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.[1] Designed to be comparable to a fourth semester or equivalent college/university courses in Mandarin Chinese,[2] this high school course deepens the students’ 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.
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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.
The AP Chinese test consists of two sections.[3]
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%.
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[4] and 2010[5] was:
| 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% |