The Ministry of Education and Training has just sent an official dispatch to the Departments of Education and Training on guidelines for implementing secondary education tasks for the 2024-2025 school year. In particular, the Ministry of Education and Training noted a number of issues regarding the Literature test.

Accordingly, for the Literature subject, avoid using texts and excerpts learned in textbooks as test materials to assess reading comprehension and writing skills in periodic tests, in order to overcome the situation where students only memorize lessons or copy content from available documents.

In addition, assessment must be consistent with the teaching plan; periodic testing and assessment should be enhanced through practical exercises and learning projects.

Many teachers support this policy and say that it has been applied for 2-3 years now. Teacher Dinh Thi Thuy, who graduated with a Master's degree in Literature, majoring in Literary Theory, said that not using textbook materials will free up dependent thinking, and eliminate the habit of guessing and predicting questions like before. Students are encouraged to be proactive in interpreting issues raised in works as well as in life. The feasibility of this testing method is completely well-founded," Ms. Thuy emphasized.

Ms. NTT, a famous Literature teacher in Hanoi, shared her wish that teaching and testing would be unified and in line with the direction of innovation. Reality shows that some schools are implementing the right direction. But some schools still have the situation of rote learning and model learning.

Many students shared that the extra-book materials are not constrained by available texts, so students can more easily develop their creativity with their own writing style. Those who love Literature will really like this way of learning, but there are students in the class who find such a change quite difficult.

However, there are still concerns that inappropriate materials outside textbooks will be chosen for literature exams, such as materials that are too long, making it difficult for average students to access and read and understand.

Avoid giving arbitrary questions.

Regarding the use of materials outside of textbooks, Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy said that when using materials outside of textbooks, it does not mean using them arbitrarily. The spirit is that the materials used to create exam questions must be evaluated and ensure quality; the questions must be based on the goals that need to be achieved in the program. Materials are taken from official documents, with the name of the publisher,...

Ms. Thuy Anh, a Literature teacher in Hanoi, said that teachers give texts outside of textbooks, then students apply the knowledge they have learned to read, understand, and express their opinions on a social issue.

“The selected text will be of the same type, genre and may be of the same topic or author as included in the textbook. The questions have a common format and are not difficult for teachers. The selected text will be of the same type, genre and may be of the same topic or author as included in the textbook,” Ms. Thuy stated.

According to Ms. Thuy Anh, with a question format like the one above, the teacher first selects a text (poetry/prose) and then builds the question matrix, then builds the question. Accordingly, 4 reading comprehension questions (4 points) + 1 question on writing a literary or social argumentative paragraph from this text (2 points) + 1 question on writing a literary or social argumentative essay (4 points).

Ms. Thuy Anh gives an example: Students learn about six-eight poetry and then have the skills to appreciate six-eight poetry. The topic will take a six-eight poem outside the curriculum with a suitable topic. For example, take a six-eight poem about mother. There are many six-eight poems about mother, with such topics and genres, it is difficult to distinguish which author is familiar to students. So the teacher can take the poem "Sick Mother" by Tran Dang Khoa. The poem and the author are suitable for the students' ability to receive.

The teacher then asks questions related to the knowledge the children have learned and tests the students' reading comprehension.

“Why did poet Tran Dang Khoa use the situation of his mother being sick to express his feelings, emotions...? Point out a rhetorical device and state its effect. Thus, question 1 is reading comprehension skills; question 2 is applying knowledge of perception + reading comprehension. If literary argumentation is writing a paragraph, social argumentation will be writing an essay or vice versa” - Ms. Thuy shared how to set the questions.

According to Ms. Thuy, with such a way of teaching, teachers must also constantly develop themselves. Thinking makes teachers' skills sharper and emotions more passionate.

According to Ms. Thuy Anh, students need to prepare a broad literary background as well as express their own feelings and apply methods to solve problems and develop their own feelings.

"To learn the new program well, there is no other way but to know how to do it, read a lot to broaden your literary knowledge to ensure breadth and depth for your work" - this teacher said.

Do Hop