Over the past few years, Russian education has been actively working to expand the list of exams that students must pass at the end of 11th grade. So, the question of whether the Unified State Examination will become mandatory in English and from what year turned out to be one of the most controversial: it was this decision that caused the greatest number of disputes.
Why do we need a mandatory exam in the English language?
English is a discipline that an ordinary student has been studying for 10 years: from the second to eleventh grade. It would seem that during this time you can learn it at a good level. However, the news that the USE in English will become mandatory has caused a lot of negative feedback from not only children but also parents. This is due to the fact that most of them simply do not understand why one more required exam is needed if the graduate does not want to connect his life with linguistics or international relations.
The official position of the Ministry of Education, in whose department the secondary education is located, is as follows: English is the language of international communication, and in a world set up for globalization, the skill of communicating with representatives of other cultures is especially relevant. Therefore, each student who has received an education must be able to understand English and communicate in it. It is the development of these skills that is the goal of introducing the required English exam.
Positive sides
Despite many complaints and discontent, mandatory for all exam in English has its advantages. Firstly, it is an incentive to learn a foreign language at least at a basic level. So, having shown a little more diligence and perseverance in school lessons, the student will have key ideas about the structure, grammar and vocabulary of the English language. So in the future, if desired, he will be able to restore the remaining gaps and pull his knowledge to the desired level. If, in adulthood, he still does not need professional English proficiency, at least his knowledge will be enough to maintain a domestic dialogue abroad or place an order in an online store.
In addition, it is likely that the need to pass the exam in English will definitely prompt students to study it, as well as their parents.
Minuses
Although the above advantages seem to be enough, there are still negative consequences, and there are many of them. First of all, let's be honest, an ordinary comprehensive school is not a place where you can learn a foreign language. Despite the allotted three hours a week, students at best are able to perform typical grammar tasks and make sentences according to a pattern.
An additional exam will only increase the level of stress and stress, which already goes off scale.
Due to the inefficiency of school lessons, the demand for tutors and language courses is likely to increase, but not every family can afford the additional costs, especially for a subject that is not needed for admission.
Since what year is the exam in English a compulsory exam?
Ordinary schoolchildren and their parents like it or not, but the decision to introduce English into the list of required exams has already been made. In many interviews and public speeches, Minister of Education O. Yu. Vasilieva says that in some regions a test exam will be held already in 2020. The mandatory exam in the English language will be by 2022. This means that the current eighth graders will write it first, and in some regions, the tenth graders. It is believed that it was at this point that the Russian education system would be completely reorganized in accordance with the requirements of the new time, and schoolchildren would be ready to write an exam without the help of tutors.
Basic and profile level: what is the difference.
The existing English exam is quite complicated. According to official sources, in order to write it “excellent”, you must have a level corresponding to B2 in the pan-European system. It includes tasks of increased complexity, such as an essay, or a detailed written statement, as well as oral analysis and comparison of pictures, which requires the ability to spontaneously and quickly express your thoughts in a foreign language. It is extremely difficult to achieve such results without a long and thorough study of English, so it is not surprising that for the obligatory examination there is a division of the exam into two levels: basic and core.
The profile level is intended for graduates who are seriously engaged in languages who need an exam to enter the university. It will be very similar to the existing exam, both in structure and level of complexity. Probably not even undergo any major changes.
To create a basic level, judging by the statements of the Ministry, the existing format of VLR in English will be taken as a basis.
What skills are required to successfully pass the required English exam?
The basic level will correspond to the level of A2-B1, they say in the ministry. This means that the student must be able to communicate on everyday topics: talk about his family, interests, hobbies, plans for the future. It should not be a problem for him to order food in a restaurant, pay a bill, go to the store. He is able to discuss working issues at a basic level, which is within the scope of his permanent competence.
The student must understand English non-adapted speech in simple dialogs or texts, but for more complex topics, such as reading serious foreign media, his knowledge is not enough.
Job Format
Probably, the basic level will include four blocks: listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary, speaking. To complete the tasks it is enough to know the simplest vocabulary, to be able to understand and put into practice the basic grammatical constructions.
In listening, students are invited to listen to a short friendly dialogue and answer questions directly answered in the recording.
When completing reading assignments, students should compare headings and short, no more than 3-4 sentences, texts.
The grammar and vocabulary block includes the simplest word formation, where you need to convert the given word so that it fits correctly into the text, as well as the task of comparing spaces in the text and the words matching with them.
Oral utterance involves a description of the photo to choose from three. At the same time, the student must imagine that he is telling his friend about it and use vocabulary appropriate to the situation, be able to accurately name the objects depicted in the picture, and also clearly articulate their thoughts.
Important note: this job description is based on your existing English language vocabulary. Probably some tasks may change or disappear altogether, some may be added. It depends on the year from which the compulsory exam in English will be introduced, and how by that time the approaches and requirements to control students' knowledge will change. However, the overall level of knowledge testing will remain the same.
How to prepare for the English exam ?
Given that basic English is positioned as an easy exam, a test for which each student who regularly attends school lessons is able to get a test, he will not require special preparation. Probably, it is worth taking the lessons of the English language more seriously, independently doing homework and sorting out existing mistakes with the teacher, knowing the vocabulary and grammar provided by the school textbook.
Additionally, you can watch movies and TV shows in English to better understand conversational speech, as well as read adapted literature or at least entertaining English-language media to expand your vocabulary. If you wish, it is useful to find a pen-pal to practice learning how to formulate your own thoughts into statements in a foreign language.
Summing up, we can say that no matter what year the mandatory exam in English will be introduced, its study can begin now, because this is a really important skill in the modern world.