2022 AP Exam Administration Chief Reader Report: AP Italian Language and Culture

Chief Reader Report on Student Responses:

2022 AP

Italian Language and Culture Free-Response Questions

• Number of Readers

Total Group

• Number of Students

Scored

2,194

• Score Distribution

Exam Score N %At

5 496 22.6

4 453 20.6

3 598 27.3

2 409 18.6

1 238 10.8

• Global Mean

3.26

Standard Group*

• Number of Students

Scored

1,609

• Score Distribution

Exam Score N %At

5 179 11.1

4 361 22.4

3 520 32.3

2 347 21.6

1 202 12.6

• Global Mean

2.98

The following comments on the 2022 free-response questions for AP

Italian Language and Culture

were written by the Chief Reader, Federica Santini, Professor of Italian and Interdisciplinary Studies,

Kennesaw State University. They give an overview of each free-response question and of how

students performed on the question, including typical student errors. General comments regarding

the skills and content that students frequently have the most problems with are included. Some

suggestions for improving student preparation in these areas are also provided. Teachers are

encouraged to attend a College Board workshop to learn strategies for improving student

performance in specific areas.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Question 1

Task: Email Reply

Topic: Families and Communities (Famiglia e società)

Max Score: 5

Total Group Mean Score: 3.45

Standard Group Mean Score: 3.31

What were the responses to this question expected to demonstrate?

This task assessed writing in the interpersonal communicative mode by having the student write a reply to an

email message. Students were allotted 15 minutes to read the message and write the reply. Students needed to

be able first to comprehend the email and then to write a reply using a formal form of address. The reply

needed to address all the questions and requests raised in the message, as well as ask for more details about

something mentioned in the message. The response received a single holistic score based on how well it

accomplished the assigned task.

The course theme for the email reply was Families and Communities (Famiglia e società). Content and context

ere provided by the email from Giorgia Isola, the director of

Soggiorno au pair Italia, an agency that matches

Italian families with international au pairs. The email offered information regarding the opportunities the

program makes available to participants, including expected working hours, compensation, and the average

number of children in typical families. Students were expected to create with the language by using a variety

of grammar structures and vocabulary appropriate to the context. They had to give information about

themselves by answering two questions: the first one about their preference for a rural or urban

accommodation, which they had to justify; the second one about their background in childcare or previous

experiences with children. In addition, they had to demonstrate the ability to ask questions by asking for

further information about something mentioned in the message. 

ow wel

l did the responses address the course content related to this question? How well did the

responses integrate the skills required on this question?

Content and Skills

The level of students’ achievement on the task varied:

• Most res

ponses had some or frequent elaboration, showing a certain level of familiarity with the

cultural components of the topic.

• Few responses did not request further information about something mentione

d in the prompt.

Language

• Most responses used a variety of compound sentences.

• Most responses included transitional words.

• The

vocabulary used was generally appropriate, even though some responses mainly relied on

vocabulary from the prompt.

• Many responses contained appropriate and varied vocabulary, though with some spelling errors

(“scoula”; “pe

rsoni”; “vità”; “communicare”; “attiviti”; “mezzi pubblichi”; “genetori”; “in contato”;

“megliore”).

• Several responses used an inappropriate register, mos

t often in the body of the email message, but at

times also in the opening and closing.

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• Some responses lacked accuracy and control of grammar structures. Recurring problems were errors

in subject-verb agreement, article-noun agreement, adjective-noun agreement, and verb tenses and

conjugation. There was frequent use of verbs in the infinitive or the present tense. Frequent

conjugation errors were noticeable in the use of the present (“io preferiscono vivo”; “sceglio”; “voglio

piace”; “io atteso”), simple past (“s

ono viaggiato”; “mi ha chiedo”; “è faccio”; “io lavorato”), and future

(“lavoraro”) tenses.

• Some

responses showed Spanish or English interference (“incontrare pronto”; “opcione”;

“opportunidad”; “vacazione”; “cuido”; “transportazione”; “gratuda”; “compensazione”; “l’avvanza di

technologia”).

• Some responses used idiomatic language (“vale la pena”).

• A few r

esponses used simple sentences or strings of sentences.

What common student misconceptions or gaps in knowledge were seen in the responses to this

question?

The directions of this task clearly indicated that the email was in response to an inquiry about an au pair job in

Italy. While most responses were appropriate, a few responses did not talk about past experiences that would

make one a suitable candidate for the job, but rather how this job would provide the student with a good

experience for future employment.

Common Misconceptions/Knowledge Gaps Responses that Demonstrate Understanding

• A few responses asked to perform the job with

the student’s ow

n family.

• Successful responses indicated the student’s

preferred work setting and clearly explained the

reason(s) for their preference to work in an urban

or rural environment.

• A few responses misunderstood the opportunity

being offered

and asked to perform charity work

for children and families in need.

• Successful responses indicated previous

professional or personal experiences with

children and families that could help in

performing the work as an au pair.

Based on your experience at the AP

Reading with student responses, what advice would you offer

teachers to help them improve the student performance on the exam?

Teachers should do the following to help students improve their performance on this section of the exam:

• Guide students through the task’s instructions and ensure that they know and understand all its

requirements: use of proper greetings and closings; answers to all questions; request for more details

about something mentioned in the stimulus; use of the formal register.

• Explain the scoring guidelines for the task to students in order to help them become familiar with

rformance expectations.

• Help students familiarize themselves with the task and build their skills and confidence in responding

by directing them to look for specific content in the email that they can use to ask for more information.

• Develop practice emails related to the six course themes, and have students write the response under

actual exam conditions; score the responses according to the AP World Language and Culture Scoring

Guidelines.

• Use the sample email tasks available online on AP Classroom, in the AP Daily videos, and in previous

AP Exams, from 2012 to 2022, available online on AP Central, for practice.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

• Assist students who continue to struggle with the formal form of verbs, pronouns, and possessive

adjectives, and, consequently, with formal address. It would be helpful to focus on and practice the

formal–informal distinction in writing and speaking through role-plays; to practice both reading and

answering business correspondence; and to practice everyday-life scenarios (for instance,

conversations with one’s doctor, a professor, a store manager, or a professional adult stranger).

• Develop targeted vocabulary activities to provide students with more vocabulary resources.

• Enco

urage control and accuracy in grammar and syntax by stressing the importance of gender and

number agreement, subject-verb agreement, use of pronouns and possessive adjectives for formal

address, and verb conjugations.

• Stress the importance of spelling and proper accentuation of words.

• Create opportunities for students to develop the habit of proofreading their work so that they can

identify common lexical, grammatical, and/or syntactic errors.

• Encourage supportive peer reviews, reflection, and discussion of such errors in order to avoid them in

the future.

What resou

rces would you recommend to teachers to better prepare their students for the content

and skill(s) required on this question?

• The AP Italian Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (CED) contains suggestions in

the unit guides for building students’ skills in writing successful email replies. The email reply task

model is presented and practiced in Units 1, 3, and 5. The CED can be accessed here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-italian-language-and-cul

ture-course-and-exam-

description.pdf.

• Teachers should become familiar with all the online resources available to support instruction and

asses

sment for AP Italian Language and Culture within AP Classroom. As noted above, the email

reply task model is presented and practiced in Units 1, 3, and 5 (including multiple AP Daily Videos

that focus on developing strategies for and practicing email replies) and again in the 2021 AP Exam

On-Demand Review Video Session 3 and the 2022 AP Exam On-Demand Review Video Session 8.

AP Classroom may be accessed here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-italian-language-

and-culture/classroom-resources?course=ap-italian-language-and-culture.

• Through AP Classroom, teachers can also access the AP Question Bank. This is a searchable

collection of past AP Exam questions where teachers can find and access email replies from

previous exams. Teachers can also access three practice exams aligned to the 2022 Exam in the AP

Question Bank, which provide additional practice in the email reply and can be scored using the

provided scoring guidelines.

• Teachers can view the AP World Languages and Cultures online module on interpersonal writing,

Interpersonal Communication: Developing Writing Abilities by Nyan-Ping Bi, to learn some

strategies that focus on developing students’ interpersonal writing skills. Teachers can access this

online module here:

https://secure-me

dia.collegeboard.org/ap/modules/world-languages-

cultures/developing-interpersonal-writing-abilities/story_html5.html.

• Teache

rs can download the scoring guidelines for this task available on the AP Italian Language and

Culture Exam page and use them to review expectations for student performance:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-italian-language-and-culture/exam

• Teachers can choose a sample email reply prompt from the posted free-response questions from

2012–2022 and access the corresponding student sample responses of high, mid, and low

performances to share with students so they can examine student work vis-à-vis the scoring

guidelines. This will inform them further of expectations for performance on this task, as well as the

evaluative criteria for each score point:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-italian-

languag

e-and-culture/exam.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

• Teachers can assign email replies for students to complete under the same conditions and time

constraints as on the exam and then score them using the scoring guidelines. Feedback to students

should focus on what students should do to move their performance to the next higher level.

• Teachers should meet with colleagues who teach French, German, and Spanish to determine

common issues across languages and to share strategies that will improve student performance.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Question 2

Task: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Global Challenges (Sfide globali)

Max Score: 5

Total Group Mean Score: 3.07

Standard Group Mean Score: 2.88

What were the responses to this question expected to demonstrate?

This task assessed writing in the presentational communicative mode by having the student write an

argumentative essay on a given topic while referencing three sources of information about the topic. Students

were first allotted 6 minutes to read the essay topic and the two printed sources. Then they listened to the

audio source twice. Afterward, they had 40 minutes to write the essay. Students were asked to clearly present

and thoroughly defend their own position on the topic. They were instructed to integrate viewpoints and

information they found in all three sources to support their argument. As students referred to the sources, they

were supposed to identify them appropriately and organize their essay into clear paragraphs. The response

received a single holistic score based on how well it accomplished the assigned task.

he course theme of the argumentative essay was Global Challenges (

Sfide globali). Students wrote essays

in response to a question about the importance of finding creative solutions to address pollution of different

kinds (i.e., water, air, etc.). Students needed to support their response with evidence taken from the

following sources:

• A written article describing original and creative initiatives taken by Italian individuals and groups to

help the environment by reducing plastic waste in rivers, lakes, and the ocean.

• An infographic that illustrates the negative impact of the excessive amount of plastic waste in the

ocean and how pollution affects sea life, human health, the economy, and climate.

• An audio file in which a journalist interviews a Roman artist who found a creative way of recycling

cans to raise awareness about the urgency of the environmental crisis by developing an art exhibition

called “Crush.”

The prompt was in the form of a question and did not require previous knowledge of the topic. The three

sources provided students with the contextual and content support to develop their essay. However, students

were expected to understand the main idea(s) and supporting details of the three sources, understand some

unfamiliar and idiomatic vocabulary by inferring its meaning from the context, and comprehend paragraph-

length discourse, vocabulary, and structures. They were expected to demonstrate critical reading skills by

identifying facts and data and understanding the intent of the texts, and to use that information to develop and

defend their argument.

How well did the responses address the course content related to this question? How well did the

responses integrate the skills required on this question?

Content and Skills

The level of students’ achievement on the task varied:

• Most responses demonstrated the ability to identify the main idea(s) and facts of each source, several

supporting details, and the intent of the texts.

• Most responses demonstrated a moderate degree of comprehension of the sources.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

• Some responses did not integrate content from all three sources to support the student’s position,

but they often cited or identified at least two sources. The least well understood and integrated

source was the audio (Source #3).

• Some responses did not provide an effective treatment of the topic within the context of the task

because students were not able to correctly interpret the second and third sources while offering

their own viewpoint.

• Some responses reflected a misinterpretation of the article (Source #1) in respect to its discussion of

some of the creative solutions adopted to reduce plastic waste in rivers, lakes, and the ocean.

• Some responses also reflected a misinterpretation of the audio (Source #3) by failing to make the

connection between the recycling of cans to produce art and the artist’s goal of raising awareness

about waste, as they referred only to American pop art.

• Some responses presented the student’s position, but there was no development in support of it.

• Some responses demonstrated an ability to identify products and practices related to the topic and

discern the perspectives behind them.

• A few responses did not address the prompt and only talked about how pollution affects animals or

about plastic in general as a polluting agent. Nevertheless, they were still able to demonstrate a

certain degree of comprehension of the sources.

• A few responses presented summaries of the sources without effectively integrating the information

in support of the students’ own arguments.

Language

• There was a general lack of accuracy and variety in grammar, syntax, and language usage.

• T

he majority of responses used an appropriate vocabulary, indicating that students were comfortable

with the topic.

• There were frequent errors in subject-verb and noun-adjective agreement.

• There was some use of modal verbs and progressive forms.

• There was limited variety in the use of verbal moods. Very few responses used the subjunctive or the

conditional. There were some if-clauses.

• There were frequent spelling mistakes and transfers from native language(s).

• Most responses developed paragraph-length discourse with effective transitions, using a variety of

simple, compound, and complex sentences; the majority of responses used simple and compound

sentences to construct their paragraphs.

• Some responses used rhetorical questions and emphatic exclamations to strengthen the argument.

at common student misconceptions or gaps in knowledge were seen in the responses to this

question?

The task required students to write an argumentative essay to submit to an Italian writing contest. The essay

topic was based on three sources offering different viewpoints on the topic and included both printed and

audio material. Most students understood Source #2 and referred to it appropriately. Many students

understood Source #1, and many students misunderstood Source #3. However, most students were able to

extrapolate and pull enough information from the sources to use in support of their argument.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Common Misconceptions/Knowledge Gaps Responses that Demonstrate Understanding

• The article in Source #1 discussed the increasing

amount

s of plastic waste in rivers, lakes, and

oceans and presented three creative initiatives

aimed at finding solutions to reduce plastic

pollution in the water. Some responses only

concentrated on how plastic waste harms marine

life.

• Successful responses correctly understood the

sources’ information—how important it is to

adopt creative solutions to help solve

environmental issues—and used it to support

their argument.

• Successful responses used information from

Source

#1 to support their argument on how

adopting creative solutions can help the

environment by:

1. Reducing plastic waste;

2. Improving marine life and human health;

3. Reducing the expenses necessary for

cleaning efforts.

• The audio i

n Source #3 is an interview with the

artist Fabio Fe

rrone Viola, who collects cans from

all over the world to create art and raise

awareness about the environment. Some

responses concluded from the audio that:

• the artist recycles clothes;

• “love

” was the theme of the exhibition;

• “Crush” was a machine;

• Coca-Cola is a company that helps the

environment.

• Succes

sful responses correctly understood

Source #3 and used it to support their argument

on how creativity and art help raise awareness of

the need to recycle and reduce waste.

Based on your experience at the AP

Reading with student responses, what advice would you offer

teachers to help them improve student performance on the exam?

Teachers should do the following to help students improve their performance on this part of the exam:

• Make sure students understand the nature and characteristics of an argumentative essay.

• Remind students to carefully read the prompt and emphasize the fact that the essay is, abo

ve all, a

response to it, while the information from the three sources serves to support the student’s position on

the topic as required by the prompt.

• Provide students with strategies to help them state their own opinion on a topic and construct their

argument in a clear and organized manner, with supporting evidence from the three sources.

• Remind students to carefully read the introduction accompanying the sources.

• Develop strategies and activities that help students recognize the sources’ viewpoints.

• Remind students that the sources do not necessarily express viewpoints for or against the topic.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

• Encourage reflective practices by having students write short papers discussing their

accomplishments in developing critical thinking skills in the Italian AP classroom and the next steps

they need to take toward success.

What resources would you recommend to teachers to better prepare their students for the content

and skill(s) required on this question?

• The AP Italian Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (CED) contains suggestions in

the unit guides for building students’ skills in writing successful essays. The argumentative essay

task model is presented and practiced in Units 2, 4, and 6. This task is scaffolded to build students’

skills and confidence. The first time it appears in Unit 2, students write an argumentative essay

responding to a prompt using only two sources, and subsequently in Units 4 and 6, they write essays

using three sources. The CED can be accessed here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-

talian-language-and-culture-course-and-exam-description.pdf.

• Teachers should become familiar with all the online resources available to support instruction and

sessment for AP Italian Language and Culture within AP Classroom. As noted above, the

Argumentative Essay task model is presented and practiced in Units 2, 4, and 6 (including multiple

AP Daily Videos that focus on introducing, developing strategies for, and practicing argumentative

essays) and again in the 2021 AP Exam On-Demand Review Video Session 6 and the 2022 AP Exam

On-Demand Review Video Session 7. AP Classroom may be accessed here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-italian-language-and-culture/classroom-

esources?course=ap-italian-language-and-culture.

• Through AP Classroom, teachers can access the AP Question Bank. This is a searchable collection

past AP Exam questions where teachers can find and access persuasive essay tasks from

previous exams. Teachers can also access three practice exams aligned to the 2022 Exam in the AP

Question Bank, which provide additional practice with the essay task and can be scored using the

provided scoring guidelines.

• Teachers should view the AP World Languages and Cultures online module on Presentational

riting: Presentational Communication, A Focus on Writing, by Federica Santini. Teachers can

access the online module here:

https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/ap/modules/world-languages-

cultures/presentational-communications-writing/story_html5.html.

• Teachers should download the scoring guidelines for this task available on the AP Italian Language

d Culture Exam page and use them to review expectations for student performance, as well as the

evaluative criteria for each score point:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-italian-

lan

guage-and-culture/exam?course=ap-italian-language-and-culture.

• Teachers should choose a sample essay prompt and its sources from the posted 2012-2022 free-

esponse questions available on AP Central: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-italian-

lan

guage-and-culture/exam and access the corresponding student sample responses of high, mid,

nd low performances to share with students, so that they can examine student work vis-à-vis the

scoring guidelines. This will further inform them of expectations for performance on this task.

• Teachers should assign other persuasive (argumentative) essay prompts under the same conditions

and time constraints as on the exam and then score them using the scoring guidelines. Feedback to

students should focus on what students should do to move their performance to the next higher

level.

• Teachers should meet with colleagues who teach French, German, and Spanish to determine

common issues across languages and to share strategies that will improve student performance.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Question 3

Task: Conversation

Topic: Families and Communities (Famiglia e società)

Max Score: 5

Total Group Mean Score: 2.45

Standard Group Mean Score: 2.09

What were the responses to this question expected to demonstrate?

This task assessed speaking in the interpersonal communicative mode by having students engage in a

simulated conversation. Students were first allotted 1 minute to read a preview of the conversation, including

an outline of each turn in the conversation. Then the conversation proceeded, including 20 seconds for

students to speak at each of the 5 turns. The responses had to appropriately address each turn in the

conversation according to the outline as well as the simulated interlocutor’s utterances. The series of 5

responses received a single holistic score based on how well it accomplished the assigned task.

he course theme for the conversation task was Families and Communities (

Famiglia e società). For this

task, students needed to respond to five audio prompts spoken by Enrico, an Italian friend who is hosting

the student in his house and who wishes to discuss his group of friends and some possible plans for the

night and the weekend.

The question assessed the students’ performance in Interpersonal Speaking by engaging them in a series of

exchanges on a familiar topic—different ways to connect with one’s friends as well as plans to go out with

them—generated by Enrico’s inquiries. The students had to interact with the interlocutor to produce

language that appropriately responded to Enrico’s questions. They were expected to understand Enrico’s

utterances by relying on familiar vocabulary or by using the context to infer the meaning of unfamiliar

words. They needed to maintain the conversation in a culturally appropriate fashion consistent with the

informal register. Moreover, the conversation required students to perform a series of language functions—

answer questions and state preferences or provide details; state opinions and provide details; decline offers

and provide reasons; and accept offers and ask questions—through simple, compound, and complex

sentences, and through the use of different time frames.

1. Enrico is hosting the student at his house in Italy. Enrico asks the student what he should prepare

for breakfast. The student had to answer the question and state a preference for a particular

breakfast food or foods.

2. E

nrico asks the student to express an opinion about his friends, whom the student has recently met.

The student had to state an opinion about Enrico’s friends and provide details.

3. Enrico asks where, when at home, the student meets/socializes with friends. The student had to

answer the question and provide details about where, when at home, they meet/socialize with

friends.

4. Enrico invites the student to join him and his friends for an outing to a pizzeria and dance club that

evening. The student had to decline the offer to go out with Enrico and his friends and provide a

reason for declining.

5. Enrico invites the student to go with him to the stadium the following Sunday by Vespa. The student

had to accept the offer and ask a follow-up question.

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How well did the responses address the course content related to this question? How well did the

responses integrate the skills required on this question?

Content and Skills

The topic, tone, vocabulary, and structure of the conversation were clear. Overall, the majority of the

responses demonstrated that the students understood the topic and the key words of the conversation (food,

friends, and activities with friends) but did not always show an understanding of the specific meaning of the

questions. The responses did not always appropriately address each turn in the conversation according to

the outline as well as the simulated interlocutor’s utterances.

In Turn 1, Enrico asked what kind of breakfast he should prepare for the student. The responses frequently

included details about food that the students like to eat for lunch or dinner or discussed restaurants. Some

responses provided a description of what the student had eaten for breakfast.

Turn 2 asked the student to express an opinion about Enrico’s friends. The students often replied by

describing their own friends.

Turn 3 required the student to state where, when at home, they meet their friends, meaning by “home” the

place the student is from (as opposed to the place in Italy where they are living while residing as a guest in

Enrico’s house), but in their responses, students mostly referred to their households and provided details

about their house and what activities they do with friends when staying home.

Language

• Most responses used basic vocabulary and limited idiomatic language. A general lack of vocabulary

resources affected the quality of the responses, especially for Turn 3.

• The responses sometimes lacked acc

uracy and variety in grammar, syntax, and usage.

Wha

t common student misconceptions or gaps in knowledge were seen in the responses to this

question?

Students had to participate in an informal conversation on a familiar topic related to food, friends, and

activities on the course topic of Families and Communities (

Famiglia e società). They had to interact with the

interlocutor to produce language that appropriately responded to the questions. They were expected to

understand the interlocutor’s utterances by relying on familiar vocabulary or by using the context to infer the

meaning of unfamiliar words. They needed to maintain the conversation in a culturally appropriate fashion

consistent with the informal register.

Stu

dents had to maintain mostly uncomplicated communicative exchanges, express opinions and preferences,

and provide supporting facts and descriptions. However, although students showed familiarity with the

vocabulary of the conversation, their responses were often only generally appropriate due to limited

understanding of the specific meaning of the questions.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Common Misconceptions/Knowledge Gaps Responses that Demonstrate Understanding

• Question 2 asked the students to state an opinion

about

the interlocutor’s friends. Some responses

provided a description of the student’s friends,

such as: “My friends are nice and funny; I have a

good time with them.”; “I have a lot of friends, and I

play soccer with them.”

• Successful responses included elaboration about

the interlocutor’s friends, such as: “I like them

because they are all very helpful.”; “They talk too

much, but they make me feel welcome!”

• Question 3 requir

ed students to answer where,

when at home, they meet their friends. Some

responses provided details about the student’s

house, such as: “I meet with my friends in the

kitchen because my house is small.”

• Successful responses included elaboration, such

as: “I meet my friends at school, in the gym, or at

the mall. We don’t have a piazza in my hometown

like you do!”

Based on your experience at the AP

Reading with student responses, what advice would you offer

teachers to help them improve student performance on the exam?

Teachers should do the following to help students improve their performance on this pa

rt of the exam:

• Make students aware that sometimes they need to produce more than one language function in

response to an audio prompt. Provide practice conversations that have students engage with two

language functions in at least some of their responses.

• Make students aware that they may be as

ked to deal with some complicated situations or less familiar

language functions, as described in the outline of the conversation (suggest an alternative, pose a

problem, express doubts, express an opinion and justify it, ask a question).

• Have students practice informal, spontaneous conversations in class by providing them with topics

and outlines that require them to greet, answer and ask questions, provide details, make a

counterproposal, give advice, raise a doubt, etc.

• Encourage students to read and listen very carefully to the instructions about how to respond to the

task, making sure that they make connections between what they hear and what is written in the

conversation outline.

• Have students practice responding in 20 seconds. Encourage them to provide elaboration and details

and to try to fully use their response time. Have students listen carefully to the prompt and say

something relevant in response, even if what they say is brief. This sort of practice needs to occur

throughout the school year.

• Provide students with some strategies to use if they do not understand one of the prompts or get off

track.

• Offer students opportunities to listen to a wide variety of voices of different genders. Appropriate audio

clips from various media would be useful for students both in and outside the classroom. Many of

these materials are easily accessible on the internet.

• As the speaking component in the classroom should not be solely focused on the conversation task, a

variety of activities should be introduced into the curriculum, such as interviews and debates.

Consequently, teachers should also:

• Provide opportunities for students to respond spontaneously in a variety of situations and

contexts. This will improve students’ fluency and confidence in their speaking abilities.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

• Encourage students to pay attention to verb tenses, subject–verb agreement, and other

language structures that may impede effective communication when incorrect. Encourage

students to self-correct when they hear themselves making a mistake, as successful self-

correction is always viewed favorably.

• Help students expand vocabulary by exploring many of the recommended contexts/subthemes of the

six re

quired course themes. Work with students to develop their skills in circumlocution so that they

will be able to continue speaking even if they do not have the most appropriate word for the context.

• Assign the sample conversations from 2012 to 2022 available online on AP Central under the same

conditions and time constraints as on the exam and then score them using the exam scoring guidelines

(feedback provided to students should focus on what students should do to move their performance to

the next higher level).

What resou

rces would you recommend to teachers to better prepare their students for the content

and skill(s) required on this question?

• The AP Italian Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (CED) contains suggestions in

the unit guides for building students’ skills for engaging in the conversation task model. This task

model is specifically presented and practiced in Units 1, 3, and 5. The CED can be accessed here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-italian-language-and-cul

ture-course-and-exam-

description.pdf.

• Teachers should become familiar with all the online resources available to support instruction and

asses

sment for AP Italian Language and Culture within AP Classroom. As noted above, the

conversation task model is presented and practiced in Units 1, 3, and 5 (including multiple AP Daily

Videos that focus on developing strategies for and practicing student conversations) and again in the

2021 AP Exam On-Demand Review Video Session 7 and the 2022 AP Exam On-Demand Review

Video Session 8. AP Classroom may be accessed here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-italian-language-and-culture/classroom-

resources?course=ap-italian-language-and-culture.

• Through AP Classroom, teachers can access the AP Question Bank. This is a searchable collection

of past AP Exam questions where teachers can find and access conversation tasks from previous

exams. Teachers can also access three practice exams aligned to the 2022 Exam in the AP Question

Bank, which provide additional practice for the conversation task and can be scored using the

scoring guidelines provided.

• Teachers should go to AP Central and view the AP World Languages and Cultures online module by

Clarissa Adams-Fletcher in order to learn about strategies, resources, and activities that focus on

developing interpersonal speaking skills. Teachers can access this online module here:

https://secure-me

dia.collegeboard.org/ap/modules/world-languages-cultures/interpersonal-

communications/story_html5.html.

• Teach

ers should meet with colleagues who teach French, German, and Spanish to determine

common issues across languages and to share strategies that will improve student performance.

• Teachers should work with students so they can respond with elaboration and detail in the 20

seconds they have for each response.

• Teachers should teach students how to use the conversation outline to their advantage. Look at

commonalities from year to year so that students can anticipate possible types of questions and

responses.

• Teachers should download a copy of the scoring guidelines for the conversation task available on

the AP Italian Language and Culture Exam page and use them to review expectations for student

performance. They should have students listen to the sample student responses available on AP

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Central and use the scoring guidelines to understand how performance is assessed on the exam:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-it

alianlanguage-and-culture/exam.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Question 4

Task: Cultural Comparison

Topic: Contemporary Life (Vita contemporanea)

Max Score: 5

Total Group Mean Score: 2.12

Standard Group Mean Score: 1.82

What were the responses to this question expected to demonstrate?

This task assessed speaking in the presentational communicative mode by having the student make a

comparative oral presentation on a cultural topic. Students were allotted 4 minutes to read the topic and

prepare the presentation and then 2 minutes to deliver the presentation. The presentation had to compare an

area of the Italian-speaking world to the students’ own community or another community of their choice,

demonstrating understanding of cultural features of the Italian-speaking world. Furthermore, the presentation

had to be organized clearly. The response received a single holistic score based on how well it accomplished

the assigned task.

The course theme for the cultural comparison task was Contemporary Life (Vita contemporanea). The task

consisted of a question that asked students about the role of open-air markets (selling food, clothes, etc.) in

an Italian-speaking community with which they are familiar and in another community of their choice.

Students had to plan and produce a spoken presentation, comparing an area of the Italian-speaking world

with another community in relation to the given topic.

How well did the responses address the course content related to this question? How well did the

responses integrate the skills required on this question?

Content

n order to demonstrate an understanding of different features of the target culture, students could rely on

the

ir previous and personal knowledge or first-hand experience or recombine information from materials

they saw, analyzed, and discussed in class when covering the six themes of the AP Italian Language and

Culture curriculum. This year the theme was Contemporary Life (Vita contemporanea). Responses, however,

could make use of other disciplines and other themes and subthemes inherent to the topic within the AP

Curriculum, e.g., Families and Communities (Famiglia e società).

Skills and Language

Responses were expected to accomplish the comparison task by organizing the presentation in paragraph-

length discourse and using a variety of simple and compound sentences in major time frames. Vocabulary

needed to be varied and appropriate for the context in order to make the presentation understandable. Also,

pronunciation, intonation, and pacing contributed to the accomplishment of the task by making the

presentation comprehensible.

What common student misconceptions or gaps in knowledge were seen in the responses to this

question?

The

task required students to make a comparative oral presentation on the role of open-air markets in an

Italian-speaking community with which they are familiar and in another community of their choice. Most of

the students were able to describe a variety of market items in the two communities, but many students did

not clearly address the specific topic of the prompt (“the role of open-air markets”).

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Common Misconceptions/Knowledge Gaps Responses that Demonstrate Understanding

• A few responses did not address the prompt and

talked inst

ead about subjects irrelevant to the

topic (e.g., family, food, school).

• Successful responses clearly addressed the topic

of the role of open-air markets both in the target

culture and in the student’s own culture(s).

• Some responses focused generally on the Cou

rse

Theme (Tema del corso), Contemporary Life (V

ita

contemporanea), instead of developing a response

to the specific topic of the prompt (Argomento

della relazione). Therefore, in their presentation

some students talked about various similarities

and the differences between the two cultures but

did not present a response to the specific topic.

• So

me responses provided a list of items to be

found in o

pen-air markets (clothes, food, etc.) in

general, without any reference to open-air

markets or their role.

• In successful responses, students showed their

understanding of the topic of the prompt through

the description of market items and/or activities

that can be done in markets (e.g., socializing) in

their answers, even when they did not explicitly

mention the role of open-air markets.

• Some responses discussed the topic only within

the target

culture or their own culture, without

developing any comparison.

• Successful responses were organized and

generally understandable, with a clear

comparison between the target culture and

another culture.

• Some responses mentioned two cultures, but

their c

omparison mainly consisted of statements

with no development (2 lists).

Based on your experience at the AP

Reading with student responses, what advice would you offer

teachers to help them improve student performance on the exam?

Teachers should do the following to help students improve their performance on this part of the exam:

•

dvise students to read the directions carefully and make sure that in their response they address

the specific topic of the prompt (

Argomento della relazione) and not the Course Theme (Tema del

corso).

• R

emind students that they need to address all aspects of t

his task by making clear comparisons

between a community belonging to the target culture and another community of their choice by

including relevant details and examples.

• Remind students that the target culture has to be mentioned explicitly by referring to Italy, Italian

culture, Italian-speaking communities, Italians, or the like, and that they need to demonstrate their

knowledge and understanding of the target culture.

• Have students practice making connections among different topics so that they are prepared to

address all elements of the task.

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• Select up-to-date materials to discuss the target culture and guide students toward moving from

stereotypes and generalizations to a deeper understanding of Italian culture in its many diverse

aspects, including Italian-speaking communities around the world.

• Develop targeted vocabulary activities to provide students with ample vocabulary resources.

• Provide models to help build students’ skills in organizing, comparing, and presenting information

while preparing a cultural comparison.

• Continue to review cohesive devices and transitional elements so that students can deliver an

organized presentation.

• Provide students with a list of conjunctions, adverbs, and transitional elements for making

comparisons.

• Have students pay attention to grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Even though the AP Exam is not

focused on grammar, students cannot effectively communicate and perform well when they have a

limited control of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.

• Have students engage in reflective practices by reflecting on their abilities to make cultural

comparisons in Italian and establishing targets for further development and success.

What resources would you recommend to teachers to better prepare their students for the content

and skill(s) required on this question?

• The AP Italian Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (CED) contains suggestions in

the unit guides for building students’ skills in the cultural comparison task model. This task model is

specifically presented and practiced in all six units and is scaffolded to build students’ skills and

confidence over time. For example, in Unit 1, students give a one-minute cultural presentation about

an aspect of culture learned in that unit; in Unit 2, they do a one-minute cultural comparison; in Unit

3, a full two-minute cultural comparison; and in Units 4, 5, 6, subsequent full comparisons on topics

of increasing difficulty. The CED can be accessed here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-italian-language-and-cul

ture-course-and-exam-

description.pdf

• Teach

ers should become familiar with all the online resources available to su

pport instruction and

assessment for AP Italian Language and Culture within AP Classroom. As noted above, the Cultural

Comparison task model is presented and practiced in all 6 units (including multiple AP Daily Videos

that focus on developing strategies for and practicing student conversations) and again in the 2021

AP Exam On-Demand Review Video Session 8 and the 2022 AP Exam On-Demand Review Video

Session 5. AP Classroom may be accessed here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-

alian-language-and-culture/classroom-resources?course=ap-italian-language-and-culture.

• Thro

ugh AP Classroom, teachers can access the AP Question Bank. This is a searchable collection

of past AP Exam questions where teachers can find and access cultural comparison tasks from

previous exams. Teachers can also access three practice exams aligned to the 2022 Exam in the AP

Question Bank, which provide additional practice for the cultural comparison and can be scored

using the provided scoring guidelines.

• Teachers should go to AP Central and view the AP World Language and Culture online module on

presentational speaking by Angelika Becker to learn about strategies, resources, and activities that

focus on developing presentational speaking skills. Teachers can access this online module here:

https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/ap/modules/world-languages-cultures/presentational-

communications-speaking/story_html5.html.

• Teachers should meet with colleagues who teach French, German, and Spanish to determine

common issues across languages and to share strategies that will improve student performance.

• Teachers should download a copy of the scoring guidelines for this task available on the AP Italian

Language and Culture Exam page and use them to review expectations for student performance:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-itali

an-language-and-culture/exam

• Teachers should have students apply the scoring guidelines to student samples of cultural

com

parison responses posted on the exam page on AP Central to help them understand how the

scoring guidelines are applied to student work.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.