AP Chinese Language and Culture explained

Advanced Placement (AP) Chinese Language and Culture (commonly known as AP Chinese) is a course and exam offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program in the United States.[1] It requires proficiencies throughout the Intermediate range as described in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines. The course interweaves language and culture learning and is conducted mostly in Mandarin Chinese. The first AP Chinese courses were offered worldwide in the fall of 2006, followed by the exam in May 2007.[2]

Topic Outline

The course covers six units. Students should know these topics to succeed in the course and on the exam.

Units
Families in Different Societies
The Influence of Language and Culture on Identity
Influences of Beauty and Art
How Science and Technology Affect Our Lives
Factors That Impact the Quality of Life
Environmental, Political, and Societal Challenges

Exam

The AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes in length. It assesses Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational communication skills in Mandarin Chinese, along with knowledge of Chinese culture.[3]

Section I consists of multiple-choice questions.

Section II, the free-response section, requires one to produce written and spoken responses.

Grade distribution

The AP Chinese Language and Culture exam consistently has the highest percentage of 5 scores out of all AP tests, likely attributed to fluent Chinese speakers taking the exam for credit.[4] The exception is in 2022, when the AP Japanese Language and Culture exam narrowly had a higher 5-rate by 0.5 percentage points. It is worth noting that the 5-rate for the Chinese exam, on average, steadily declined as the years passed. The grade distributions since the exam's debut in 2007 were:

Score2007[5] 2008[6] 2009[7] 2010[8] 2011[9] 2012[10] 2013[11] 2014[12] 2015[13] 2016[14] 2017[15] 2018[16] 2019[17] 2020[18] 2021[19] 2022[20] 2023[21] 2024[22]
581.0%82.2%81.5%76.7%72.3%71.1%69.7%68.5%65.3%62.8%68.4%66.1%60.1%55.4%57.2%49.3%50.0%50%
411.8%10.3%9.8%13.2%13.9%13.2%14.6%14.4%16.0%16.4%11.3%12.2%14.9%15.5%15.5%19.6%17.0%20%
34.5%4.9%6.0%6.6%9.2%10.9%10.7%11.6%11.8%14.4%12.5%13.0%14.8%17.9%15.5%18.0%18.0%17%
21.1%1.0%1.0%1.5%2.1%2.3%2.3%2.8%3.1%2.7%3.3%3.7%4.0%5.1%4.6%5.3%6.0%6%
11.5%1.6% 1.7%2.0%2.5%2.5%2.8%2.7%3.9%3.7%4.5%5.0%6.2%6.1%7.1%7.8%9.0%7%
% of Scores 3 or Higher97.3%97.4%97.4%96.5%95.4%95.2%95.0%94.5%93.0%93.7%92.2%91.3%89.8%88.7%88.2%86.9%85.0%87%
Mean4.704.714.694.614.514.484.464.434.364.324.364.314.194.094.113.973.934.00
Standard Deviation0.740.750.770.840.930.950.970.981.061.051.101.141.201.221.241.261.311.24
Number of Students3,2611,9925,1006,3887,9709,35710,12110,72811,63312,52413,09113,82513,85314,66313,12215,27717,000

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AP Chinese Language and Culture Course . AP Central . College Board . 5 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230501210417/https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-chinese-language-and-culture . 1 May 2023 . en . live .
  2. Web site: AP Chinese Language and Culture . College Board . 12 July 2023 . 13 August 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060813085955/http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_chineselang.html?chineselang . bot: unknown .
  3. Web site: AP Chinese Language and Culture Course and Exam Description, Effective Fall 2020 . College Board . 5 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230501164221/https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-chinese-language-and-culture-course-and-exam-description.pdf . 1 May 2023 . live .
  4. Web site: 2018 AP Exam Score Distributions.
  5. https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-chinese-language-and-culture/exam/2007-grade-distributions 2007 Grade Distributions
  6. https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/rtn/10th-annual/10th-annual-ap-report-subject-supplement-chinese-language-and-culture.pdf SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS
  7. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  8. http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/2010_ChineseLang_Score_Dist.pdf AP Chinese 2010 Score Distribution
  9. http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/2011_ChineseLang_Score_Dist.pdf AP Chinese 2011 Score Distribution
  10. Web site: The College Board. AP Chinese Language Student Score Distributions. 7 May 2013.
  11. http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/apcentral/ap13_chinese_lang_ScoringDist.pdf AP Chinese 2013 Score Distribution
  12. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  13. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  14. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  15. Web site: AP Score Distributions – AP Students | College Board.
  16. Web site: Student Score Distributions, AP Exams - May 2018 . The College Board . December 24, 2022.
  17. Web site: STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS. July 9, 2020.
  18. Web site: STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS. June 9, 2021.
  19. Web site: STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS. 2022-07-06.
  20. "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  21. Web site: AP Chinese Lang. and Culture - Compare Score Distributions Across Years . 2023-07-12 . www.totalregistration.net.
  22. Web site: Total Registration . 2024-06-17 . 2024 AP Exam Score Distributions . 2024-06-27 . www.totalregistration.net.