be cognitively ready to study a foreign language in grades 7 and 8 and those students who would benefit from waiting until a later grade to begin foreign language study. It can also be used to place students in the classroom that teaches at the most appropriate pace for them when there is more than one language class. Program assessment and planning The PLAB can be used to calculate local language aptitude norms. Using this information, schools or districts can assess the effectiveness of their current foreign language programs and use the PLAB to develop their language program. For example, a school may divide their language program into three zones, each using an appropriate textbook and moving at an appropriate pace. Diagnosis of learning abilities Pimsleur says that a language aptitude test may be used to identify the underachiever before the course starts. He defines underachievers as students who have significantly less success in language study than in their other courses. Pimsleur gave students in his study a sound-symbol test and a Chinese pitch test. In the sound-symbol association test the student hears a nonsense syllable and must match it with its correct spelling in the test booklet. The Chinese pitch test was a 30-item test of auditory discrimination in which the student must distinguish Chinese tones. Pimsleur found that among students with similar overall GPAs, those with lower scores in these two tests received lower grades in foreign languages. From this finding, Pimsleur concluded that the auditory component of language aptitude is the main factor that accounts for differences in language learning ability that are not explained by general intelligence, interest in learning a foreign language or general study habits. The PLAB can be used to identify students with a language learning disability when used in conjunction with other forms of evidence. He also stated that looking at the individual's score on the different parts of the test can be of help in matching students' learning preferences with