Is the high school graduation English exam as difficult as the IELTS exam?

đề thi tiếng anh - Ảnh 1. — High school graduation English exam makes it difficult for many candidates - Photo: NGUYEN KHANG

After the English exam on the morning of June 27, many candidates studying the 2018 program "complained" on social networking sites.

"I thought I was taking the IELTS test"

Commenting on a Facebook post with thousands of shares about this year's English exam, Hoang Vu wrote: "Teacher, it's really beyond the students' ability! The exam is long, the vocabulary is rich, and it's difficult to identify and classify the answers, teacher!"

Nguyen Thanh Thuy said: "This is too much for us. The reading section is too long and has many difficult words. If you can complete this test within 50 minutes, IELTS will be easier than eating candy."

Candidate Nguyen Phuong Linh: "Sitting in the exam room doing English questions felt like taking the IELTS Reading test."

Another account named Thuy Linh Le commented: "It's better than the college entrance exam. Getting into English pedagogy is much easier than the graduation exam."

Meanwhile, candidate Bao Chau commented: "This year, English is optional, not mandatory like before. Students who choose to take the English exam must have the ability and level, so the questions are always 'close'. In previous years, because the whole country took the English exam, the questions had to be suitable for the average student."

How difficult is the English test?

Mr. Phung Quang Huy - an IELTS test preparation teacher in Hanoi - assessed the difficulty level of the high school graduation English exam (2018 high school program) as "equal to" the IELTS or TOEFL exam.

He assessed that the test did not follow the "old ways" of previous tests: the test materials were taken directly from newspapers, real life, and real conversations... instead of purely "bookish" situations and paragraphs. That is why the vocabulary in the test is more difficult and requires candidates to read a lot and know a lot of real English to be able to do it.

For example, with test 1105, right from the first "punched" passage, the questions were at a fairly average level. The two reading passages from questions 7-14, and questions 20-29 were "really difficult and even teachers would not easily get 100% correct," he said.

"I think with this English test, those who get a score of 8 or higher are extremely excellent," he said.

English test code 1105

Master Tran Ngoc Huu Phuoc - Head of the English Department at Bui Thi Xuan High School - commented that this year's high school graduation English exam is very vocabulary-heavy. He explained that out of the 40 questions on this year's exam, about 10 are grammar questions, which students can do without too much challenge.

There are about 25 questions that focus on vocabulary. In particular, the reading passage requires filling in phrases, the vocabulary is very difficult and the complexity of each sentence is very high. "I rate the vocabulary in this reading passage at English level B2 or higher. Only very good students dare to confidently do this reading passage," he said.

From another perspective, Master Tran Ngoc Huu Phuoc said that part of the reason for the "upgrade" in difficulty of this year's exam lies in the fact that English has become an optional subject in the 2018 high school program. If English was a compulsory subject in previous years, the exam would be "easy", because all candidates - including those who are good and not so good at English - will participate.

Besides, according to him, the exam questions were quite close to the policy of the 2018 generaleducation program, focusing on developing learners' abilities. For example, with this exam, those who study more books, newspapers, and English television will do better than those who only study from books or practice questions in textbooks. That is a positive aspect.

"However, in the first year, the level of the test was very difficult, which can shock many students," he said.

English teacher training student: 'Students below B2 have difficulty completing the test on time, B2 - C1 students also run out of steam'

Nguyen Nhan Tri - currently studying for a bachelor's degree in English education in Ho Chi Minh City - commented that this year's English exam clearly shows the orientation of assessing ability instead of simply testing knowledge. To do well on this exam, students need to have a rich vocabulary, deep reading comprehension and tight reasoning skills.

"Compared to the sample test, the structure is quite similar, but the level of challenge is higher. The reading test is long, the 4 answers are colorful and wordy, making students spend a lot of time reading. In 50 minutes, having to deal with 40 questions of this length and complexity will be a big challenge - even for students with a good English foundation or who have achieved high scores in international certificates."

Tri emphasized: "Even those who are good and experienced in learning English can only be confident at level 9+. To get a score of 10, you really need to have knowledge, language skills and the ability to analyze quickly and accurately. It's not easy. I think this year there will not be inflation of 9 and 10 scores like previous years."

Subjective intelligence said: "Students with abilities below B2 almost cannot finish the test in time. B2 - C1 students also have to be very 'out of breath' to finish. In particular, this year's reading comprehension section is truly 'terrible', both long and has many difficult words, including questions requiring guessing the meaning of vocabulary based on context, where the words asked are rare, while the answers are more familiar words, used to test students' reasoning ability."

Tri cited a question in the exam where the correct answer was the word 'superficial', a word at level C2. "Using a high-level word to explain another high-level word, no wonder students 'cry out'. For me, I'm used to it so I can guess, but for high school students, questions like that will be a big obstacle," he said.