AP Chinese Language and Culture
Encyclopedia
Advanced Placement Chinese Language and Culture (commonly known as AP Chinese Language and Culture or AP Chinese) is a course offered by the College Board
as a part of the Advanced Placement Program
. Designed to be comparable to a fourth semester or equivalent college
/university
courses
in Mandarin Chinese
, this high school course deepens the student
s’ immersion into the language
and culture
of the Chinese-speaking world. Success in the coursework requires proficiencies throughout the Intermediate range as described in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines
.
The AP course prepares students to demonstrate their level of Chinese proficiency across the three communicative modes (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational) and the five goal areas (communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities) as outlined in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. It provides students with opportunities to further develop a full range of language skills within a cultural frame of reference reflective of the richness of Chinese language and culture. Since the course interweaves language and culture learning, this exploration occurs mostly in Chinese. Many people who take these tests are native speakers, which partly explains why an overwhelming majority of those who take the exam earn the maximum score. It is also a good way for international students to earn AP credits, not taking the course again in college, and focus more on English language.
Section I consists of multiple-choice questions that assess communication skills in the interpersonal and interpretive modes.
Section II, the free-response section, assesses communication skills in the interpersonal and presentational modes by requiring the student to produce written and spoken responses.
Each part of the exam contributes a specific portion of the final AP grade. Grouped by communicative mode, the various parts contribute as follows: Interpretive ― 40%, Interpersonal ― 30%, and Presentational ― 30%. Grouped by language modality, the various parts contribute as follows: Listening ― 25%, Reading ― 25%, Writing ― 25%, and Speaking ― 25%.
College Board
The College Board is a membership association in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board . It is composed of more than 5,900 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. It sells standardized tests used by academically oriented...
as a part of the Advanced Placement Program
Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
. Designed to be comparable to a fourth semester or equivalent college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
/university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
courses
Course (education)
The very broad dictionary meaning of the word course is the act or action of moving in a path from point to point . There are multiple meanings for this word, some of which include: general line of orientation, a mode of action, part of a meal, a mode of action, and many more. This article focuses...
in Mandarin Chinese
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
, this high school course deepens the student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s’ immersion into the language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
of the Chinese-speaking world. Success in the coursework requires proficiencies throughout the Intermediate range as described in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines were created by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in order to provide a means of assessing the proficiency of a foreign language speaker....
.
The AP course prepares students to demonstrate their level of Chinese proficiency across the three communicative modes (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational) and the five goal areas (communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities) as outlined in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. It provides students with opportunities to further develop a full range of language skills within a cultural frame of reference reflective of the richness of Chinese language and culture. Since the course interweaves language and culture learning, this exploration occurs mostly in Chinese. Many people who take these tests are native speakers, which partly explains why an overwhelming majority of those who take the exam earn the maximum score. It is also a good way for international students to earn AP credits, not taking the course again in college, and focus more on English language.
The exam
The exam is computer-based. Each student works at an individual computer, which processes everything read, heard, written, or spoken by the student. That is, the student reads on the screen, listens through headphones, types using the keyboard, and speaks into a microphone. There is no paper component; although the student may use paper to take notes during the exam, the proctor will collect the notes at the end of the exam, and they will not be graded. The first AP Chinese test was administered on May 9, 2007.Format
The AP Chinese test consists of two sections.Section I consists of multiple-choice questions that assess communication skills in the interpersonal and interpretive modes.
- Part A assesses interpersonal communication skills in the listening modality by requiring the student to identify the appropriate continuation of a conversation. It also assesses interpretive communication skills by requiring the student to answer questions about different types of listening stimuli.
- Part B assesses interpretive communication skills by requiring the student to answer questions about different types of reading texts.
Section II, the free-response section, assesses communication skills in the interpersonal and presentational modes by requiring the student to produce written and spoken responses.
- Part A assesses writing in the presentational mode by requiring the student to narrate a story suggested by a series of pictures. It also assesses writing in the interpersonal mode by requiring the student to read and answer an e-mail message.
- Part B assesses speaking in the interpersonal mode by requiring the student to respond to a series of thematically linked questions as part of a simulated conversation. It also assesses speaking in the presentational mode by requiring the student to make a presentation on a given aspect of Chinese culture.
Each part of the exam contributes a specific portion of the final AP grade. Grouped by communicative mode, the various parts contribute as follows: Interpretive ― 40%, Interpersonal ― 30%, and Presentational ― 30%. Grouped by language modality, the various parts contribute as follows: Listening ― 25%, Reading ― 25%, Writing ― 25%, and Speaking ― 25%.
Grade distribution
In the 2011 administration, 7,970 students took the exam. The mean score was a 4.51, down from 4.61 (2010). The grade distribution for 2011 and 2010 were:| Score | 2011 Percent | 2010 Percent |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 72.3% | 76.7% |
| 4 | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 3 | 9.2% | 6.6% |
| 2 | 2.1% | 1.5% |
| 1 | 2.5% | 2.0% |