Does not using textbook materials to create essay questions prevent students from memorizing?

Many teachers support the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)'s regulation that schools do not use texts, excerpts, or materials from textbooks in periodic literature tests. This aims to help students flexibly apply the knowledge and skills they have learned when taking tests with new texts of the same genre, instead of depending on textbooks and sample texts.

Prevent studying in the cupboard, study according to sample texts

Since the new general education program was issued, most teachers have known about the above question-making method. Using materials outside of textbooks to create test and exam questions has also been applied by many schools in the past 3 years.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, a literature teacher at Thai Binh High School for the Gifted (Thai Binh), assessed that this new method of setting questions helps solve the problem of rote learning and improve students' problem-solving ability. "Using texts outside of textbooks as reading and discussion materials helps solve the problem of teaching and learning according to model texts and improve students' problem-solving ability," Ms. Thuy emphasized.

The purpose of teaching literature is to help learners practice their ability to process texts of the same type that they have learned, write and present the problems of new texts themselves, not just to penetrate and memorize the content of specific texts that have been learned.

"In the new general education program, the requirement for literature is to develop reading comprehension, writing, analysis and commentary skills, while stimulating creativity in new thinking, which is an important skill. Language materials are just the outer shell, while the capacity and skills that students are equipped with are the core." Ms. Thuy said.

Sharing the same opinion, Ms. Nguyen Thao Linh, a literature teacher at Co Loa High School (Hanoi) assessed that the new regulation will completely solve the problem of rote teaching, rote learning, and chasing achievements for many years, causing many students and even teachers to lack initiative and creativity.

"This innovation will also help to evaluate students fairly. When doing a new test by themselves, students are forced to use their own brainpower, not relying on memorization or rote learning. Then, teachers will also have more objective assessments of each student's abilities." Ms. Linh said that this innovation is completely consistent with the development trend of Vietnamese education in international relations.

Exam marking needs to be more objective.

Any method has its advantages and disadvantages. With a new work, the time it takes for students to deeply understand it is a limitation. Especially for average and weak students, understanding these works is even more difficult.

From the above limitations, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy emphasized that the role of teachers in guiding and guiding is very important. To do this, teachers need to cultivate and improve their professional capacity.

"Teachers are required to read all current textbooks to provide comprehensive methods for students. This will lead students to develop positivity and initiative in approaching literary works, so that students are not confused by materials they have never read before." Ms. Thuy said.

With the new method of setting questions, teachers are proactive in choosing materials, but they cannot "choose any material they like". When choosing materials, they need to be suitable for students instead of choosing according to the teacher's preferences.

The female teacher further emphasized that the selected materials must have clear origins, be fully cited, and focus on works of artistic value, capable of evoking aesthetic feelings and good life values ​​for students.

Regarding student evaluation, Ms. Nguyen Thao Linh expressed that with open exam questions and open answers, the scoring method must also be more open and objective.

"When the answers are no longer governed by the familiar conclusions in textbooks, teachers should not impose on students a mechanical framework they have given, because each student will have different reading comprehension and perception abilities," Ms. Linh emphasized.

In the guidance document, the Ministry of Education and Training requires that the testing and assessment of literature must be carried out in accordance with regulations, not exceeding the requirements of the program, and periodic testing and assessment through practice exercises and learning projects should be increased.

Schools need to strengthen the construction of question banks and test matrices according to the requirements of the subject program, prepare 9th grade students to get acquainted with the orientation of the entrance exam to grade 10, and 12th grade students to get acquainted with the orientation of the high school graduation exam.