{"id":615,"date":"2019-02-26T05:11:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T05:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pandatree.com\/blog\/?p=615"},"modified":"2021-04-03T02:52:09","modified_gmt":"2021-04-03T02:52:09","slug":"tips-for-acing-the-ap-spanish-language-and-culture-exam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dashboard.pandatree.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/26\/tips-for-acing-the-ap-spanish-language-and-culture-exam\/","title":{"rendered":"PandaTree’s Top Tips for Acing the AP\u00ae Spanish Language and Culture Exam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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 Note: AP\u00ae, Advanced Placement\u00ae and College Board\u00ae are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this website.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s May 7, 2019 and you\u2019re sitting in your school\u2019s gymnasium with desks spaced six feet apart. You\u2019ve got a school issued laptop or iPad on your desk, with a headset and microphone, as well as a pencil, eraser, and exam booklet. At 8:00 am sharp the exam proctor announces you may open your exam booklet. Are you ready for the Advanced Placement\u00ae Spanish Language and Culture exam? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AP\u00ae Spanish Language and Cultural\nexam is the most popular AP world language exam, with good reason \u2014 there are\nsix million students studying Spanish in school in the United States. With\nabout 50 million Spanish-speakers, the U.S. is the second largest Spanish\nspeaking population in the world after Mexico. Speaking Spanish is great for\npeople who love to travel \u2013 it\u2019s the official language in 20 countries. And\nlearning Spanish can help students understand another culture, boost career\nopportunities, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, we\u2019ll demystify the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam, give an overview of AP exams, take a thorough look at each section of the AP Spanish exam and offer plenty of tips for how to prepare for the AP Spanish exam so you can get your best grade. Along the way, we’ll share expert advice from PandaTree tutors and advisors who have helped The College Board develop and grade AP exams in the past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

A Primer on\nAP Exams <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What are AP\nexams, and why should students take them?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Advanced Placement (AP) Exams are standardized exams developed by The College Board (the educational body which also administers the SAT test). Administered in the U.S. and Canada, AP exams test a student\u2019s knowledge of college-level curricula. High school AP courses are designed to prepared students for the AP exam towards the end of the year and the exam is a standardized way to confirm a student\u2019s mastery of a given subject. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why should a\nstudent take AP courses and AP exams?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

High school students should consider taking AP courses and exams for two key reasons: first, admissions boards of competitive universities like to see high AP scores on student transcripts \u2014 it demonstrates that a student is prepared to succeed in college-level academic courses. Second, high scores on AP exams often count as college credit, depending on the university\u2019s policies. In addition, 35 states now participate in the Seal of Biliteracy<\/a> program and award students special recognition on their high school diploma. Criteria for qualifying for the seal differ by state, but often a high score on an AP test can qualify the students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are AP\ntests scored? Who grades them? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

All AP test takers are scored on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning \u201cno recommendation\u201d and 5 being \u201cextremely well qualified\u201d \u2014 the highest score a student can earn. AP tests are scored by graders, called \u201creaders\u201d hired by the College Board, in order to ensure that the grades are consistently calibrated.  AP readers are selected from high school AP teachers and college instructors and they attend \u201cAP Reading Week\u201d in June, when all AP exams are graded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intro to the\nAP Spanish Language and Culture Exam <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How popular\nis the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The AP Spanish Language and Culture\nexam is the most popular AP world language exam \u2014 more than 180,000\nstudents<\/a> took the AP Spanish exam in 2018, a 33%\nincrease from 2014. In 2018, exam-takers included 59,000 Standard Students, who\nself-report that they do not speak or hear Spanish at home regularly, and have\nnot lived in a Spanish-speaking country for a month or more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: The College Board<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When is the\nAP Spanish Language and Culture test administered? How much does the exam cost?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Most AP exams are administered during a two-week stretch in May each year, after a high school student has completed two semesters of AP course study in the subject. This year, the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam falls on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at 8:00 am local time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, AP exams cost $94 per test.\nStudents and their families may qualify for AP exam fee reductions and federal\nand state assistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the\nAP Spanish Language and Culture exam test for? How long is it? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The AP Spanish test will test\nstudents\u2019 proficiencies in the interpersonal, interpretive and presentational\nmodes of communication \u2014 reading, writing, and speaking. Students have\napproximately 3 hours minutes to complete the AP Spanish Language and Culture\nexam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is the AP\nSpanish exam administered? How do test takers submit spoken responses?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The first and part of the second\nportion of the AP Spanish exam is administered traditionally \u2014 students answer\nwith multiple choice selection or written responses. In the last portion\nhowever, students are asked to record spoken answers to given prompts through\nAP\u2019s Digital Audio Submission (DAS) portal. The portal is accessed through\nschool-provided computers or recording devices, and most recently, a Digital\nAudio Capture (DAC) app has been made available for Apple iPad tablets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the\ncomponents of the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The AP Spanish test consists of 4\ndistinct portions which cover skills in listening, reading, writing and\nspeaking. The exam is approximately 3 hours long and includes a 95-minute\nmultiple choice section and an 85-minute free-response section. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: The College Board <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Well Do\nStudents Do on the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Each year, the AP College Board releases score distributions<\/a>, displayed as the Total Group and the Standard Group. While the Total Group reflects the score distribution for all test-takers, the Standard Group does not<\/strong> include students who hear or speak Spanish at home, or who have lived for one month or more in a country where Spanish is the native language. Unless your student regularly hears Spanish at home, the Standard Group is the best comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data from the College Board show\nthat amongst the Total Group 23.7% of exam takers scored a 5 in 2018. Amongst\nthe Standard Group, 16.5% of students scored a 5. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scoring a 5 on the exam is similar to earning an\nA on a college-level Spanish course or Advanced level proficiency on the\nAmerican Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency\nscale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Data Source: The College Board<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Data Source: The College Board<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The College Board also shares data on\nthe scores for the four Free Response questions in Section 2 (but not the\nMultiple Choice questions in Section 1.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data shows that amongst the Total\nGroup, scores were usually slightly lower for the presentational tasks versus\nthe interpersonal tasks.  In 3 out of 4\nyears, presentational writing (the persuasive essay) scored lower than\ninterpersonal writing (responding to an email). In all years, presentational\nspeaking (cultural comparison presentation) scored lower than the interpersonal\nspeaking (conversation) \u2013 which had the highest scores of all the free response\nquestions in each year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Standard Group, which excludes<\/strong> students who hear or speak Spanish at home, or who have lived for one month or more in a country where Spanish is the native language \u2013 scores tended to be slightly lower than for the Total Group, and the scores for each of the four questions were similar. The exception was the 2017 Presentational Speaking question, which scored significantly lower than other questions. The question that year asked how the media affected the development of people\u2019s personal image. Some students appear to have misinterpreted the phrase \u201clos medios de comunicaci\u00f3n\u201d as modes of communication rather than the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Data Source: The College Board<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Data Source: The College Board<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep Dive on Each\nQuestion Type<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Being ready for the AP Spanish exam\nincludes understanding what each different section of the exam is looking for.\nHere we\u2019ll go into detail about each question type, and offer tips for\nmaximizing your score. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

a. Section 1 Multiple Choice \u2013 Part A Interpretive Communication of Print Texts<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Question\ninstructions:<\/strong> According to the College Board: \u201cYou will read several\nselections. Each selection is accompanied by a number of questions. For each\nquestion, choose the response that is best according to the selection and mark\nyour answer on your answer sheet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to expect: <\/strong>You\u2019ll be\nprovided multiple authentic print texts \u2014 which could be a journalistic or\nliterary text, announcement, public service announcement, advertisement,\nletter, map or table. You\u2019ll read through the print text and then answer a\ntotal 30 questions about the print texts. Past topics have included leisure\nactivities, demographics and population growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to\nmaximize your score: <\/strong>The multiple choice section is\nstraightforward in this regard \u2014 exam-takers should read carefully, and choose\nwhichever answer seems most appropriate to them, and move on. Don\u2019t gets hung\nup on a question. Instead, move on, completing the rest of the questions, and\ncome back to any you\u2019re stuck on. Points are not subtracted for incorrect\nanswers, so it is better to guess than leave a question unanswered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

b. Section 1 Multiple Choice \u2013 Interpretive Communication of Print Text and Audio Texts<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Question instructions:<\/strong> According to the College Board: \u201cYou will listen to several audio selections. The first two audio selections are accompanied by reading selections. When there is a reading selection, you will have a designated amount of time to read it. For each audio selection, first you will have a designated amount of time to read a preview of the selection as well as to skim the questions that you will be asked. Each selection will be played twice. As you listen to each selection, you may take notes. Your notes will not be scored. After listening to each selection the first time, you will have 1 minute to begin answering the questions; after listening to each selection the second time, you will have 15 seconds per question to finish answering the questions. For each question, choose the response that is best according to the audio and\/or reading selection and mark your answer on your answer sheet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to\nexpect <\/strong>This section is similar to the previous section except with an\nadded listening component. Each audio selection will be played twice \u2014 take\nadvantage of the repetition. The\ntwo parts of this section are an article and audio on the same topic followed\nby a chart and conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to maximize your score: <\/strong>It\u2019s crucial to have practiced listening to and interpreting authentic Spanish texts and audio selections in order to do well on this section \u2014 comb through previous exams and practice, practice, practice. Remember that you will hear each audio selection twice: feel free to take notes and spend the second listening trying to hone in on elements you may have missed from the first just don\u2019t let note taking cause you to miss the main ideas. Prepare for this by regularly listening to and reading Spanish-language newspapers, news reports, and podcasts. BBC Mundo and El Pa\u00eds are great options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

c. Section 2, Part A, Interpersonal Writing: Email Reply<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Question\ninstructions:<\/strong> According to the College Board: \u201cYou will write a reply to an\nemail message. You have 15 minutes to read the message and write your reply.\nYour reply should include a greeting and a closing and should respond to all\nthe questions and requests in the message. In your reply, you should also ask\nfor more details about something mentioned in the message. Also, you should use\na formal form of address.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to expect: <\/strong>You\u2019ll write as though you are the recipient of the email provided to you, and be asked to exchange information, opinions and ideas. understand and use a wide variety of vocabulary including idiomatic and culturally appropriate expressions on a variety of topics. Past topics have included designing an app, applying for a long-distance education, sponsoring an animal shelter, applying for a scholarship to study in a different country, and being part of an environmental group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n