The AP Linguistics initiative

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.