AP English Language and Composition
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Advanced Placement English Language and Composition (or AP English Language and Composition, AP Lang and Comp, AP Lang or AP Comp) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.
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[edit] The Course
AP English Language and Composition is a course in the study of English language structure and writing. Because the AP English Language and Composition course is one of the highest level English classes, it is usually taken in a student's junior year, followed by the AP English Literature and Composition the following year, or as an alternative to AP English Literature and Composition in a student's senior year. Alternatively, many schools choose not to offer AP Language and Composition, and students interested in higher level English courses often take an honors or pre-AP English Literature and Composition course their junior year.
[edit] The primary purpose
"The AP English Language and Composition course is designed to help students become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and to become skilled writers who can compose for a variety of purposes. By their writing and reading in this course, students should become aware of the interactions among a writer's purposes, audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effective writing... Students are strongly encouraged to take the AP examination at the end of the course."[1]
[edit] Emphasized skills
The College Board's suggested curriculum for the course places a strong emphasis on the development of proficient reading and writing skills. In particular, thorough, efficient reading and contextual understanding of difficult historical material[2], and the ability to spontaneously write an organized and developed essay that demonstrates a strong stylistic and expressive command over the English language[3].
[edit] The Exam
[edit] Format
The AP English Language and Composition exam consists of two sections, a one-hour multiple-choice section and a two-hour and fifteen-minute free-response section[4]. The exam is further divided as follows:
| Section I: Multiple-Choice | Section II: Free-Response | |
|---|---|---|
| # of Questions | 55 | 3 |
| Percentage of score | 45 | 55 |
[edit] Scoring
The multiple-choice section is scored by computer, with a correct answer receiving 1 point, an incorrect answer losing 1/4 of a point, and a blank answer receiving 0 points. These numbers are used to calculate the adjusted multiple-choice score.
The free-response section is scored by hundreds of educators each June. Each essay is read by two readers. Barring a significant discrepancy, their scores are averaged and added to the adjusted multiple-choice score to receive the composite score. The composite is converted into an AP score of 1-5 using a scale for that year's exam[5]. Scoring is holistic, meaning that no rubric is used to judge specific elements, and each essay is scored in its entirety.
Students generally receive their scores by mail in mid-July of the year they took the test. Alternately, they can receive their scores by phone as early as July 1 for a fee[6]. Sub-scores are not available for the Language and Composition Exam.
[edit] Grade Distributions
In the 2007 administration 282,230 students took the exam from 8,545 schools. The mean score was a 2.85.[7]
The grade distribution for 2007 was:
| Score | Percent |
|---|---|
| 5 | 9.2% |
| 4 | 18.3% |
| 3 | 31.4% |
| 2 | 30.3% |
| 1 | 10.9% |
[edit] Composite score range
The College Board has released information on the composite score range (out of 150) required to obtain each grade:[8]
| Final Score | Range (2001) | Range (2002) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 108-150 | 113-150 |
| 4 | 93-107 | 96-112 |
| 3 | 72-92 | 76-95 |
| 2 | 43-71 | 48-75 |
| 1 | 0-42 | 0-47 |
[edit] Recent Changes
In 2007 a new type of essay prompt, the "synthesis" essay, was introduced to the exam[9]. This question, somewhat like the DBQ-type questions found on many AP history exams, asks students to support an argument using provided documents. It differs from AP history questions, however, in that students are only required to address three out of six provided sources. At least one of the provided sources must be an example of visual rhetoric, such as a political cartoon or a statistical chart.
The introduction of the synthesis question resulted in a slight change in the test's format to include a 15-minute reading period at the beginning of the free response portion of the test, during which students may read the prompts and examine the documents. They may use this time to make notes, but not to write the essays.
2007 also saw a change in the multiple choice portion of the exam to include questions about documentation and citation. These questions will be based on at least one passage which is a published work including footnotes or a bibliography[10].
[edit] References
- ^ AP: English Language
- ^ AP: English Language
- ^ AP: English Language
- ^ AP: English Language
- ^ AP: The Grade-Setting Process
- ^ AP Test Scores - AP Grade Reports
- ^ AP: English Language Grade Distribution
- ^ AP: The Grade-Setting Process. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
- ^ 2007, 2008 AP English Course Description
- ^ 2007, 2008 AP English Course Description
[edit] Popular Textbooks
The Bedford Reader edited by X. J. Kennedy, Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron
