Are essay questions really too long or are students used to surfing TikTok?

Grade 10 students at Marie Curie High School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) complained that the essay questions were too long and difficult - Photo: School website

As reported by Tuoi Tre Online , on the morning of April 25, students at Marie Curie High School, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City reported that the final exam for the second semester of grade 10 was too long and too difficult.

"It took us 30 minutes just to read the questions. The reading comprehension text was 2 A4 pages long, excerpted from the work Mustard Flower Season by the River by author Nguyen Quang Thieu.

To answer the reading comprehension questions, one must read the text over and over again, which is very time-consuming and leaves no time for writing," some students complained.

Looking at the topic makes me overwhelmed.

Many readers also have the same feeling when reading the above topic.

Reader Lan Vo wrote: "I was overwhelmed when I saw the questions. I felt sorry for the kids who had to go through a really sweaty exam." "I found the essay questions to be appropriate," reader Tran Van Tam shared.

"I tried reading it, but before I could understand it, I was already sleepy. It's truly an essay that forces 16-year-olds to struggle with their thoughts, either reading it all or answering it and going to sleep," reader Jan expressed.

Reader Hoa "also found it too long, even if you skim through it, you still have to understand it to answer correctly to get points!" Reader Tran Quang Dinh worried: "The test is too long, how do students have enough time to read and understand it to finish the test on time?"

"Recently, there have been many unique and strange literature exams that have challenged students with abstract and lofty content, especially following social media trends. I wonder if these types of questions are intended to evaluate students or are they for schools and literature groups to show off their qualifications and promote their famous schools? This phenomenon needs to be reviewed," reader Khai Phong added.

I'm used to surfing TikTok so I'm complaining about long essays?

However, many readers have the opposite opinion about this topic.

"Thinking that the text is long and overwhelming is because students are only used to writing short texts. In reality, the length of the text in this test is not beyond the students' reading ability and time frame. Reading this text slowly only takes a maximum of 15 minutes, not 30 minutes. 10th grade students who read too slowly need to review their reading skills," said reader Pham Tuyet.

Reader Minh Duy commented: "Although the essay is long, the questions are clear and not difficult. Students can still answer each idea by skimming through them, without having to read carefully."

"Although the material is long, given the genre's requirements, if it is shortened it could be confusing for readers," reader Thao added.

Meanwhile, the account hung****@gmail.com commented: "With this much questions, if it takes 30 minutes to read, students need to review their reading ability. The IELTS test is several times longer, does anyone have any comments? Or should we make the test shorter in the future, like statuses on Facebook and TikTok for Gen Z to read and feel easily?"

Sharing the same perspective, reader Hy commented: "Students now only watch TikTok and access short information without reading books, so they complain when they see long questions. Reading two A4 pages is too simple. The questions in the exam are not difficult."

According to the Literature Teacher account: "This test is not difficult, because students have been trained in skills and have reviewed this type of test. The test is highly differentiated; suitable for the general competency assessment framework; suitable for an official test of a school-level exam.

However, the reading comprehension material is a bit long. For students with weak skills, it will take a lot of time to read. Therefore, we should choose shorter reading comprehension materials to help students feel less confused and also to help students who are not yet strong in reading comprehension skills.

What is your opinion on the above topic? Please leave your comments in the COMMENTS below this article. Thank you very much.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/de-van-co-that-su-qua-dai-hay-do-hoc-sinh-quen-luot-tiktok-20240427223158071.htm