Press Releases
Tutto a Posto—Advanced Placement Italian Language and Culture Course Offered for the First Time
09/08/05
The first Advanced Placement Program® language course and exam to be introduced in 50 years, AP® Italian Language and Culture, has debuted in several hundred high schools this semester, the College Board announced.
More than 200 secondary schools in the United States and abroad have indicated their intention to offer the course in this inaugural year. The new AP course enables students to pursue college-level studies in Italian language and culture while still in high school. AP Italian Language and Culture will allow students who take the exam next May to demonstrate to college admissions officers their academic abilities, while earning college credit for, or placement into, advanced college Italian courses.
AP Program officials involved in the development of the course and exam estimate that about 3,000 students will take the first administration of the exam in May 2006.
"Globalization requires us to look outward and embrace change," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "The new AP Italian Language and Culture course and exam mark a major step in the College Board's effort to improve students' knowledge of other societies and help prepare them to compete in the demanding international marketplace."
AP Italian Language and Culture is the first of four new AP world language and culture courses that the College Board Trustees approved in principle in June 2003, and it is the first step in a commitment by the College Board to further multiculturalism and multilingualism in secondary school education. AP Chinese and Japanese are scheduled to be offered next year. AP Russian will join them at a date to be determined. Until this year, Spanish, French, German, and Latin had been the only world languages represented in the AP Program since its inception in 1955.
The AP Italian project was formally announced in September 2003 by Governor Caperton, who was joined by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other Italian government officials at the Consulate General of Italy in New York. Also present was former New York First Lady Matilda Raffa Cuomo, an energetic influence in the creation of the AP Italian program.
AP Italian Language and Culture differs from traditional AP foreign language courses and exams because it is designed to provide instruction and assessment in cultural understanding as well as in language proficiency. The first section of the exam assesses reading and listening comprehension through multiple-choice questions. The second section has three parts: a writing section, measuring student' knowledge of verb forms and other grammatical points and their ability to create a composition in Italian; another composition section, which assesses one aspect of the students' knowledge of Italian culture (such as geography, social customs, or arts and sciences); and a speaking section, which tests the students' ability to narrate a story and discourse on a given topic.
Another feature of AP Italian Language and Culture is the launch of AP Italian workshops for teachers around the globe. These workshops provide consistent, high-quality professional development for teachers of Italian worldwide and are designed to help teachers employ strategies that will enable students to develop the proficiency for earning college credit or advanced placement.
The Advanced Placement Program allows students to pursue college-level studies while they attend high school. They can choose from among 35 courses and exams in 20 different subject areas. Based on their performance on AP Examinations, students can earn college credit, advanced placement, or both.
For more information on AP Italian Language and Culture, go to http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/italian.
For more information, contact the College Board Office of Public Affairs at 212 713-8052.