This document provides an overview of the AP Chinese exam and course. It discusses the AP Chinese Development Committee members and their roles. It describes the goals and guiding principles of the AP Chinese course, which aims to provide an immersive language and culture learning experience for students. Test volume trends from 2007-2011 are presented, showing steady growth in Chinese exam takers. Scoring guidelines for the speaking and writing sections are outlined. Analysis of 2011 exam results shows areas of strength and challenges.

1. AP Chinese Updates
Cecilia Chang
Williams College

2. 今日主题
 AP 中文的课程简介
 AP 中文考试及评分
 2011 AP 中文测试结果分析
 Best Practices: Working with Authentic
Materials

3. AP Chinese Development Committee
 Lea Ekerberg (Co-Chair)
- Sidwell Friends School
 Hong-gan Jin (Co-Chair)
- Hamilton College
 Cecilia Chang
- Williams College
 Jerome Packard
- University of Illinois
 Henry Ruan
Jianhua Bai (College Board Advisor) - Lower East Side Preparatory High School
- Kenyon College  Xian Wu
- Northview High School
Richard Chi (Chief Reader)
- University of Utah

4. AP Course and Exam
 “… is a collaborative effort between motivated
students; dedicated teachers; and committed high
schools, colleges and universities.
 AP ( 大学预修课程及测试 ): connecting students
to college success
 经考试取得 AP 课程学分的中学生，可直接获
得大学的学分，或抵免大学的外语必修课。
 各大学对 AP 学分的认定有不同的标准。

5. AP and College Success (CB’s 08
Report)
 75% high school graduates admitted to higher
institutions, but there is a high percentage of
dropouts. 50% of them receive remedial courses.
 Students who take the AP courses and exams
(especially those with a score of 3 or above) more
likely to succeed in college/university.

6. AP 中文的研發及推廣
 2004 年八月大学理事会组建 15 人工作组策划 AP 中文的
“蓝图”。
 2005 年 AP 中文研发小组成立。
 2006 年大学理事会在美国各地举办各类培训班。
 2006 年春公布 AP 中文课程大纲、教师手册（包括课程
简介、测试样题、课程大纲样本等相关信息）及网上资
源（练习手册、网站等）
 2006 年秋天在美国中学正式开课。
 2007 年 5 月首次举行 AP 中文课程统一考试。

7. AP 中文课程
 AP 中文即“大学中文预修课程”
 AP 中文课程与考试是以 21 世纪标准为核心理念与基
本框架。
 其难度相当于大学第四学期的课程（达到Intermediate
水平）。
 取得 AP 课程学分的中学生，可直接获得大学的中文
学分，或抵免大学的外语必修课。
 各个大学对 AP 学分的认定有不同的标准。

8. AP 中文課程的指導思想
 提供學生沉浸在語言與文化中的學習經驗
 著重三種溝通模式的練習
(interpersonal, interpretive, presentational)
 接觸大量真實與地道的語言與文化實料
 介紹恰當的當代文化主題
 提高學生語用能力與文化知識來應對生活
中的問題

9. Exam Volume Trends
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
3,261 4,311 5,100 6,388 7,970
Chinese
NA +32% +18% +25% +25%
21,709 20,675 21,029 21,357 20,637
French
+1% -5% 2% +2% -3%
5,397 5,259 5,001 5,389 5,232
German
+5% -3% -5% +8% -3%
1,667 1,538 2,085 2,051 2,226
Japanese
NA -8% 36% -2% +9%
Latin: 4,929 4,847 4,295 6,523 6,044
Vergil +2% -2% -11% +52% -7%
Spanish 101,199 101,584 110,723 118,332 122,925
Language 0% 0% +9% +7% +4%
Spanish 15,321 15,971 16,633 17,136 18,103
Literature +7% +4% +4% +3% +6%

10. AP Chinese Scoring Guidelines
Task Completion:
response to the prompt
text type
organization
Delivery:
pace
pronunciation
Register
Language Control:
vocabulary
grammatical structures

11. AP Chinese Scoring Guidelines
Score Definition
6 Excellent: Demonstrates excellence
5 Very Good: suggests excellence
4 Good: Demonstrates competence
3 Adequate: Suggests competence
2 Weak: Suggests lack of competence
1 Very Weak: Demonstrates lack of
0 competence
Contains nothing that earns credit

12. Speaking Performance Characteristics:
Task Completion
6: Thorough and appropriate response with elaboration and detail;
smoothly connected sentences
5: Thorough and appropriate response; may include elaboration and
detail; connected sentences
4: Appropriate response; loosely connected sentences
3: Basic but appropriate response; disconnected sentences
2: Appropriate but incomplete response; fragmented sentences
1: Marginal or minimal response; disjointed sentences or isolated words
0: Clearly does not respond to the prompt; not in Chinese; blank

13. Speaking Performance Characteristics:
Delivery
6: Natural pace and intonation, with minimal hesitation or repetition; accurate
pronunciation (including tones) with minimal errors; consistent use of register
appropriate to situation
5: Smooth pace and intonation, with occasional hesitation and repetition;
occasional errors in pronunciation (including tones); consistent use of register
appropriate to situation except for occasional lapses
4: Generally consistent pace and intonation, with intermittent hesitation and
repetition; may have several errors in pronunciation (including tones), which
do not necessitate special listener effort; may include several lapses in
otherwise consistent use of register appropriate to situation

14. Speaking Performance Characteristics:
Delivery (cont.)
3: Inconsistent pace and intonation, w ith hesitation and repetition that interfere
with comprehension; errors in pronunciation (including tones) sometimes
necessitate special listener effort; use of register appropriate to situation is
inconsistent or includes many errors
2: Labored pace and intonation, with frequent hesitation and repetition; frequent
errors in pronunciation (including tones) necessitate constant listener effort;
frequent use of register inappropriate to situation
1: Very labored pace and intonation, with constant hesitation and repetition;
frequent errors in pronunciation (including tones) necessitate intense listener
effort; constant use of register inappropriate to situation

15. Speaking Performance Characteristics:
Language Use
6: Rich and appropriate vocabulary and idioms, with minimal errors; wide range
of grammatical structures, with minimal errors
5: Appropriate vocabulary and idioms, with sporadic errors; variety of
grammatical structures, with sporadic errors
4: Mostly appropriate vocabulary and idioms, with errors that do not generally
obscure meaning; mostly appropriate grammatical structures, with errors that
do not generally obscure meaning

16. Speaking Performance Characteristics:
Language Use (cont.)
3: Limited appropriate vocabulary and idioms, with frequent errors that
sometimes obscure meaning; intermittent interference from another language;
mostly simple grammatical structures, with frequent errors that sometimes
obscure meaning
2: Minimal appropriate vocabulary, with frequent errors that obscure meaning;
repeated interference from another language; limited grammatical structures,
with frequent errors that obscure meaning
1: Insufficient, inappropriate vocabulary, with frequent errors that significantly
obscure meaning; constant interference from another language; little or no
control of grammatical structures, with frequent errors that significantly
obscure meaning

19. Free Response: Part B Speaking
CONVERSATION
• 6 question; 5 minutes
• Test interpersonal communication
• Participating in conversation by responding appropriately
• 你好！请先谈谈，你为什么有兴趣来帮助我们准备中国文化周的活动？
• 在文化周中，我们想组织一次比赛。你觉得什么比赛最有意思？为什么
？
• 我们也要安排一次歌舞表演。你认为应该在哪里举办？说说你的理由。
• 除了这些以外，你觉得我们还可以组织什么活动？为什么？
• 你觉得怎么样才能吸引更多的人来参加文化周的活动？
• 你希望来参加这些活动的人对中国文化会有什么新的认识或了解？

20. Cultural Presentation
Choose ONE Chinese leisure activity (martial arts, Chinese chess, karaoke,
table tennis, etc.). In your presentation, describe this leisure activity and
explain its significance.
You have four minutes to prepare your presentation.
You have two minutes to record your presentation.

21. Score Distributions
Total Group & Standard Group
“Standard Group of Test Takers” refers to students who generally
receive most of their foreign language training in U.S. schools.
They did not indicate on their answer sheet that they regularly
speak or hear the foreign language of the examination, or that they
have lived for one month or more in a country where the language
is spoken.

22. 2011 Grade Distributions
Question Mean Scores Standard Points
Deviation Possible
Total Standard Total Standard
WRITING Group Group Group Group
Presentational 4.08 3.35 1.19 1.00 6
Story Narration
Interpersonal 4.58 3.35 1.47 1.48 6
Email Response
SPEAKING
Interpersonal 26.41 19.17 6.56 8.21 36
Conversation
Presentational
Cultural 4.78 3.91 1.18 1.31 6
Presentation

23. 2010, 2011 Story Narration
Mean Scores

24. 2010, 2011 Email Response
Mean Scores
6 5.06
4.58 4.28
5
3.35
4
3
2
1
0
2010 TG 2011 TG 2010 SG 2011 SG

25. 2010, 2011 Conversations
Mean Scores

26. 2010, 2011 Cultural Presentation
Mean Scores
4.75

27. Challenging Areas in 2011 AP Chinese Test
Common Errors
Story Narration:
• The overriding problem was that students gave un-even
attention to the four pictures.
• Some students skipped picture #4.

28. Challenging Areas in 2011 AP Chinese Test
Common Errors
Email Responses:
• Many students missed part of the question: 要做好
一個口頭報告，要注意哪些事項？ Some students
didn't elaborate on 为什么你觉得这个题目很好 .
• Too many typos: 因该（应该） , 应为（因为） ,
清除（清楚） , 将一将（讲一讲） , 专悲（准备） ,
先（选） , 在建（再见） , 提（题） , 那些（哪
些） .
• Unclear or illogical progression of ideas.

29. Challenging Areas in 2011 AP Chinese Test
Common Errors
Conversation:
• Leaving out important detail information, such as not pointing
out a clear location for the 歌舞表演地點 .
• Being confused about the difference between two words, such
as 比賽 “ competition” and 表演 “ performance.”
• Having difficulty defining 文化周 “ Culture Week” and
mentioned as activities for the Culture Week "you can travel to
China and visit Beijing, Great Wall and ..." and "you can go and
visit Tibet..."

30. Challenging Areas in 2011 AP Chinese Test
Common Errors
Cultural Presentation:
• Not enough elaborations, missing out on details or
important aspect, such as ‘significance’.
• Language interference from English: ‘good time’/ 好時間
; wrong word order—e.g., “ 唱歌在那裏跟你的家人 .
• Insufficient vocabulary was a major concern.

31. Challenging Areas in 2011 AP Chinese Test
Recommendations for Better Performance
• Read the instructions carefully and make sure all aspects of the
questions were addressed.
• Pay equal attention to the information presented by the
pictures.
• Address the content directly.
• Do not inject irrelevant information into the descriptions.
• Write a coherent story encompassing all the information
depicted by the pictures.

32. Challenging Areas in 2011 AP Chinese Test
Recommendations for Better Performance
• Practice using different words and expressions that have
similar meanings.
• Guide the students to practice organizing information
coherently and logically using discourse devices.
• Work on listening comprehension.
• Work on accuracy of pronunciation.

33. AP 最新資訊之網址
 http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/chinese
 Resources on AP Central
 Professional Development

34. Best Practices: Working with
Authentic Materials
Lea Ekeberg
Sidwell Friends School

35. Authentic Materials in the AP
Course
 Materials: Teachers “also make use of level-appropriate
authentic materials designed for native speakers, including
newspapers, fiction and nonfiction books, plays, poetry, films,
and Chinese educational system textbooks .”
 Assessment: “Sample reading assessments include timed
reading tests with selected-response questions that assess
students’ ability to understand the main points of lengthy
texts adapted from authentic sources.”
*From the AP Chinese Language and Culture Course Description

36. Two Scaffolding Techniques for
Authentic Materials
 Create a story to pre-teach key vocabulary
and structures from a song, text, or video
《改变自己》王力宏
《听妈妈的话》周杰伦
 Create an embedded reading f0r a lengthy
text
《淘气包马小跳系列》

37. Choosing Key Terms from 《该变自己》
改变 发型
差别 镜子
大有不同 小气
画龙点睛 十分
烦
情绪
大声尖叫

38. 发型
fàxíng
发型
发型 fàxíng
fàxíng
发型
fàxíng

39. 烦
fán
镜子 情绪不好
jìngzi qíngxù bù
hǎ o

40. 改变发型
gǎ ibiàn
fàxíng

41. $$
理发店
lǐ fàdiàn 小气
xiǎ oqì

42. 理发
lǐ fà
十分紧张
shífēn jǐ nzhāng

43. 大声尖叫 烦
RAWRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR dàshēng fán
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR jiānjiào
RRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
!! 情绪不好
qíngxù bù
hǎ o
镜子
jìngzi

44. 剪刀
jiǎ ndāo

46. 有很大的差别
！ 大有不同！
yǒ u hěn dà dà yǒ u
de chābié! bùtóng!

47. 是画龙点睛！
shì
huàlóngdiǎ njīng!

48. Embedded Readings
 An embedded reading is a series of versions of one
reading. The versions are of increasing difficulty,
designed to prepare students to comprehend the final
version.
 Embedded readings were co-created by two TPRS
teachers: Spanish teacher Laurie Clarcq (
http://blog.heartsforteaching.com/) and Russian teacher
Michele Whaley http://mjtprs.wordpress.com/).

49. Creating an Embedded Reading
 Embedded readings can be created from top to bottom, or
bottom to top.
 The first reading is a very basic outline. It should be
easily comprehensible to everyone.
 Each succeeding version has more detailed information,
but also contains all previous versions in it.
 The previous versions make the final version
comprehensible to all.
 The success of the embedded reading depends on
comprehensibility.

50. Creating an Embedded Reading
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3 Version 4

51. Sample Embedded Reading Version
1
花木兰想买苹果。
她去市场。
她买了十个包子。

52. Sample Embedded Reading Version
2
有一天，花木兰很饿，所以她想买苹果。
她和功夫熊猫一起去超级市场。
功夫熊猫看见包子。
花木兰就买了十个包子。

53. Sample Embedded Reading Version 3
有一天，花木兰很饿，所以她想买苹果。
她给她的好朋友功夫熊猫打电话。功夫熊猫
也想去。
中午十二点，花木兰和功夫熊猫一起走路去
超级市场。
找到苹果以前，功夫熊猫看见包子，说他想
先买。他拿了十个，然后发现他的钱不够。
花木兰就给他的朋友买了十个包子。

54. Extract Version 1
星期六的早上，马小跳说：“今天我是爸爸，
你是儿子！”
马天笑先生马上说：“爸爸，你儿子饿了！”
马小跳去做早饭。

55. Extract Version 2
星期六的早上，马小跳还在床上，马天笑先
生就来叫他起来做作业。
马小跳说：“今天我是爸爸，你是儿子！”
马天笑先生马上说：“爸爸，你儿子饿了！”
“ 爸爸”马小跳起了床，问“儿子”马天笑先生想
吃什么？
“鸡蛋和面包片。”
马小跳去做早饭。

56. Extract Version 3
星期六的早上，马小跳还在床上，马天笑先生就来叫他起来做作业。
马小跳都不打开眼睛：“今天我是爸爸，你是儿子！”
马天笑先生马上改口叫马小跳“爸爸”。
“ 爸爸，你儿子肚子饿了，你管不管？”
“ 爸爸”马小跳起了床，问“儿子”马天笑先生想吃什么？
“ 牛奶，鸡蛋，火腿肠，黄瓜片，面包片。”
“ 爸爸”马小跳听着就觉得烦。他说：“你吃这么多，能不能少吃一点？”
“ 儿子”马天笑先生说，“你怕麻烦，就不让你儿子吃饱肚子吗？”
这样的爸爸一定是个狠心的坏爸爸。马小跳可不想做狠心的坏爸爸，他去做早
饭。

57. Extract Version 4
星期六的早上，马小跳还赖在床上，马天笑先生就来掀他的被子。
“ 马小跳，快起来做作业！”
马小跳眼睛都不睁：“今天我是爸爸，你是儿子，哪有儿子管老子的？”
马天笑先生马上改口叫马小跳“爸爸”。
“ 爸爸，你儿子肚子饿了，你管不管？”
“ 爸爸”马小跳翻身起床，虽然他还想再睡一会儿，可当爸爸的总不能让儿子饿肚子吧？
“ 爸爸”马小跳起了床，一边打哈欠，一边问“儿子”马天笑先生想吃什么？
“ 牛奶，鸡蛋，火腿肠，黄瓜片，面包片。”“儿子”马天笑先生不厌其烦，“鸡蛋要煎得嫩嫩的。”
“ 爸爸”马小跳听着就觉得烦。他说：“你吃这么多，能不能少吃一点？”
“ 一样也不能少吃。”“儿子”马天笑先生说，“难道你怕麻烦，就不让你儿子吃饱肚子吗？”
如果怕麻烦就不让儿子吃饱肚子，这样的爸爸一定是个狠心的坏爸爸。马小跳可不想做狠心的坏爸爸，他给马天笑先生
倒上一杯牛奶，把面包片放进烤面包的机器里，开始有两片烤煳了，后来的两片烤得正是火候，接着又切火腿肠，
又切黄瓜。

58. Choosing Authentic Materials
 Difficulty – choose materials where the difficulty level
is a little above that of your strongest students.
 INTEREST – choose materials that are COMPELLING
to your students.

59. Sources for Authentic Materials
 Songs
 对面的女孩、朋友、三年二班、听妈妈的话、改变自己、宝贝、没时间、
老鼠爱大米、 Super Girl 、 Super Star
 Chinese children’s literature
 淘气包马小跳、郑渊洁童话
 American children’s literature
 The Berenstein Bears, Curious George, Goodnight Moon
 Chinese blogs
 http://www.westchinastory.com/
 On-line advice
 http://zhidao.baidu.com/
 TV series
 快乐汉语

60. Sources for Supplementary Reading
Materials
 www.chinesestoriesplatform.com
 Chinese Text Sampler
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dporter/sampler/sampler.ht
 Chinese Voices http://www.clavisinica.com/voices.html
 Read Chinese! http://readchinese.nflc.org/
 The Chinese Reading World
http://faculty.virginia.edu/cll/chinese_reading/

61. THE END.
謝謝！
Cecilia Chang: Cecilia.Chang@williams.edu
Lea Ekeberg: EkebergL@sidwell.edu
Session Evaluation Form
Conference: NCLC
Date: 4/14/12
Session Title: AP Chinese Updates
Presenters: Cecilia Chang and Lea Ekeberg