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About the Exam
The AP French Language and Culture Exam will test your ability to apply communication and language skills developed in the course and ask you to demonstrate your understanding of French-speaking cultures.
In this exam, you’ll complete the multiple-choice and written free-response sections on paper, and you’ll record your spoken free response on a device supplied by the testing school.
3hrs
Exam Date
AP French Language and Culture Exam
This is the regularly scheduled date for the AP French Language and Culture Exam.
Exam Components
Section IA: Multiple Choice
30 questions 23% of Score
This section presents 4 sets of authentic print sources (announcements/advertisements, literary texts, articles and charts, letters) with questions. The questions will ask you 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
35 questions 27% of Score
This section includes a variety of authentic audio sources, including conversations, audio reports, interviews, instructions, and presentations. It is divided into 2 subsections:
- The first includes 2 sets of audio sources that are paired with print materials on the same topic with questions (articles and audio reports, charts and conversations)
- The second includes 3 sets of audio sources with questions (interviews, instructions, presentations)
You will respond to questions about main ideas and supporting details. Some questions will require you to show understanding of cultural or interdisciplinary information.
You 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.
You are encouraged to take notes during this part of the exam and are given writing space for that purpose. Your notes will not be graded.
Section IIA: Free Response Written
2 questions 25% of Score
There are two writing tasks in this section:
- 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, chart, graph, 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). You will have access to the print sources and any notes you may take on the audio during the entire 40-minute writing period.
Section IIB: Free Response Spoken
2 questions 25% of Score
There are two speaking tasks in this section:
- Interpersonal Speaking: Participate in 5 exchanges in a simulated conversation (20 seconds for each response). For this conversation, you 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 you compare a cultural feature of a French-speaking community with which you are familiar to your own community or another community.
Exam Essentials
Exam Preparation
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AP Classroom Resources
Once you join your AP class section online, you’ll be able to access videos, any assignments from your teacher, and your assignment results in AP Classroom. Sign in to access them.
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Free-Response Questions and Scoring Information
Go to AP Central to review free-response questions and scoring information from past AP French Language and Culture exams.
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AP French Language and Culture Course and Exam Description
This is the core document for the course. It clearly lays out the course content and describes the exam and AP Program in general.
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Services for Students with Disabilities
Students with documented disabilities may be eligible for accommodations for the through-course assessment and the end-of-course exam. If you’re using assistive technology and need help accessing the PDFs in this section in another format, contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 212-713-8333 or by email at [email protected]. For information about taking AP Exams, or other College Board assessments, with accommodations, visit the Services for Students with Disabilities website.
Credit and Placement
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