AP SPANISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
The AP Spanish Language course is designed to give students intensive college level instruction in the four primary language skill areas; speaking, listening, reading and writing. These are the 4 skills addressed on the AP Spanish Language Exam. To that end, the student objectives of the course have been developed around those skills.
VERB
CONJUGATIONS AND TENSES
Students will be required to commit to intensive instruction of verb conjugations. A student’s ability to perform well syntactically in Spanish on the AP Exam is dependent in part on their mastery of verb tenses and conjugations. Although such mastery is critical knowledge required on all sections of the AP Exam, the free-response portion of the AP Exam specifically tests student proficiency in this area.
“Ar”, “Er”, “Ir”, Regular, Irregular, Stem Changing, Reflexive form of the 3 Spanish Verb Conjugations (ar, er, ir).
Present tense
Progressive tenses
Perfect tenses
Preterit
Imperfect
Future
Conditional
Present and Past Subjunctive Moods
GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES
Students will be required to commit to intensive
instruction of advanced grammatical structures.
There will be review of previously learned structures as well as
instruction of new grammar. A student’s
ability to function well syntactically in Spanish on the AP Exam is dependent
upon their ability to manage the grammatical structures of the language. The list that follows should be viewed more
as an exemplar rather than a complete list of the grammatical structures to be
studied. New grammatical structures
include:
Neuter article Lo
Possessive pronouns
Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
Prepositional pronouns
Relative Pronouns
Negatives
Pero/Sino
Ordinal/Cardinal numbers
Prepositions before infinitives
Cuyo
Grammatical structures to be reviewed include but are not limited to the following:
Special uses of the article
Object pronouns
Gender and number agreement
Comparisons
Possessive adjectives
Commands
Agreement (noun/adjective/article)
VOCABULARY
Students will be required to sharpen their abilities with respect to expanded vocabulary and vocabulary recall. An extensive vocabulary is necessary to do well on the Spanish AP Exam. Students should expect to continuously build their repertoire of words through every resource offered by the course. An extensive vocabulary repertoire is present in every section of the Spanish AP Exam. Consequently, the course will allow students to augment and refine their vocabulary skills via the vocabulary found in the textbook and supplemental materials used in the course. Students should expect to be tested extensively on vocabulary and to test often using the same format as found on the AP exam.
SPEAKING
IN SPANISH
Students will be required to speak in Spanish throughout the entire course. Part B (speaking component) of the AP Exam asks students to describe orally a picture sequence and also to respond orally to 5 prompts. This portion of the exam is taken using a cassette.
WRITING
Students will be required to write compositions and essays. The AP Exam contains a heavily weighted writing section that consists of paragraph completion, sentence completion and the writing of a composition.
READING
Students will be required to read selections from Hispanic and Peninsular literature, newspaper and/or magazine articles and cultural selections. Selections from Album will promote further development of listening skills, writing skills, the ability to synthesize ideas and themes and the readings will also serve to strengthen vocabulary acquisition.
SAMPLE
ASSESSMENTS
1. Compositions, essays, oral conversations, debates, multiple choice format vocabulary tests all in Spanish as well as translation and definition tests, verb tests, grammar tests, oral presentations, reading multiple choice exams in Spanish, etc.
SUGGESTED
RESOURCES
1. Gatski, Barbara, and John McMullan. Triángulo. 3rd edition. Wayside Publishing, 2000.
2. Couch, James, Rebecca McCann, Carmen Rodriguez-Walter, and Angel Rubio-Maroto. Una Vez Más. 2nd edition Longman, 1993.
3. Renjilian-Burgy, Joy, and Rebecca Valette. Album. 2nd edition McDougall Littell, 1993.
4. Nassi, Bernstein and Nuzzi. Workbook in Spanish, Three Years. Revised edition. Amsco.
5. Mi Diario. Teacher’s Discovery. 1-800-Teacher.
6. Newspaper articles accessed on internet web sites.
7. Web sites like www.studyspanish.com
8. Web sites that offer modern texts.