Graduation exam essay topics: Why is it difficult to 'breakthrough'?

Candidates leave after finishing math at Phu Nhuan High School exam site - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

According to Ms. Nguyen Kim Anh - teacher at Phan Huy Chu High School (Dong Da, Hanoi), the interesting thing about the 2024 literature exam is that once again students get to think and write about the meaning of "respecting individuality", promoting the absolute "I" or placing the "I" next to the achievements and values ​​of predecessors to inherit and continue.

Classroom lectures may fade away, but in a final exam of school life, reflecting and writing about the country and identifying love for the country is also an opportunity for young people to clearly remember the values ​​they should preserve.

With that in mind, Ms. Kim Anh believes that the national literature exam can be seen as the final lesson of high school.

Because of this, over the past decade, the literature exam has always received attention because of its positive impacts not only on students but also on society when candidates are discussed about whether to live "bravely or cowardly", about lying, the disease of virtual living, about people who only care about empty pockets while others know how to cultivate beautiful things for the soul, about compassion and empathy...

The two strengths and also the interesting points of the essay questions over the past decade are the reading comprehension section and the social argumentative essay section.

For candidates, being able to freely write about familiar issues is interesting, inspiring and freeing them from restrictive content. The second strength of the essay over the past decade has been the reading comprehension test.

According to Ms. Ha Thi Thu Thuy - teacher at Einstein High School (Hanoi), emphasizing reading comprehension and writing skills are essential skills in literature. Especially when reading comprehension is a part of the national exam structure, this skill is also given more importance in the teaching process.

During the ongoing high school graduation exam, before and after the literature exam, there was a lot of buzz about the leaked exam questions because many candidates guessed in advance which literary works would be asked.

This is not new and one of the reasons for "information leakage" is because the questions are repeatedly pointed out in a fixed number of works. Each work has a number of "key" passages that can be used as exam questions.

According to Ms. Ha Thi Thu Thuy, this is the reason why students learn by rote. To help students get high scores, many teachers are forced to choose to "practice" according to available models, even though they know that this is a way to eliminate students' feelings for literature.

MSc. Nguyen Phuoc Bao Khoi, lecturer of the Literature Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, said that in recent years, the essay topics of the high school graduation exam have had some positive changes.

That is adding social argumentation to the writing section. This not only meets the teaching objectives and content but also helps overcome the limitations of today's students. Because reality shows that although they are eager for information, they lack life experience and are less interested in life outside.

The addition of the reading comprehension section is also an important change. Especially when the Ministry of Education and Training identifies reading comprehension as a breakthrough in the content and methods of teaching literature. The materials used in the reading comprehension section are texts outside of textbooks, which are considered a "stepping stone", preparing well for the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program.

Similarly, Mr. Do Duc Anh commented: "The change in the literature exam with 5/10 points outside the textbook (including reading comprehension and social discussion questions) has had a positive impact on teaching and learning literature in high schools. The situation of rote learning, memorization, and coping learning has decreased.

Besides, changing the way questions are asked in the exam also creates opportunities for candidates to present their thoughts and opinions.

Another positive thing is that when the Ministry of Education and Training changed the content of the exam, the number of exam preparation centers has decreased significantly. Students no longer rush into exam preparation like moths to a flame. Instead, they know how to select what they need to learn, know how to determine learning goals to understand...".

Ms. Le Ngoc (Hai Phong) shared that recently there have been some good literature topics from localities, literature exams for specialized schools or literature exams in separate entrance exams that can change the way literature is taught and learned in general schools.

But with national exams, it is necessary to ensure that they are suitable for students on a large scale, in regions with large differences in education quality, and the exams must also ensure different purposes: graduation consideration, assessment of teaching quality, and use for university and college admissions.

"Regarding this, I sympathize with those who create the questions because it is difficult to "breakthrough" and before a breakthrough exam, there is also a need for a roadmap and a need to change the teaching method. However, there are things that can be done immediately in the next exam, such as breaking away from using materials in textbooks," Ms. Ngoc expressed.

Ms. Ngoc suggested that the form of the literature exam could be changed to a multiple-choice test combined with an essay, like the exam recently organized by a new university using entrance exam scores.

Specifically, there is a multiple choice section of 20 - 30 questions with various materials, accounting for 40% of the total score of the test. The essay section may require students to write two paragraphs, flexibly between literary and social argumentative forms.

Need to standardize data citation sources

Master Nguyen Phuoc Bao Khoi proposed: "It is necessary to standardize the source of citations in the exam questions. It is recommended that reputable publishers be responsible for editing and publishing this part."

Mr. Khoi also commented: "The exam questions should be compiled according to thematic axis. Teaching by topic has been implemented by the Ministry of Education and Training. Currently, the textbooks serving the 2018 literature program all choose to structure lessons by topic, integrating reading - writing - listening - speaking skills.

The recent 2024 high school graduation exam also shows a thematic axis connecting the parts. That is the search for the resonance of the common source in the individual line (reading comprehension section), between respecting individuality in life (social argumentation question) and cherishing creative artistic personality (short comment in literary argumentation question).

This is considered a suggestion for the orientation of the 2018 General Education Program in the following years.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/de-van-thi-tot-nghiep-vi-sao-kho-dot-pha-20240627233750483.htm