Defense Language Aptitude Battery

How to prepare for Defense Language Aptitude Battery

You will have to know how to encounter the defense language aptitude battery if you have an aptitude and a love for languages, and want to pursue a language-based career in the military.

Foreign languages open up the world to you, and some interesting future careers in the Defense Force such as being a linguist that interrogates prisoners, or a translator assigned to translate for a unit deputed in a foreign country, or you could be listening to codes transmitted from the enemy and be required to decode them.

The Defense Force uses this test to test your ability to learn a foreign language, not your ability to speak one. It is conducted online and is comprised of 126 multiple choice questions in a questionnaire format. It has a top score of 176 points. You need a minimum of 100 points to pursue training and a language career in the military.

What is the Defense Language Aptitude Battery Test?

The defence language aptitude battery test is difficult to study for and it will not matter how many languages you fluently speak, if you do not understand the way the language is structured. This test is completely unique in that it is a fake language devised by each individual tester. If you are a native English speaker your knowledge of phonetics may help you understand how the imaginary language is structured.

The first part of the test is verbal where you listen to a question and verbally answer during the pause. Be careful, and quick to answer, as the questions cannot be repeated.The language has fake grammatical rules and phonetics, and you have to demonstrate your ability to decipher it to score well.

Study Tips

Because defense language aptitude battery test is based on a completely fake language it is hard to study for it, so here are some tips to help you:

• Understand Sentence Structure: As an English speaker you should already understand sentence structure, grammar and word patterns so study the differences in the patterns between your native language and foreign languages that interest you. Also know where words break into syllables.

• Understanding Grammar: Make sure you understand how nouns, possessive pronouns, adjectives, and so on, work together to form cohesive sentences.

• Ability to Manipulate Rules: You need to understand how to follow the instructions of the fake language and understand structure of grammatical rules so you can modify them.

• Foreign Language Experience: If you want a career as a Chinese linguist then you should already have some experience learning a foreign language. It does not have to be Chinese, but it will help you understand how different languages are structured compared to English.

Scores and what they Mean

How high you score in defence language aptitude battery determines which of the four categories you fall within and what languages you will study:

• To study Italian, Spanish, French, and so on, you need minimum score of 85 points.

• To study language such as German you need a minimum score of 90 points.

• To study languages such as Hebrew, Polish Greek, Turkish, Vietnamese, and so on, you require a minimum score of 95 points.

• To study the Chinese, Japanese and Arabic languages you need 100 points.

What the Defence Language Aptitude Battery tells You

If you are sitting the defence language aptitude battery your English skills should be at a high level. Knowing what the battery will measure will help you prepare for the test. The following are the areas the test measures:

• Phonetic Coding: Phonetic coding tests your ability to identify sounds and recognize them and associate them with their symbols.

• Understanding of Grammar: This is to test your understanding of how grammar functions to form cohesive sentences.

• Ability to Learn Foreign Languages: Everyone has a different aptitude for languages and everyone learns differently. The battery test tries to measure your individual aptitude to learn foreign languages.

• Can you Ignore all the Rules: In this part of the test, the battery measures your ability to put aside all the rules that define your language to follow rules that are fake.

If you fail the Defence Language Aptitude Test you can apply to sit it again after 6 months.

While it is difficult to study for a test on a fake language, you can ensure you understand the different structures of languages compared with your own.