Specialized school teachers reveal how to grade literature according to the new program

(Dan Tri) - Ms. Thai Thi Thanh Huyen - Head of the Literature Department of Ha Tinh Specialized High School - said that the way of grading high school graduation exam literature according to the new program has changed compared to before.

According to Ms. Thai Thi Thanh Huyen, changing the way literature exams are graded according to the 2018 generaleducation program is inevitable.

In the past, teaching literature mainly aimed to convey knowledge, which was available interpretations of works. But according to the new program, teaching literature has shifted to the goal of developing language ability, thinking and personal perception.

“In the 2018 general education program, literature is no longer a “ready-made dish” for students to memorize and present, but becomes living material for students to explore , respond to and create on their own.

Therefore, the grading of essays must also change. It is impossible to grade the old way when the writing is created from the new teaching method.

Candidates taking the 2025 high school graduation exam in Hanoi (Photo: Hai Long).

An essay is no longer a “copy of a model essay”, but a “personal language product” that reflects each student's level of understanding, feeling, thinking, reasoning ability and expression style.

Changing the grading method is not only a technical requirement, but also an innovation in professional thinking, in the way we view learners from recipients to creative subjects," Ms. Huyen shared on the Van Chuong Man Dam page.

The biggest differences in the way essays are graded in the past and present are pointed out by Ms. Huyen as follows:

Regarding the assessment and grading of writing according to the old program, it mainly revolved around “correct knowledge”. Students who wrote correctly, wrote correctly, and analyzed correctly would get high scores.

The essay grading system under the new program will assess comprehensive abilities such as perception, thinking, expression and personal expression. An essay may not be complete with all arguments, but if it shows depth of thought and sincerity in writing style, it will still be evaluated well.

Regarding the marking method, the old way of marking essays will be marked according to each idea. An essay that is correct in one major idea will receive 1 point, and a mistake will be deducted. However, the new way of marking essays will consider the entire essay from the argument, the arrangement of ideas, the quality of evidence, the persuasiveness to the emotions in the expression.

In addition, the concept of writing length has changed. Previously, a 5-7 page essay, filled with notebooks, was often considered a difficult essay. Nowadays, a good essay is one that is coherent, concise, and to the point.

In terms of argumentative thinking, old literature tends to interpret according to the model of introduction - body - conclusion. Each paragraph has a specific outline, students only need to develop it in the correct order. Meanwhile, "modern literature" allows students to flexibly change the structure, know how to make inferences, associations, and connections at the right time to clarify the problem, and express personal thinking.

Ms. Huyen also emphasized that the criteria for right and wrong in grading essays are no longer as clear as before. The grading of “literature” today is more “open”, with many correct ways and approaches, as long as it is reasonable and convincing.

In particular, the creative element is considered a big plus.

Candidates discuss after the literature exam (Photo: Hai Long).

“In the past, creativity that was different from the answer was sometimes considered “deviant”. Now, creativity in the right direction, good reasoning, and showing personal qualities are always recognized and encouraged,” Ms. Huyen shared.

With the above differences, Ms. Huyen believes that the role of the essay grader under the new program has also changed. If in the past, the essay grader was the one who “checked the accuracy of the questions”, now he is the one who “appraises the art of language”, responsible for discovering potential and recording individual voices.

In that context, Ms. Huyen proposed 4 important principles when grading literature exams according to the new program, which are: shifting from grading "correct" to grading "good", from wordiness to coherence, from making answers artistic to making them artistic, and from the grader to the companion.

“Each essay is a draft of the soul. We not only evaluate, but also contribute to nurturing young writers. The graders need to be more tolerant with the students. Even if their reading comprehension is still a bit naive and does not match the answers, but in return, the students have their own interpretations and feelings, which are also worthy of respect and should not be deducted heavily,” Ms. Huyen stated her opinion.

Ms. Thai Thi Thanh Huyen is the founder of the Literature and Conversation page and also the Head of the Literature Department at Ha Tinh Specialized High School.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/giao-vien-truong-chuyen-tiet-lo-cach-cham-van-theo-chuong-trinh-moi-20250626205448466.htm