In order for school students to be able to prepare in advance for listening during the 11th grade foreign language external examination, listening is being introduced as part of the DPA for foreign language in the 9th grade starting this year. This is stated in the methodological recommendations for the state final certification of foreign languages in institutions of general secondary education in 2018/2019. r., sent by the Ministry of Education and Culture to all local units of education.
So, this year, in the 9th grade, the DPA will be held in 3 subjects: Ukrainian language, mathematics, and the third - optional. It can be a DPA in a foreign language: English, German, French or Spanish. Attestation is carried out in writing and will consist of 3 parts:
- listening;
- reading;
- use of language.
"Last year, for the first time, we made listening a part of the external language test for foreign languages. First of all, to check to what extent the student has not only memorized the material, but can also use it to navigate freely in a foreign language environment. Of course, we heard a lot of criticism about this decision, in particular that the children were not ready for this test format. Therefore, in order for this preparation to be phased, from this year, part of the listening will also be part of the DPA foreign language tasks in the 9th grade. And I want to remind you that according to current educational programs, listening is part of the semester control of foreign languages. Listening comprehension is part of the standard of international language tests, and it should not be a surprise for our students," explained Deputy Minister of Education and Science Vadym Karandii.
Materials for DPA in foreign language in the 9th grade will be prepared by the teacher. Assignments must correspond to level A2+ for those classes studying the language at the standard level, and level B1 for classes with in-depth study of foreign languages. The student will have 60 minutes to complete them.
The listening materials must contain an audio recording of the text and one post-text task. Topics should relate to everyday communication situations and correspond to the age characteristics and interests of 9th grade students. For example, it can be a fragment of a radio program, a weather forecast, a description of something, a telephone conversation, etc.
For the audio standard level, the duration of the text should be 1-2 minutes, for in-depth study - 3-4 minutes. Pupils listen to the recording twice, after which they complete the tasks for it.
MES advises to select materials for DPA from open sources, in particular, using a number of resources specified in methodological recommendations. The same document contains detailed requirements for other parts of the foreign language certification.
For 11th-grade students, as last year, DPA in a foreign language will be an optional subject and will take place in the form of an external examination. The certification work in English (French, German, Spanish) has 59 tasks of various forms and consists of four parts:
– "Speech comprehension by ear (listening)" (16 tasks);
– "Reading" (22 tasks);
– "Use of language" (20 tasks);
– "Writing" (one task of an open form with an expanded answer).
The test will have tasks of two difficulty levels: standard and profile. Pupils who studied a foreign language at the standard or academic level must indicate the "standard" level when registering for the external examination (they receive a score for the DPA for completing the part of the test that corresponds to the standard or academic level). Those who studied the language at the professional level should indicate the level of difficulty of the tasks "professional" (such students receive an assessment for DPA based on the results of completing the tasks of the entire test).
