Put your exploration of Spanish to the test—and gain some college credit in
the process—with the AP Spanish Language Exam. The exam evaluates your
understanding of written and spoken Spanish and your ability to speak and write
in correct and idiomatic Spanish.

About the Exam

The exam, which lasts about three hours, includes multiple-choice and
free-response sections. During the multiple-choice section, you'll demonstrate
your listening and reading comprehension skills. The free-response sections test
your productive skills of speaking and writing, and specifically your ability to
integrate language skills in the interpretive, interpersonal and presentational
modes of communication.

All the directions printed inside the exam books are in both English and
Spanish. Remember to respond only in Spanish. You may not use dictionaries or
other reference works during the exam.

Since recording equipment is used during the test, you need to make sure
you're familiar with the equipment before the test date. Ask your teacher to
prepare a trial run of the equipment and procedures used during the test.

Section I: Multiple-Choice

The multiple-choice section tests two skills: listening and reading:

Listening
The listening portion begins with several short dialogues
and narratives. For these exercises, the questions are spoken on the master
recording but not printed in the exam book, while the answer choices are printed
but not spoken.

The listening part continues with two longer selections that may be
interviews, cultural communications, broadcasts, or other appropriate spoken
materials. You are encouraged to take notes during this part of the exam and are
given writing space for that purpose. Your notes will not affect your scores.
You can see the printed multiple-choice questions while you listen; the
questions for the longer selections are not spoken on the master recording; they
are printed in the test booklet.

The oral stimuli for the listening portion of the exam may be authentic,
unabridged sources or rerecorded versions.

Reading
The reading part comprises several passages, each followed
by comprehension questions. Passages typically are prose fiction, journalistic
articles, or essays. Some of the written texts may include a visual component or
a Web page. Students are asked to identify the main points and significant
details and make inferences and predictions from the written texts. Some
questions may require making cultural inferences or inserting an additional
sentence in the appropriate place in the reading passage.

Unlike other multiple-choice tests, random guessing can hurt your final
score. While you don't lose anything for leaving a question blank, one third of
a point is subtracted for each incorrect answer on the test. But if you have
some knowledge of the question and can eliminate one or more answers, it's
usually to your advantage to choose what you believe is the best answer from the
remaining choices.

Section II: Free-Response

Writing
There are two types of questions on the writing
portion:

• The first exercise is a simulated interpersonal writing task. This task
  consists of one question that will ask you to write an e-mail message, a letter
  or a postcard, for example. You’ll have 10 minutes to read the question and
  write your response.
  
• The final, formal essay writing exercise is a document-based question that
  integrates listening, reading, and speaking skills (an example of the
  interpretive and presentational modes of communication). You will read documents
  (7 minutes), listen to a related audio source (approx. 3 minutes), plan your
  response (5 minutes), and then write your essay in response to the written
  prompt (40 minutes). All sources, both written and aural, are authentic, either
  in their original format or rerecorded. You are encourages to make reference to
  and cite all of the sources in your essay.
• The informal speaking exercise is a role-play situation where you will be
  asked to interact with a recorded conversation. There will be five or six
  opportunities for you to answer, and each response can be up to 20 seconds in
  length. You will have time to read an outline of the conversation and the
  instructions for responding before participating in the exercise.
  
• In the formal speaking exercise, you will give an oral presentation in a
  formal or academic setting. You will read one document and listen to a
  recording, after which you will have 2 minutes to prepare for your presentation
  and 2 minutes to give your presentation on the topic given. You are encouraged
  to make reference to and cite both sources.

Scoring the Exam

The multiple-choice section counts for 50 percent of your grade (Listening,
20%; Reading, 30%). The free-response section contributes the remaining 50
percent (Writing, 30%; Speaking, 20%).