AP ITALIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTUREThe Exam

Exam Overview

Exam questions assess the course concepts and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the AP Italian Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (CED) and the CED’s companion audio files.

Encourage your students to visit the AP Italian Language and Culture student page for exam information.

Exam Format

The AP Italian Language and Culture Exam has question types and point values that remain stable and consistent from year to year, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day.

Note on 2021 exams: There are differences between the paper and digital versions of some 2021 AP Exams, and those variations differ by course. The information below applies to AP Italian Language and Culture only. View a summary of all 2021 AP Exam formats.

To ensure equitable and secure testing of full course content and skills, the 2021 AP Italian Language and Culture Exam will only be available in schools or school-proctored locations.

Section IA: Multiple Choice

• Interpretive Communication: Print Texts. This section consists of a variety of authentic print materials (e.g., journalistic and literary texts, announcements, advertisements, letters, charts, maps, and tables). Students will be asked to:
  • Identify the main ideas and supporting details
  • Determine the meaning of vocabulary words in context
  • Identify the author’s point of view or the target audience
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the cultural or interdisciplinary information contained in the text

Section IB: Multiple Choice with Audio

• This section consists of a variety of authentic audio materials, including interviews, podcasts, public service announcements, conversations, and brief presentations. It is divided into 2 subsections:
  • Interpretive Communication: Print and Audio Texts (combined). 2 sets of audio sources paired with print materials on the same topic with questions (articles and audio reports, charts and conversations).
  • Interpretive Communication: Audio Texts. 3 sets of audio sources with questions (interviews, instructions, presentations).
• Students will respond to questions about main ideas and supporting details. Some questions will require students to demonstrate their understanding of cultural or interdisciplinary information.
• Students will have time to read a preview of each selection and skim the questions before listening to the audio. All audio texts will be played twice.

Section IIA: Free Response Written

• Interpersonal Writing: Read and reply to an email message (15 minutes).
• Presentational Writing: Write an argumentative essay based on 3 sources, including an article, a table, graph, chart, or infographic, and a related audio source (played twice), that present different viewpoints on a topic (~55 minutes total: 15 minutes to review materials plus 40 minutes to write). Students will have access to the print sources and any notes they may take on the audio during the entire 40-minute writing period.

Section IIB: Free Response Spoken

• Interpersonal Speaking: Participate in 5 exchanges in a simulated conversation (20 seconds for each response). For this conversation, students will be provided with a preview of the conversation, including an outline of each exchange. 
• Presentational Speaking: Deliver a 2-minute presentation in response to a prompt in which students compare a cultural feature of an Italian-speaking community with which they are familiar to their own community or another community.

Exam Questions and Scoring Information

2020 (Last Year’s) Free-Response Questions

Last year’s free-response questions are available in the AP Classroom question bank for teachers to assign to students as homework or in class, and do not require secure assessment using the LockDown Browser. Since the 2020 exams had to be designed for highly unusual circumstances, these questions were updated, where possible, to best match the format of free-response questions in the course and exam description and on traditional AP Exams.

Sign in to AP Classroom to access resources including personal progress checks and a question bank with topic questions and practice exams aligned to the current course and exam.

To preserve the large number of new FRQs for teacher use, only teachers have access to the 2020 FRQs. If you are a higher education faculty member interested in seeing questions, please fill out this request form.

2019 Free-Response Questions

For free-response questions (FRQs) from the 2019 exam, along with scoring information, check out the table below.

Be sure to review the Chief Reader Report. In this invaluable resource, the chief reader of the AP Exam compiles feedback from members of the AP Reading leadership to explain how students performed on the FRQs, summarize typical student errors, and address specific concepts and content with which students have struggled the most that year.