The exam is about the youth's lifestyle, what should be noted when following the trend?

Literature exams are often criticized by public opinion as being outdated, stereotyped, and stale. Creating exams that follow trends such as "canvas lifestyle" is a new direction, but we need to be careful.

The topic of 'canvas lifestyle' of young people has just been included in the literature exam of a school in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: AI

The midterm test of class 10A25, Mac Dinh Chi High School (District 6, Ho Chi Minh City) with a time limit of 45 minutes, consisted of only one line with 17 words ("Write an essay discussing the current promiscuous lifestyle of young people").

Not only attracting heated debate from Tuoi Tre Online readers, many literature teachers also have conflicting opinions.

To add another perspective, we introduce an article by Master Tran Xuan Tien (Van Hien University).

Saying that young people are subjective and imposing?

With the original meaning of referring to the type of canvas widely used in life to protect against the sun and rain, as a decorative background..., the word "tarpaulin" was later used to satirize people with a fake lifestyle, covering up the unsatisfactory truth with a flashy, luxurious appearance.

In the above exam, the phrase "canvas lifestyle" should be in quotation marks, to indicate that this is a slang word, used with a derivative meaning, different from the original meaning of the word.

Even the test needs to have a note about the word "background" so that the content of the test is not misunderstood by students or deviated from the intention of the test maker.

We need to note that not everyone is interested in "hot" and "trendy" issues on social networks.

Therefore, it would be unfair to students if the concept of some people knowing and others not appeared in the exam.

The phrase "canvas lifestyle" is not placed in a certain context so that students can understand the correct idea that the question writer wants to convey.

Therefore, the test will be more complete and perfect if, before the requirement of "writing an argumentative essay", the test maker provides material, context, and real-life evidence.

For example, start with a narrative that points out some manifestations of "the canvas lifestyle" by some young people, then state the requirement to "write an argumentative essay".

To be fair, only a certain number of young people show off their wealth, material possessions, positions, degrees, etc. If we say that today's youth have a flashy lifestyle, a lifestyle that likes to "pretend", beautify, is dishonest, and deceitful, then I'm afraid it would be subjective and imposed.

But according to the way it is written in the question (because the context is not clearly defined), it can be understood in this negative way.

In addition, it is also necessary to detail more specifically the requirements on content, form, and capacity (number of words) of the argumentative essay, so that students can easily visualize the implementation, creating clarity and fairness when grading.

Challenges for literature test makers

Creating questions that ensure scientificity, accuracy, educational value and aesthetics is always a challenge for test makers.

To satisfy these requirements, the test maker must strictly and seriously implement the test making process.

Next, the professional team and the school must also read, comment, and evaluate the questions to gain experience for the next questions.

According to the 2018 General Education Program, for literature, teachers can give short tests, requiring students to present an argumentative essay on an issue or social phenomenon so that students can express their own opinions.

But need to be very careful, consider from many perspectives.

Because for literature subjects, the pressure increases even more when the tests and exams of this subject often receive more public attention than those of other subjects.

Literature tests and exams are often criticized by public opinion as being outdated, stereotyped, and stale.

Therefore, the desire to create creative, trendy, and current topics sometimes makes essay writers subjective and fail to meet the requirements of the topic.

The essay topic incorporates current events, thereby enhancing the educational function, which is a good direction. However, it is also necessary to ensure the scientific nature, accuracy and aesthetics of the topic.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/de-thi-ban-ve-loi-song-phong-bat-gioi-tre-bat-theo-trend-can-luu-y-gi-20241031100514094.htm