In Russia, it is planned to introduce a mandatory Unified State Examination (USE) in a foreign language by 2022. This statement was made by the head of Rosobrnadzor Sergey Kravtsov at the annual meeting to sum up the results of the USE campaign.

“From 2022, a foreign language will be introduced, we are already developing assignments. We take into account the results of the OGE in order to have objective results. In 2021, we will probably conduct a mass approbation. If a foreign language is mandatory, then it will be two-level. The fact that English will be divided into two levels is out of the 2010 standard,” Kravtsov explained.

The Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva also stated this earlier. During a direct line with Russian President Vladimir Putin, she said that it is planned to introduce a foreign language exam in 2022, and in 2020 to test this project in 19 regions.

Also on topic

"The basic content of textbooks should be the same throughout the country": Minister of Education Vasilyeva - in an interview with RT

The Minister of Education and Science of Russia Olga Vasilyeva, in an exclusive interview with RT, spoke about the priorities in the development of the education system ...

Speaking about the situation with foreign languages ​​in Russia in general, the minister said that in the near future there are no plans to introduce a second compulsory foreign language, as this is a very big burden on students and teachers.

“We cannot now afford two languages ​​in all schools, we will not learn them! We need to know Russian well, which we do not know very well. We need to know a foreign language well, preferably English - this is the language of international communication today, ”said Vasilyeva.

"The right way"

Representatives of educational institutions positively evaluate the initiative of the ministry. According to the director of the Moscow School No. 548 Efim Rachevsky, in the light of the strengthening of Russia's position in the international arena and the development of interaction with foreign countries, it is simply necessary to improve the quality of teaching foreign languages.

“The Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva outlined the right path, she did it a year ago when she first spoke about it. Rosobrnadzor is doing the right thing by introducing this exam. Today, when we talk about the need to build a digital economy, digital culture, new engineering, it is impossible to do without the language of international communication - and so far English is. But we need to change methods and technologies, textbooks, organize language practices,” he stressed.

• Moscow City News Agency

The same opinion is shared by the director of school No. 606 with in-depth study of English in the Pushkinsky district, a member of the Association of the Best Directors of Russia, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences Marina Shmulevich. In an interview with RT, she explained that a foreign language gives any specialist access to the international level and opens up wider horizons.

“What the Minister of Education has proposed is reasonable. When a child leaves the walls of an educational institution, he is ashamed not to know the international language. This cuts off the opportunity to be in the center of events, to receive information, ”the teacher explained.

According to Shmulevich, it is not so difficult to implement the ministry's program "with a competent approach and despite the fact that this will be done by professionals." In her opinion, it is necessary to make several levels of the exam: those who have a specialized foreign language for this will take the more difficult option, and those for whom it will become only an auxiliary discipline will take the easier option.

“When basic mathematics and profile mathematics were introduced, no one switched to a special program, everyone should know the basics. I believe that there should also be such a division with the English language, ”concluded the director of school No. 606.

Preparatory work

Lyubov Dukhanina, member of the central headquarters of the All-Russian Popular Front, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science, said that a lot of work would need to be done in all areas to implement the initiative.

“Behind this is not one, but several complex problems - the level of teacher training, the material and technical base, the quality of educational literature, the opportunity to practice with native speakers. In order for 2022 not to turn into low scores for most graduates, their (problems. - RT) must be decided now,” she stressed.

Dukhanina also noted that today not all teachers have sufficient skills to prepare students for the exam in a foreign language. Especially in rural educational institutions, some teachers of a foreign language "do not have a perfect command of phonetic and grammatical norms." It is also necessary to change the content of textbooks, where the distribution of work in the classroom and at home is not well thought out.

“When we carried out a test purchase of a line of English textbooks, the sellers recommended that along with the textbook and workbook, we also buy materials for the teacher and for the parent, since sales practice suggests that the child cannot do homework on his own, and the parent even with the knowledge language without the author's instructions will not be able to help him, ”said the deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science.

• © Grigory Sysoev
• RIA News

In 2018, it was possible to pass the exam in English, French, German and Spanish. This was announced by the head of Rosobrnadzor Anzora Muzaeva.

“About 88,500 people applied to take the oral part of the Unified State Examination in foreign languages, of which more than 85,000 signed up for the English language exam,” the ministry’s press release says.

Over the past few years, Russian education has been actively working to expand the list of exams that schoolchildren must pass at the end of grade 11. So, the question of whether the USE in English will become mandatory and from what year turned out to be one of the most controversial: it was this decision that caused the most controversy.

Why do we need a mandatory exam in English?

English is a discipline that an ordinary student studies for 10 years: from the second to the 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 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 another mandatory 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 secondary general education is located, is as follows: English is the language of international communication, and in a world tuned to globalization, the ability to communicate with representatives of other cultures is especially relevant. Therefore, every student who has received an education should be able to understand English speech and speak it. It is the development of these skills that is the goal of introducing a mandatory English exam.

Positive sides

Despite a lot of complaints and dissatisfaction, the USE, which is mandatory for all 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 improve his knowledge to the desired level. If in adult life he does not need professional knowledge of English, at least his knowledge will be enough to support everyday 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 encourage not only children, but also their parents to study it.

Minuses

Although the advantages listed above 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 the place where you can learn a foreign language. Despite the allotted three hours a week, students are at best able to complete typical grammar tasks and form sentences according to a template.

An additional exam will only increase the level of workload and stress, which goes off scale without it.

Due to the inefficiency of school lessons, the demand for tutors and language courses will most likely increase, but not every family can afford additional expenses, especially for a subject that is not needed for admission.

Since what year is the USE in English a mandatory exam?

Whether ordinary schoolchildren and their parents like it or not, the decision to introduce English into the list of compulsory exams has already been made. In many interviews and public speeches, the Minister of Education O. Yu. Vasilyeva says that in some regions a trial exam will be held as early as 2020. The USE in English will become mandatory by 2022. This means that the current eighth graders will be the first to write it, and in some regions, tenth graders. It is believed that it is by this moment that the Russian education system will be completely reorganized in accordance with the requirements of the new time, and schoolchildren will be ready to write an exam without resorting to the help of tutors.

Basic and profile level: what is the difference.

The current English exam is quite difficult. According to official sources, in order to write it "excellent", you need to 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 one's thoughts in a foreign language. Without a long and thorough study of English, it is extremely difficult to achieve such results, therefore it is not surprising that for the mandatory delivery, the USE is divided into two levels: basic and specialized.

The profile level is intended for graduates who are seriously involved in languages, who need an exam for admission to a university. It will be very similar to the existing USE, both in structure and level of difficulty. It probably won't even undergo any major changes.

To create a basic level, judging by the statements of the ministry, the existing format of the VLOOKUP 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 A2-B1, the ministry says. This means that the student should 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 operational issues at a basic level that is within the scope of his permanent competence.

The student must understand unadapted English speech in simple dialogues or texts, but for more complex topics, such as reading serious foreign media, his knowledge is not enough.

Task 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, be able to understand and apply basic grammatical constructions in practice.

In listening, students are invited to listen to a short friendly dialogue and answer questions, the answers to which are directly given in the recording.

When performing reading assignments, students must match headings and short, no longer than 3-4 sentences, texts.

The block of grammar and vocabulary includes the simplest word formation, where you need to transform the given word so that it fits correctly into the text, as well as the task of matching spaces in the text and matching words.

Oral utterance involves a description of a photo from a choice of three. At the same time, the student must imagine that he is telling his friend about it and use the vocabulary appropriate for the situation, be able to accurately name the objects depicted in the picture, and also clearly formulate his thoughts.

Important Note: This assignment description is based on an existing English VLOOKUP. Probably, some tasks may change or disappear altogether, some may be added. It depends on the year from which the mandatory USE in English will be introduced, and how the approaches and requirements for monitoring students' knowledge will change by that time. However, the general level of knowledge testing will remain the same.

language?

Considering that basic English is positioned as an easy exam, in which every student who regularly attends school lessons can get credit, he will not require special preparation. It is probably worth taking English lessons more seriously, doing homework on your own and sorting out existing mistakes with the teacher, knowing the vocabulary and grammar provided by the school textbook.

Additionally, you can watch films and TV shows in English to better understand spoken language, as well as read adapted literature or at least entertainment English-language media to expand your vocabulary. If you wish, it is useful to find a pen pal in order to learn in practice how to formulate your own thoughts into statements in a foreign language.

Summing up, we can say that no matter what year the mandatory USE in English will be introduced, you can start studying it now, because this is a truly important skill in the modern world.

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USE in English: teacher's view

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• 20.06.2017

Recently passed the exam in a foreign language. According to Rosobrnadzor, every 11th graduate chose him, and most of them - an English language exam. It is not too long to wait until the USE in English becomes a mandatory exam. Is this exam necessary, important and effective in principle? About this - in the teacher of foreign languages, deputy director of the Humanitarian Lyceum Alexander Filyand.

How effective, important, is this exam necessary

So, since 2013, a voluntary USE in English has been introduced in our schools, and from 2020 it will become mandatory. Let me repeat once again: only in English, at least for now information is only about English. In my opinion, this is all the more strange that the GIA in the 9th grade, that is, 2 years before passing the exam, you can take a choice of one of 4 languages: English, German, French or Spanish. It's a pity there is no Italian, and then in any case, it would be an ideal range of choice out of 5 possible. And in the 11th grade, it means that it will be possible to take only English? But what if the child has been learning some other language all these years? Does anyone who makes such a decision seriously believe that in 2 years the vast majority of such children will be able to learn English from scratch to the level required for passing the exam?

I doubt that any serious and honest teacher will answer unequivocally in the affirmative to this question. After all, preparation for the exam includes not so much knowledge of the subject as a thorough knowledge of those specific requirements and a detailed acquaintance with those specific tasks that are needed to pass the exam. Plus, the problems and challenges of adolescence, the difficulties of a rebuilding organism, explosions of feelings and emotions. During this period of life, it is very difficult to start learning something serious and complex from scratch, and such a need usually does not cause enthusiasm among teenagers. That is, it is one thing if children who already know English at least at some decent level come to the tenth grade in order to understand the specifics of these tasks. And it’s a completely different matter if a child has been learning a completely different language for many years, and now they are required to take the exam in English.

There is no greater torment for any teacher when a 15- (or even 16-) year old student is brought to him, who has not studied English at all before, does not know the most elementary things, and he needs to be taught the language well and fluently in a year or two. prepare a high score on the exam. The child is on nerves, the parents are in a panic, the teacher is horrified. And, of course, the exam in English. will not be the only one, so the burden on the child in these last 2 years of school life will be truly colossal. After all, a mandatory USE in the history of Russia is also being introduced. And no one canceled existing exams. After all, children seem to need to rest sometime.

Experience of foreign colleagues

I have repeatedly written before, and I will repeat now, that I am madly in love with the Cambridge scale exams: KET, PET, FCE, CAE, CPE. In my opinion, this is the best and most carefully developed and constantly improved system for preparing for exams and comprehensive testing of knowledge in English for about a century. It is no coincidence that it served as a model for the creation of such examination systems in German, French and all other European languages, becoming the basis of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​(CEFR), as well as similar examination systems in Japanese, Russian both foreign and other languages. Therefore, our children have been preparing for this system at school for many years and at the end of the school year they go quietly to the Cambridge Authorized Centers (there are several of them in Moscow, they are in St. Petersburg and in other cities), take these exams there and about a month later they receive from England a certificate with the result. If the result is not enough, you can always work out more and after a short period of time calmly retake the exam without spoiling your nerves, not believing that life is over and you have to climb into the loop, die of grief, but simply spend some additional amount of time and money on preparation and retake (the exam and the document, of course, are paid, but the prices there are by no means exorbitant). And the nerves of children and parents under such a system are in order, and we, teachers, are very satisfied: we ourselves do not put marks, we do not deal with subjective and terribly unpleasant things, we do not argue pointlessly about grades with children and parents. We teach, we just teach. The assessment is made by a completely independent expert council of native speakers and highly qualified language teachers outside our country, which cannot be influenced in any way, and this is very good. The result of any Cambridge exam has no statute of limitations and is valid for life, unlike, for example, TOEFL or IELTS. Once I already wrote about the specifics of preparing young children for the first few Cambridge exams - KET and PET, I will certainly write about the rest soon.

The USE largely copies the Cambridge system, just at a somewhat more primitive, simplified level. Therefore, of course, our student did not have to learn anything new in the actual language, he had already passed KET, PET, FCE, without fail and consistently over several years (and those guys who wanted to connect their lives with the constant use of the language, had time by the end of school also pass the CAE), knew much more than was required to pass the exam. We, together with future graduates, looked at the specific requirements for our Unified State Examination in special manuals for the Unified State Examination, advising on what exactly to pay extra attention to.

So, however, it was and is only as long as the exam in English. did not become mandatory. Now the guys and I will not have a choice, we will have to purposefully prepare for the exam in parallel with the Cambridge exams. And, as it seems to me now, it's not so bad. The more a child studies the language at school, the more he redoes various kinds of exercises, re-reads and listens to a variety of texts, writes all kinds of letters and essays, the more exams he passes during his school years, the better it will be for him in the first place, the better he will know the language. Children, in my opinion, should study the language every day, and not forget about it for a minute.

In the field of foreign languages, the USE is the least harmful

Yes, the USE is a terrible exam, it is a kind of visible symbol of the subordination of our education to other people's rules and interests, but for now, at least such an exam is better than none. In the field of foreign languages, the USE is the least harmful, but in history or literature, in my opinion, it is necessary to return to the traditional Russian / Soviet examination system as soon as possible. But, as it seems to me personally, one exam for a serious knowledge of the language is absolutely not enough, so I strongly recommend preparing a child to pass at least FCE on the Cambridge scale. The USE is needed only for admission to a university, Cambridge exams are needed for a lifetime and the best knowledge of the language.

But still, such a total dominance of English over other beautiful European languages ​​in the USE system seems to me personally uncomfortable for many students, unpleasant for teachers and enthusiasts of other languages, and generally somewhat strange. Possibly following English. The USE will be developed and introduced according to and according to it., French. and other languages, and then a similar imbalance will return to normal. If not, it will be extremely sad. We cannot, we have no right to become a country of only one global foreign language, especially in its bastard American version, which is now being actively imposed everywhere. As a result, this can lead to rather negative results both on the mental and social level.

How many foreign languages ​​can be fully and qualitatively mastered by students during their school years?

The answer, of course, can hardly be unambiguous. A lot depends primarily on the individual characteristics of each student. But, taking into account the workload of the student, especially the senior classes, not only in languages, but also in other subjects, circles, sections, I run a very strong risk of causing your just anger, but I will say what I think: if it is at school, in the classroom, the student is fully qualified, to the conscience will learn any one foreign language during the school years, it will already be just fine. As the saying goes, less is more. All the rest can be fully learned only at home or other other extracurricular conditions.

And the point here is not only, and not so much in the extremely low level of teaching the second, etc. foreign language in our modern school. So, in principle, it was always and everywhere. Here, judge for yourself. The best and hitherto unsurpassed average (although in a number of properties and indicators already approaching the highest) educational institution of all times and peoples, according to UNESCO, is the Alexander Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Its most famous lyceum student and graduate is you know who. Well, what did Pushkin himself write in letters and diaries about his command of languages, and he wrote about this a lot, in detail and more than once - did this topic interest him very much? Latin, the main of the ancient languages, after leaving the Lyceum, he did not really know, then he re-learned it in Mikhailovsky, in exile. German, the second obligatory one of the new European languages ​​in the program, I also hardly knew, later I learned practically from scratch myself several times and forgot several times. I learned English in general on my own, from scratch before my marriage already, at almost 30 years old, in order to translate English poetry. Already a married man, after 30 years, he independently learned Spanish and the basics of Italian. That is, in fact, how A.S. to the Lyceum in 1811 with a good knowledge of French received at home, so with only excellent French from the Lyceum in 1817 he left. His knowledge of all other languages ​​was at that time, in 1817, at a rather low level. That is, it turns out that in any, even the best secondary educational institution, one language being studied always prevails, to which at least 80% of the study time and attention of the students themselves are given. All other languages ​​are perceived by children purely on a residual basis. But Pushkin's lyceum years were by no means linguistically fruitless! In the Lyceum they were taught the most important thing: to study on their own, to study all their lives! And he studied and later amazed his contemporaries both with the colossal speed of independent mastering of new languages, and with the amazing, almost professional depth of his knowledge of judgments on linguistic and philological issues. This is exactly how we try to teach our children, to teach to learn. The better we teach this, the more languages ​​at a high level our graduate will be able to master in life.

Comments (5)

In our regular school this year, the girl passed the English language with excellent marks. The main thing is to teach


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Well, yes - this principle "The main thing is to teach" turned out to be available only to one girl, whose parents did not stint on tutors.

Why EVERYONE else did not want to pass perfectly - that is the question ....

And the concept of "harmfulness of the exam" delights me immensely.



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In our rural school, current graduates of the 11th grade began to study English. language only in the 5th grade.

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"And, of course, the USE in English will not be the only one, so the burden on the child in these last 2 years of school life will be truly colossal. After all, a mandatory USE in the history of Russia is also being introduced. And no one has canceled existing exams. But children like I would have to rest at some point."

This, in my opinion, will become the main problem in preparing for the Unified State Examination, human resources are not unlimited, it is impossible to endlessly increase the number of exams, so we must offer the authors of these projects to pass all the exams themselves. After all, a person who strives for some goal teaches and gets acquainted with knowledge that lies beyond the boundaries of not only secondary, but also higher education. Today, the school curriculum is hopelessly outdated; it does not contain a number of important topics in a number of subjects.

In mathematics, the emphasis is on areas of knowledge, some of which have long lost their practical significance, and really in-demand knowledge has been left out of the school curriculum, from the standpoint of a person who, for various reasons, has worked in many engineering fields of human activity, I’m just surprised how huge the gap between really demanded knowledge in construction, economics, mechanics, in the field of knowledge of electrical circuits, programming, in the field of building logical reasoning and the basic knowledge that the school gives. But this is the knowledge that is in demand and should be given precisely at the school level, higher education cannot constantly finish teaching.

The higher school relies on the fact that the school has armed the future specialist with a minimum volume, which serves as the foundation for further training. But this is not even close, and now imagine how much you need to master on your own, when at school you are "given" what you do not need, many such "gifts" do not accept, subconsciously discarding the garbage part of knowledge that will never be in demand, or when " give" something that is not clear where it can be used (WHERE IS THE FUNCTIONALITY?).

The lie is that it develops thinking, thinking can and should be developed in fields of knowledge that are practically significant for a person, everything else will simply be thrown out by the human subconscious and safely forgotten. And who is responsible for the formation of school programs - no one. This is complete irresponsibility. Already today, the volume of homework, taking into account all kinds of garbage, has reached the limit of the capabilities of an ordinary student, I can see it perfectly on my son, he moved to the 9th grade, the time that can be spent on self-improvement is shrinking like shagreen leather from a famous work. And from above there are directives - let's do it again. Where is the reasonable approach of those who offer it? Why is such a dictate not considered violence against a person, because in reality the possibilities are already at the limit. My son came to the first grade knowing more about the history of Greece and astronomy than an ordinary school teacher, today he knows more about many topics of physics and mathematics than the teachers of these subjects at school, but for the first time he did not get 5 in the three main subjects for the year, although he took third place in the region in the international Olympiad in the same mathematics, and this is compared with the fact that a year ago one four in a quarter received in one of the lessons was considered an emergency. In the seventh grade, he received two certificates in programming, in the 8th grade - 0, the reason for the acute lack of time.

In such a situation, a legitimate question arises, is it not time to carry out a complete revision of school programs, replace garbage with tools in demand by life, free up time for sports and other interests so that the student can go and study in circles without prejudice to the school curriculum. Why should these useful strivings be pitted against each other?

The author raises an important topic, I would suggest the following - to recognize international certificates as equivalent to the highest score in the subject, this will give more opportunities for managing time, as an irreplaceable resource for any person.

Consider the possibility of creating permanent centers for taking the exam, so that the exam can be taken at any time convenient for a person. Why a person should adapt to the system, and not the system to the person. Do we have everything for a person or everything is exactly the opposite?

It is the constantly operating centers for taking exams, and not the miserable USE, that are the norm in the minds of thinking people around the world, but will we really go our own way again. There is a legitimate question! What part of world civilization are we in matters of education?

Very soon, the exam in a foreign language will become mandatory. The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation has already confirmed plans to test the new exam. First of all, of course, we are talking about English, although graduates studying other languages ​​will also be affected by the innovation. In this article, we will analyze the most common questions that students and their parents have about the compulsory foreign USE.

From what year will the mandatory USE in English be introduced?

The USE in English and other foreign languages ​​will become mandatory for all graduates in 2022. However, already in the next 2020, graduates of 11 classes in 19 regions of Russia will probably take it on a trial basis. A specific list of regions has not yet been published in the open press.

What to expect from the mandatory USE in English in 2020?

The exam, which will become mandatory in 2020, is unlikely to change compared to the current exam. It consists of two parts: written (40 tasks to be completed in three hours) and oral (four tasks, for which 15 minutes are given). The graduate demonstrates the ability to read, speak and write in a foreign language. So far, the Ministry of Education has not announced any fundamental changes in the structure of the exam.

During the oral part, which is usually given on a separate day, the teenager reads the text aloud, formulates questions, describes the picture and compares the events depicted in the two photographs. Answers are recorded on a computer using a headset (the timer on the screen counts down), and then experts listen to the recordings. There is an organizer in the audience who makes sure that the exam is held without violations.

The written part is more extensive. It includes listening (you need to listen to the recording and complete tasks on it), reading (you need to study the texts and title them), grammar and vocabulary (the ability to put the verb at the right time is checked, to form different parts of speech, choose words that are appropriate in meaning). In addition, the graduate is asked to write a response to a letter from an imaginary friend and an essay on a given topic.

How difficult will the mandatory USE in English be?

Experts are still working out approaches to the level of complexity. Much depends on the results of the All-Russian foreign language tests, which eleventh-graders will pass for the first time in March 2019. Testing will show how students speak the language.

At first, experts assumed that the mandatory state exam would be divided into basic (for obtaining a certificate) and profile (for admission to certain specialties in universities) and the basic one would be much easier: in particular, an essay and a letter to a friend would be excluded from it.

In the fall of 2018, Russian Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva announced that there would be no separation. At the same time, most teachers believe that the mandatory exam should be designed for an average level of language proficiency.

Be that as it may, schoolchildren who have so far paid little attention to a foreign language will have to improve their knowledge.

Why introduce a mandatory USE in English in 2020?

The advantages are obvious: children will have an incentive to study a foreign language more closely, and teachers will improve the quality of education. So far, only about 11% of graduates in Russia take a foreign language in the form of the Unified State Examination (95% - English, less than 3% - German, less than 1% and 2%, respectively - Spanish and French). These are those who decided to continue their education in linguistic and related specialties. The rest in high school focus on other subjects. Without constant quality practice, a foreign language is quickly forgotten. But knowledge of languages ​​today is necessary in many industries - journalism, sociology, political science, economics.

But it is worth considering that the level of language teaching in different schools can be radically different. Children who have not received good training will be forced to catch up by studying with tutors or in group courses. Self-training is suitable only for students with a good base.

How to prepare for the mandatory exam in a foreign language?

The most effective method is immersion in the language environment. It is not necessary to take a teenager abroad: you can surround him with a foreign language as much as possible at home. Watch films and videos with your child without translation (possible with subtitles), arrange "English days" when the family will only speak a foreign language. Invite the student to translate his favorite songs himself. Every day, learn a few new words with him - let him not only remember them by ear, but also write them down in a notebook. Constant reading in a foreign language will help you quickly remember how words are written and sentences are composed.

If home schooling is not enough, you will have to resort to the help of specialists. It is important to choose a tutor who already has experience in preparing children for the exam. Moreover, you need to look for a teacher not two months before testing, but ideally a year or even two.

The most common mistakes of graduates on the exam in a foreign language

The most difficult part for schoolchildren is the written part, especially the essay. Specialists of the Federal Institute of Pedagogical Measurements note that the guys replace original thoughts with clichés, make logical errors, and poorly reveal the topic. Completing tasks in grammar and vocabulary, graduates often use the verb in the wrong tense, confuse pronouns and numerals, and build phrases illiterately. Experts advise students to train not to compose separate phrases, but coherent texts in various genres.

The new educational standard for grades 10-11 provides for the introduction of a third mandatory USE - in a foreign language. Galina Rynskaya, an English teacher at the Second School Lyceum in Moscow and an expert in the UNESCO Information for All program, discusses the benefits and risks of the innovation in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Galina Olegovna, the decision to introduce a mandatory USE in a foreign language has been made, but the question of timing remains. All schools in the country will work according to the standard for high school only by 2020, but HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov proposes to make the exam in a foreign language mandatory as soon as possible. How do you feel about this idea?

I support the idea of ​​a mandatory USE in a foreign language, but the timing and methods of its implementation can and should be discussed. As a teacher, I believe that in this situation it is necessary to act prudently and gradually: introduce the mandatory USE in stages, first in a pilot mode and, depending on the results, distribute it throughout the country. I propose to start the experiment from Moscow, where English teachers receive more than other subject teachers and where most students choose the Unified State Examination in foreign languages.

Unified State Exams in foreign languages ​​are unpopular among graduates. So, only 8.5% of the total number of children passed English this year, German and French - generally tenths of a percent. Against the background of 54% of those who took social studies and 25% in physics, these are not numbers at all. How to explain such a low rating for such an important subject?

Firstly, in very few universities a foreign language is a major. Secondly, we have developed KIM in English based on foreign analogues, are unnecessarily complicated and are designed more for native speakers than for average Russian children. It is no coincidence that many graduates who go to take this exam just want to practice before entering foreign universities and colleges.

But we must prepare our children not to go abroad, but to work for the benefit of our industry and science. English, along with information technology, today is becoming an integral "gentleman's set" when applying for any more or less promising job. Knowledge of foreign languages ​​broadens one's horizons, allows one to freely communicate with peers from other countries...

Will the introduction of a mandatory USE in a foreign language help improve the quality of teaching this subject?

I hope that's exactly what happens. And most importantly, this will draw the attention of the state to this problem and move its solution off the ground. Commitment implies control, which means that the demand from students and teachers will be stricter. So far, English, like other foreign languages, is taught poorly in our country, as a secondary subject: if there is no compulsory independent examination, it is quite difficult to make requirements for teachers. Of course, interested parents will find tutors, pay them money, but not everyone has such an opportunity, and this is not a way out.

As for students, they will finally have an incentive to learn a foreign language - and not only in high school, but throughout their studies at school.

At the same time, we will not be able to implement the proposed innovation only due to the “carrot and stick” policy. A whole range of measures will be required.

- What needs to be done?

We need to act in different directions. First of all, to rework KIM in English: in its current form, they do not correspond to the tasks of our school and the real possibilities of students and teachers. In other words, the level of assignments must meet the requirements that are imposed on students in the learning process, and not sky-high foreign standards. To do this, methodologists and teachers who know school practice well should take part in the development of KIM. I also consider the introduction of the oral part promising: the ability to communicate is one of the key competencies.

And the current programs and textbooks in English should be reassessed, since many of them recommended for schools turn out to be completely ineffective.

Without a doubt, it is necessary to improve the qualifications of teachers and conduct their certification in the form of the Unified State Examination. Let them prove that they know the language they teach: they can communicate freely, answer questions, write correctly. The more teachers we have who have confirmed their qualifications, the more experts will be able to accept and evaluate the oral part of the exam in a foreign language. Those who do not pass the exam should look for another job.

What basic principles should be followed in teaching a foreign language during the transition to new standards?

The goals and objectives of teaching English at school must meet the needs of society, and the requirements for graduates must be achievable. Then the assignments for the exam will become real, and teachers and students will catch up.

Prepared by Olga Dashkovskaya, National Research University Higher School of Economics, especially for RIA Novosti.