Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

ap chinese

When I was in high school, I took a number of Advanced Placement classes. Do well enough in the class, and then well enough on the standardized test at the end of the semester, and you can earn college credit. I earned enough credits through AP testing that I was able to start college as a sophomore, rather than as a freshman.

The College Board, which creates and administers these AP programs, announced this past week that it’s partnering with the Chinese government to create an AP Chinese curriculum/test. The College Board has a similar arrangement with the Italian government to create an AP Italian program. (Programs in Japanese and Russian are planned for the future.) It’s an interesting prospect. A story in the Washington Post cites some discomfort with other governments influencing curricula in U.S. schools, which also is understandable. (“China to Help Create Classes for U.S. Schools” - 12/06/03) But I’d argue that learning a language irrespective of its culture of origin is kind of useless. Developing these language programs in cooperation with their countries of origin likely makes them more reflective of those countries’ cultures and values, and thus makes trained speakers of those languages better equipped to use their language skills “in the field,” so to speak.

The New York Times had a story about the arrangement, too. (“College Placement Program Expands Language Offerings” - 12/06/03)

I thought it was interesting that the justification for the AP Chinese program was couched in economic/globalization terms, while the rationale for the AP Italian program was more about Italian cultural heritage in the United States. Nevermind the sizeable American Chinese population.

(As a side note, the College Board also administers the dreaded SAT test. The front page of their Web site includes an announcement about a “new” SAT test beginning in 2005. Among the changes: those maddening analogies are out, and written essays are in.)