APFIVE AP Chinese Exam Info
Download PDFThe AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam will test your ability to apply communication skills developed in the course, including interpreting different types of written and audio texts, writing to and speaking with others, and presenting your ideas in written and spoken Chinese. Throughout the exam, you’ll be asked to demonstrate your understanding of Chinese-speaking cultures.
This exam is administered on school-owned and -controlled devices via an exam application (not Bluebook). On exam day, you’ll read text on the screen, listen through a headset, type using the keyboard, and speak into a microphone.
Chinese text on the screen can be displayed in simplified characters or in traditional characters, and you may toggle between the two versions if necessary. When typing your responses in the Writing part of the exam, you may choose from the following three input methods: Pinyin Simplified, Pinyin Traditional, and Bopomofo. The display and input options will have no effect on your exam score.
AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam
This is the regularly scheduled date for the AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam.
Exam Components
Section IA: Multiple Choice Listening
This section consists of a variety of audio materials, including transportation announcements, voice messages, school conversations, radio reports, instructions, and dialogues. It is divided into 2 subsections:
- The first consists of rejoinders. You will listen to a series of brief conversations and after listening to each one, you will select the most logical next response in the conversation from the choices offered. (10-15 questions; 10 minutes; 10% of exam score)
- The second includes a range of listening selections. (15–20 questions; 10 minutes; 15% of exam score)
- Questions will test your ability to:
- Identify the main ideas and supporting details in the audio material
- Determine the meaning of a variety of vocabulary and deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words
- Decide the meaning of a text based on cultural and/or interdisciplinary information
- Infer implied meaning through context
Section IB: Multiple Choice Reading
This section consists of a variety of written materials (e.g., journalistic and literary texts, announcements, advertisements, signs, brochures, and posters). Questions will test your ability to:
- Identify the main ideas and supporting details in the written material
- Determine the meaning of a variety of vocabulary and deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words
- Decide the meaning of a text based on cultural and/or interdisciplinary information
- Infer implied meaning through context
Section IIA: Free Response Written
- Presentational Writing: Narrate a story suggested by a series of pictures (15 minutes; 15% of exam score)
- Interpersonal Writing: Read and answer an email message (15 minutes; 10% of exam score)
Section IIB: Free Response Spoken
- Interpersonal Speaking: Respond to a series of 6 thematically linked questions as part of a simulated conversation (4 minutes; 10% of exam score).
- Presentational Speaking: Deliver a presentation on a given aspect of Chinese culture. You’ll have 1 minute to read the prompt, 4 minutes to prepare, and 2 minutes to present (7 minutes; 15% of exam score).
Skills You'll Learn
Understanding Chinese when you hear it and read it
Holding conversations in real-life situations
Writing stories, letters, emails, essays, and other texts
Units
Unit 1 – Families in China
You’ll learn Chinese language skills in the context of studying family life and values in Chinese-speaking communities and explore contemporary beliefs and challenges that families face.
While engaging in activities related to these topics, you’ll practice skills such as:
- Understanding audio recordings (for example, a transportation announcement)
- Reading posters, public signs, and other texts
- Taking part in discussions
- Writing emails and notes
- Narrating stories based on a sequence of pictures
- Creating a short written and oral presentation
Unit 2 – Language and Culture in China
You’ll build your vocabulary and learn about how language and culture shape and reflect evolving ideas about identity in Chinese-speaking communities.
While engaging in activities related to these topics, you’ll practice skills such as:
- Understanding audio recordings (for example, a radio report)
- Reading journalistic articles and other texts
- Writing and responding to emails
- Holding conversations, including starting and ending them appropriately
- Narrating stories based on a sequence of pictures
- Giving a short oral presentation to explain ideas and opinions
Unit 3 – Beauty and Art in China
You’ll explore how ideas of beauty and art influence and reflect culture in Chinese-speaking communities.
While engaging in activities related to these topics, you’ll practice skills such as:
- Understanding audio recordings (for example, a school conversation)
- Reading emails, notes, and other texts
- Engaging in conversations and narratives based on pictures
- Understanding what a speaker or writer means and responding in a culturally appropriate manner
- Exchanging information, ideas, and opinions in discussions and written exchanges
- Identifying, comparing, and explaining how features of cultures in Chinese-speaking communities relate to ideas about beauty and aesthetics
Unit 4 – Science and Technology in China
You’ll examine how developments in science and technology affect and shape daily life in Chinese-speaking communities. You’ll use your growing language skills to help you interpret unfamiliar words and read and write more complicated texts.
While engaging in activities related to these topics, you’ll practice skills such as:
- Understanding audio recordings (for example, a voice message)
- Reading pen pal letters and other texts
- Exchanging information in conversations and written exchanges
- Writing emails, letters, and narratives using either simplified or traditional characters and with appropriate formality
- Creating written presentations with an introduction, development of topic, and conclusion
Unit 5 – Quality of Life in China
You’ll learn more about contemporary life in Chinese-speaking communities and how social status, cultural perspectives, and access to jobs and resources can make an impact on the quality of life.
While engaging in activities related to these topics, you’ll practice skills such as:
- Understanding audio recordings (for example, responses and replies to a statement or question)
- Reading short stories and other texts
- Applying what you’ve learned from working with real-life Chinese-language materials as you prepare for speaking and writing tasks
- Writing an email response using either simplified or traditional characters and with appropriate formality and format
- Using strategies in conversation such as paraphrasing and asking for clarification
- Discussing different cultural perspectives and using cultural information to prepare and deliver an organized cultural presentation
Unit 6 – Challenges in China
You’ll explore how complex global issues affect people’s lives in Chinese-speaking communities and engage in deeper discussions to suggest possible solutions.
While engaging in activities related to these topics, you’ll practice skills such as:
- Understanding audio recordings (for example, an advertisement)
- Reading brochures, advertisements, and other texts
- Carrying out conversations and interviews
- Getting information from sources to prepare and deliver an organized cultural presentation
- Giving and explaining your viewpoint with supporting details and elaboration
- Writing an email response providing suggestions with justifications
- Narrating stories based on a sequence of pictures