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The AP Linguistics initiative

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Richard Larson ,
Kristin Denham  and
Anne Lobeck
Richard Larson*
Affiliation:
Stony Brook University
Kristin Denham*
Affiliation:
Western Washington University
Anne Lobeck*
Affiliation:
Stony Brook University
*
Larson, Department of Linguistics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4376, richard.larson@stonybrook.edu
Denham & Lobeck, Department of Linguistics, 516 High Street, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, kristin.denham@wwu.edu, anne.lobeck@wwu.edu
Denham & Lobeck, Department of Linguistics, 516 High Street, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, kristin.denham@wwu.edu, anne.lobeck@wwu.edu
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Abstract

In May 2016, the Executive Committee of the Linguistic Society of America approved formation of an ad hoc AP Linguistics Committee (APLC) to study the creation of an Advanced Placement Linguistics course and examination for US high schools. In January 2017, the APLC convened and voted to proceed with the drafting of a formal AP Linguistics proposal to the College Board and to take whatever preparatory steps were required in that process. In this paper we sketch the AP Linguistics initiative, describing the potential benefits of linguistics for American high schools and their students, the attractions of high school linguistics for the field of Linguistics itself, the motivations for an AP Linguistics course in this context, the formal requirements of an AP Linguistics proposal to the College Board, and the steps being taken to meet those requirements.

Keywords

linguisticseducationhigh schoolAPCollege Board

Information

Type
Commentary
Information
Language , Volume 95 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. e381 - e393
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Linguistic Society of America

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