Teachers say Nghe An's 10th grade Literature exam is unlikely to yield high scores

"Disadvantaged" city students

With many years of experience teaching the subjectLiterature, teacher Kim Huong - Nghi An Secondary School (Vinh city) said, she liked this year's exam, her first impression was that the exam was not difficult, close to the structure of the reference exam. However, with the nature of the first exam implemented according to the 2018 General Education Program, the exam did not meet the expectations of all teachers: We expected an exam that was suitable for the whole province. But this exam surprised not only students but also teachers.

Going deeper into this year’s exam, Ms. Kim Huong said that in the reading comprehension section, for city students, many students will get full 4 points. But in the social argumentation question, which accounts for the majority of points, it is too disadvantageous for many students, especially city students. The essay question discussing the issue of “passing down folk games” is a practical question for students about culture, an issue that is “missing” among young people. But this content is beyond the thinking of students and teachers, and everyone is surprised. For a long time, schools have mainly taught social argumentation issues revolving around events related to reality, such as history, peace stories, and issues about the younger generation. Therefore, an exam question that is beyond thinking will make it difficult for students.

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This year's exam, students may understand the structure and how to do the test, but they will not have enough life experience to write deeply. As with city students, they do not have much contact with folk games, and school activities such as spring fairs are mainly for formality rather than substance. Therefore, it will be difficult for them to have the experience to write a complete essay and get a high score.

Teacher Kim Huong - Nghi An Secondary School (Vinh city)

Hard to get high score

After carefully reading the Literature exam, teacher Le Huong - Literature teacher at Ky Son Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities also expressed her concern when predicting that this year's exam will not have many high scores, the average score may not be as good as last year. "I think that if this exam is not flexible in terms of answers, the exam score will not be as expected."

Analyzing the exam in depth and placing it in the context of students in mountainous districts, Ms. Huong said that in the reading comprehension section (4 points), right from the first question, students are easily confused: At first glance, the question is easy but can "trick" students. In the excerpt, the character "I" is quite hidden but the character Tung stands out. Therefore, if students' stance is not strong, they will be hesitant in identifying the first and third person narrators. In addition, the data in the prose excerpt is quite long. Therefore, from question 2 onwards, students must read the meaning of the text to do well on the exam. Meanwhile, students' reading skills are limited, they are lazy to read, and if students do not read stories or memoirs a lot, it will be difficult to understand the text.

In the social essay, teacher Le Huong also said that preserving culture is a "hot" issue today but a long-term issue. However, for students, it is necessary to include "hot" issues of practical nature such as history, country, youth, technology, and contemporary issues. In addition, some teachers review the issue of "national culture", but very few review "folk games". Students who do well on this test must know how to apply culture to games, but this number is not much because they lack practical knowledge.

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I am wondering, do the students in the city today know about folk games? The students there are very smart and flexible, but if they do not have life experience, they will not be able to apply them. In our school, the students are exposed to many folk games, but they are not flexible enough to apply them. In this exam, if they want to get a score of 9 or higher, they must have solid knowledge, have real life experience, and bring practical perspectives into life. Specifically, in this question, students must identify the current situation, current people, and attitudes towards folk games. From tomorrow, oblivion must wake up and come up with solutions.

Teacher Le Huong - Literature teacher at Ky Son Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities

The test is not yet available.create "interest" for candidates

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Nam - Literature teacher at Ton Quang Phiet Secondary School, Thanh Chuong District, the overall assessment is that this year's Literature exam closely follows the goals and requirements of the 2018 General Education Program - promoting learners' abilities. At the same time, it is also consistent with the reference exam structure guidelines previously issued by the Department of Education and Training.

Looking at the question, we can see that there is a close connection between the reading comprehension and writing sections in the general flow of the question. The text of the test is an excerpt from the work "On the Dragonfly Wings" by author Tran Duc Tien with a moderate length. This is a short story rich in poetry, dense with cultural elements. The text of the reading comprehension section is also used in the character analysis sentence of the writing section. At the same time, it is also connected to the theme of culture - folk games in the social argument sentence.

However, Mr. Nam said that if you put yourself in the student's shoes, this exam is a big challenge, and clearly differentiates between good and excellent students.

Right from the first question of the reading comprehension section, it was not simple, even though it was at the recognition level. Specifically, if reading the first part of the excerpt, students can easily identify it as the first person narrative (insider), but reading to the end, the point of view shifts to the third person narrative (narrator). Because the insider can know all the events that happen to each character, it is not reasonable.

With such questions and materials, some students will answer in the first person, some in the third person, and some will answer in a combination of both. I personally do not know what answer the judges will give, but right from the first question, there is such a distracting factor, students who are not solid in their knowledge will be confused.

Regarding the cultural theme of the social argument question - folk games will be "both familiar and strange". For adults, we will find them close and familiar because we have experienced childhood, but today's students, especially those in the city, do not have an environment to participate in folk games, they are not organized regularly, they will find them strange and difficult.

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Folk games are now included in schools, but in reality, they have only been stirred up and widely deployed in the last few years. Activities are also mainly organized during holidays, Tet, experiential activities, and extracurricular activities, so they are not frequent. Students can recognize and analyze the meaning of folk games, but to deeply understand their meaning is not simple, it is difficult to outline clear arguments as well as find evidence and convincing, appropriate solutions.

Teacher Ngoc Nam, Literature teacher at Ton Quang Phiet Secondary School, Thanh Chuong district

Teacher Nguyen Ngoc Nam said that in the process of teaching and reviewing for 9th grade students this year, many teachers pay attention to culture, current events, and society to guide students in doing their tests. However, students' psychology often sticks to prominent issues of the country and of young people. Currently, with the 2018 General Education Program, there is no longer the matter of "teaching by heart, learning by heart", but with an exam that goes against the students' train of thought, it is understandable that they are surprised in the exam room.

Regarding the students' opinion that the essay was long, Mr. Nam said that the questions on the exam were generally clear, but the length of the exam was quite long. The current exam is designed to develop the learners' abilities, the materials do not necessarily have to be in the textbooks but can be taken from any source and students are required to analyze.

But in the context of 120 minutes, the test is contrary to what you think, so it is quite difficult to read, identify, catch the rhythm of the material, analyze the characters, and handle the test well. Therefore, this test, the score range from 7-8 will be common, but from 9 points and above will be very difficult.

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I also feel a bit regretful about this year’s Literature exam, and think it will be difficult to create interest for students while taking the exam. In the context of a country with many exciting events, school life also raises new issues that students are interested in. If we bring up issues of age conflicts, generational gaps, relationships with friends, family, thoughts about traditional history… that are close to the psychology and age of students, students will be more interested and passionate about writing.

Teacher Nguyen Ngoc Nam - Literature teacher at Ton Quang Phiet Secondary School, Thanh Chuong district