This Advanced Placement Chinese Language and Culture course follows criteria, designed by the College Board, equivalent to an intermediate-level college course in Chinese. The rigor of this course is consistent with colleges and universities and will prepare students for the Advanced Placement exam in May. Upon successful completion of the exam, students may receive college credit and will be well-prepared for advanced Chinese coursework. Additional details on this course from College Board can be found here: AP® Chinese Language and Culture.
In this course, students will explore six themes:
1. Family and Community
2. Personal and Public Identity
3. Beauty and Aesthetics
4. Science and Technology
5. Contemporary Life
6. Global Challenges
Students will develop their Chinese skills through three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. Each unit targets a primary theme (listed above) but also connects to additional recommended contexts for those themes. Teaching to multiple themes ensures a rich curriculum that will spiral, as the themes are revisited through a variety of lenses throughout the course. This allows students to experience the study of language and culture in a variety of authentic and engaging ways.
This course is a rigorous course taught mainly in Chinese that requires students to improve their proficiency across the three modes of communication. The course focuses on the integration of a wide variety of authentic resources from Chinese culture and history. Through these authentic texts, students gain meaningful linguistic and cultural growth and insight, leading to greater communication and interculturality. Using rich, advanced vocabulary and language structures students will build proficiency in all modes of communication toward the intermediate high to advanced low proficiency levels (ACTFL Performance Descriptors).
Students will be expected to enroll in My AP Classroom through their VHS Learning AP course and will be guided to complete review work in My AP Classroom throughout the year. My AP Classroom resources include AP Daily Videos and unit-based Personal Progress Checks, which include AP-style multiple choice and free response questions. Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement courses with a passing grade are expected to take the AP Exam.
Students register for AP exams through their local school or testing site as “Exam Only” students. AP exam scores will be reported to VHS Learning through My AP Classroom; exam results will not affect the student's VHS Learning grade or future enrollment in VHS Learning courses.
This AP® course has a required summer assignment. The summer assignment is a review of prerequisite content and critical concepts students must be comfortable with before beginning the course. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1 will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3.
Through a spiraled curriculum, students will develop their Chinese language abilities in eight specific skill categories. Development of those skills will take place in the context of six thematic areas: Family and Community; Personal and Public Identity; Beauty and Aesthetics; Science and Technology; Contemporary Life; and Global Challenges.
Per the College Board’s AP Chinese Language and Culture requirements, the Learning Objectives for each skill are as follows:
Skill Category 1: Comprehend Text
- 1.A Describe the literal meaning of the written, audio, audiovisual and/or visual text.
Skill Category 2: Make Connections
- 2.A Make connections among cultural and interdisciplinary information provided in texts.
Skill Category 3: Interpret Text
- 3.A Interpret the distinguishing features of a text.
- 3.B Interpret the meaning of a text.
Skill Category 4: Make Meanings
- 4.A Determine the meaning of familiar and unfamiliar words.
- 4.B Use words appropriate for a given context.
Skill Category 5: Speak to Others
- 5.A Understand and apply appropriate communication strategies in interpersonal speaking.
- 5.B Understand and apply appropriate and varied syntactical expressions in interpersonal speaking.
Skill Category 6: Write to Others
- 6.A Understand and apply appropriate communication strategies in interpersonal writing.
- 6.B Understand and apply appropriate and varied syntactical expressions in interpersonal writing.
- 6.C Understand and apply appropriate writing systems in interpersonal writing.
Skill Category 7: Present Orally
- 7.A Plan and research an issue or topic for presentational speaking.
- 7.B Use appropriate vocal and visual strategies to communicate an idea in
- presentational speaking.
- 7.C Use appropriate language and vocabulary for the intended audience in presentational speaking.
- 7.D Express a perspective with details and examples to illustrate an opinion or idea in presentational speaking.
Skill Category 8: Present in Writing
- 8.A Plan and research an issue or topic for presentational writing.
- 8.B Use appropriate writing strategies to communicate an idea in presentational
- writing.
- 8.C Understand and apply appropriate and varied syntactical expressions in presentational writing.
- 8.D Understand and apply appropriate writing systems in presentational writing.