Consequences of taking materials outside textbooks

Do not use materials from textbooks in test and exam questions to limit the situation of studying model texts, but test questions easily fall into a situation of controversial materials.

Escape from the sample text

In the 2024-2025 school year, the Ministry of Education and Training requires schools not to use textbook materials for periodic testing. Previously, the Ministry issued an official dispatch specifying the direction for innovation in testing and assessment of the 2018 general education program, including the regulation of not using textbook materials to assess students' reading and writing skills in final exams. These regulations have created a new reality in schools, which is the basis for innovation in the high school graduation exam in 2025.

Literature exam/test questions always cause controversy in public opinion. Photo: NHU Y

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Manh Hung, former main coordinator, Development Board of General Education Program 2018, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnamese Language and Literature textbooks, acknowledged that because the situation of teaching and learning according to "model texts" has been quite serious and prolonged for a long time, the regulation of avoiding using learned materials in textbooks for periodic testing and assessment by the Ministry of Education and Training can be considered a technical solution, suitable for the current situation.

Tests, midterm and final exams in localities have been designed in a new direction to assess students' abilities, gradually eliminating the ability to answer questions based on memorization and copying. "In recent times, innovation in testing and assessment has encouraged teachers to change themselves. Many teachers are more diligent in reading books, proactive in searching for documents and texts, especially literary works, and improving their ability to evaluate texts," said Mr. Hung.

Due to non-standard material

Recently, the mid-term I Literature test for grade 10 at Mac Dinh Chi High School, Ho Chi Minh City, caused controversy when it required students to write an essay discussing the "promiscuous" lifestyle of today's youth. At the end of 2023, public opinion "picked out mistakes" in the 12th grade Literature test questions and answers about Da Co Hoai Lang of An Giang province. The Literature test for selecting national excellent high school students for the 2023-2024 school year of the Ministry of Education and Training also received many mixed comments on the social argumentation question when it included an excerpt from Antoine Compagnon's work The Fate of Theory: Literature and Common Sense.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Hanoi National University of Education, said that controversial exam questions often do not follow the standard texts that students have learned. Therefore, when using materials other than textbooks, test makers should use texts equivalent to the programs that students have learned.

Using materials that are not representative of the text genre can be risky. “When writing a work, the author is not aware of the genre. When putting it into the exam, the person who sets the questions must use materials that ensure the characteristics of the genre and the standard of scientific information,” Ms. Thuy noted. Having set exam questions for the high school graduation exam or the national high school exam in the past, she often argued that the text did not ensure the correct genre.

Many teachers believe that controversial exams/tests are often due to non-compliance with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. For example, the exam at Mac Dinh Chi High School does not ensure that it must test at least two of the students' abilities: reading comprehension and writing.

From the perspective of a program developer, Associate Professor Bui Manh Hung worries that the test questions only use materials outside the textbook, which could lead to students neglecting to study the works in the textbook. “Students may not take seriously or pay attention to studying the texts in the textbook, but only focus on practicing according to the Ministry of Education and Training's sample questions, creating a deviation.

If so, students cannot master literary knowledge and it will be difficult for them to develop the skills to apply literary knowledge to reading and writing, meeting the requirements of exams and assessments," Mr. Hung commented. According to him, it is necessary to foresee the risks and have appropriate solutions. For a long time, students still have the habit of studying for the exam.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, a Literature teacher at the Foreign Language High School, Hanoi National University, believes that the Ministry of Education and Training should have unified regulations on materials, on authors who have been assessed, and on works that have been answered by time. Teachers should also consider which texts to choose as materials for assessment and testing, which must be appropriate in terms of ideology, education, and psychology for the age of students at each level of education.

Source: https://danviet.vn/de-thi-kiem-tra-mon-ngu-van-gay-tranh-cai-he-luy-tu-viec-lay-ngu-lieu-ngoai-sgk-20241101143913024.htm