Advanced Placement Spanish Language - The Exam

The Exam

As of May 2007, the exam is divided into two sections with several parts. Section one contains sections of listening comprehension and reading comprehension, in which the student must listen to interviews, broadcasts, or other spoken materials, or read several journalistic or literary passages and then answer multiple-choice questions about them. The reading passages may include a visual component or a web page.

Section two contains a portion devoted to grammar and a portion devoted to speaking skills. In the grammar section, the student is given a paragraph or sentence in which some words are missing, and must insert the correct verb form, adjective, pronoun, or participle from a given root word. However, as of the 2009 test administration, the entire grammar portion has been removed to conserve time. The weight of the interpersonal writing section has been increased to 10% to compensate for this change. Students must also write an informal essay, such as a letter. A formal writing component takes the shape of a document-based question. Students must use documents as well as listen to a recording to give a written answer to the question. In the informal speaking section, students are expected to interact to a recorded dialogue, during which they have 20 seconds to answer each section. Students are also asked to give a formal oral presentation over a written document and a recording which they have 2 minutes to answer.

The test was approximately three hours in duration, but as a time-saving measure, the instructions for the 2008 exam will be read only in Spanish as an attempt to decrease time to 2½ hours. (Printed instructions in both English and Spanish will continue to be provided.)

Note: Test centers often use portable stereo systems for audio sections and tape recorder devices to record test taker responses for the dialogue and oral presentation sections. Other sites may rely on digital recording and submission of speaking samples.