On August 11, eChinese was honored to have Professor Jianhua Bai, Robert Oden Jr. Professor of Chinese at Kenyon College, join us for a special online webinar on “2027 AP Chinese Exam: What’s Changing—and What’s Staying the Same?” The webinar provided Chinese language educators with an in-depth look at the revised 2027 AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam and practical guidance for teaching and exam preparation in the new school year.

Nearly 450 people registered for the webinar. Throughout the event, participants actively asked questions, exchanged ideas, and shared their experiences in the chat, generating more than a hundred comments and interactions. We sincerely thank everyone who joined us and contributed to such an engaging and meaningful discussion!

✦ Expert Insights and Practical Guidance

Professor Bai previously served for many years as Chair of the AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam Development Committee and as Chief Reader for the AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam. He brings extensive academic and professional experience in Chinese language education, teacher training, and language assessment.

During the webinar, Professor Bai provided a detailed overview of the revised 2027 AP Chinese exam framework and requirements, explaining key changes in exam format, content, and skill expectations. At the same time, echoing the webinar’s theme of “What’s Changing—and What’s Staying the Same,” he emphasized an important point: while exam formats and tasks are changing, the fundamental language abilities students need remain the same.。

Under the revised exam framework, students still need to develop strong, integrated skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as the ability to understand information and communicate their ideas effectively in authentic contexts. Professor Bai also addressed participants’ questions about exam preparation, instructional planning, and new task types, offering practical suggestions for AP Chinese instruction in the coming school year.

✦ A Fully Redesigned eChinese AP Instructional Platform

With the changes to the 2027 AP Chinese exam, a fully redesigned version of the eChinese AP instructional platform is coming soon! During the second half of the webinar, the eChinese team introduced major updates to the platform for the upcoming school year.

Rather than simply adding new question types and more practice questions, the redesigned platform focuses on systematically connecting instruction, practice, and exam preparation with the revised course framework (Course and Exam Description / CED) and AP Chinese Skills.

Key updates include:

As teachers prepare for the changes coming to the 2027 AP Chinese exam, many may be wondering: Where should I begin? How should I design my lessons? How can I best prepare my students?

Through this major platform update, eChinese hopes to provide educators with a comprehensive set of practical, classroom-ready resources to support AP Chinese instruction and help teachers and students confidently navigate both what is changing and what remains essential in the new AP Chinese exam.

Thank you to all our longtime and new subscribers for your continued support of eChinese!

In the new school year, let’s move forward together—better prepared and ready for AP Chinese teaching and the 2027 exam!