AP 中文和中国文化 Chinese Language and Culture

AP 中国文化和中国文化 Chinese Language and Culture

AP Chinese Language and Culture

The AP Chinese Language and Culture course and exam represent a significant College Board initiative to advance multiculturalism and multilingualism in secondary education.

“Through our world language programs, the College Board aims to enhance secondary school curricula,” noted College Board President
Gaston Caperton. “Current global events underscore just how vital it is for our young people to gain a broad understanding of other languages and cultures.”

This AP course mirrors the content of a fourth-semester (or equivalent) college Mandarin Chinese course. At this level, which immerses students more deeply in the language and culture of Chinese-speaking communities, learners have typically completed around 250 hours of college-level instruction. The coursework challenges students with tasks at the Intermediate to Advanced levels, with the expectation that they will reach proficiencies across the Intermediate range—and occasionally surpass it—as defined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines.

The AP Chinese Language and Culture course helps students demonstrate their proficiency across three communicative modes—Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational—and five goal areas: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities, as detailed in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. The course is designed to offer ongoing, varied practice that strengthens all language skills, set within a rich cultural framework that reflects the depth of Chinese language and culture. Teachers design and deliver instruction that keeps language proficiency at the core while weaving in age- and level-appropriate cultural content. They also use frequent formative assessments to track students’ growing abilities in context. All instructional materials and activities are thoughtfully adapted from authentic sources to meet both linguistic and cultural objectives.