Knowledge of a foreign language is one of the key functional competencies that a graduate should have today. Regardless of whether a person plans to continue his studies abroad and find a job in a large international company, or wants to stay in his hometown, knowledge of a foreign language will be a significant advantage and will open a variety of doors for the graduate.
It is possible that in 2018 foreign language will become a compulsory subject of the Unified State Exam. But, while the decision regarding the third compulsory subject has not been approved, the right to choose remains with the graduate.
In 2017-2018, a high score in English will allow you to apply to listed universities in the Russian Federation in a variety of areas:
- philology;
- linguistics;
- journalism;
- pedagogy;
- management;
- international relationships;
- world economy;
- sociology;
- hotel business;
- regional studies;
- anthropology…
In fact, the range of areas is much wider, because even many universities provide their applicants who want to enter technical specialties with a choice between taking physics or a foreign language.
Schedule of the Unified State Exam 2018 in a foreign language
Early period |
|
Reserve day (oral part) | |
Main period |
|
Main exam (oral part) | |
Main exam (written part) | |
Reserve day (written part) | |
Reserve day (oral part) | |
Reserve day (all subjects) | |
Changes in the Unified State Examination in English in 2018
Due to the fact that in the 2016-2017 season at KIM various items Significant changes have been made, and many alumni and faculty are closely following the news.
We are in a hurry to formulate – in 2018 the structure of exams in foreign languages will not change. Only minor amendments and clarifications will be made to the content of the CMM.
Like last year, the structure of the 2018 Unified State Exam in English will consist of two blocks:
- written part;
- oral part.
The oral and written exams will take place on different days!
Structure of the written part
The written part of the Unified State Exam consists of 40 tasks, divided into 4 sections:
- listening (questions 1-9);
- reading (questions 10-18);
- writing (questions 19-38);
- vocabulary and grammar (questions 39-40).
180 minutes are allotted to complete the work.
It is worth considering that the new tickets do not include tests. The simplest questions now are those with a short answer (indicating a number, letter or word).
Tickets are based on multi-level principle and include tasks that correspond to the three main levels of proficiency in English for non-native countries:
The high level (B2) includes tasks that require a complete understanding of the text read, as well as item No. 40 from the “Writing” block - a short essay with a reasoning on a given topic.
Structure of the oral part
The oral part of the exam (speaking) takes place in specially equipped language laboratories or computer classrooms, where each place is equipped with a special headset. The test takes only 15 minutes. During this time, the student must demonstrate understanding of spoken language and the ability to conduct dialogue.
Calculation of Unified State Examination points in English
For successfully passing the written part, a graduate can score a maximum of 80 primary points. For passing the oral part - another 22 points. When calculating the total score, the results are summed up.
In 2018, when grading the Unified State Exam in English, the primary scores will be converted to a five-point system according to the table:
It is worth considering that the minimum passing threshold (22 points) does not provide an opportunity to enter a university, but is only a necessary condition to obtain a certificate. For information about the minimum passing scores in subjects required for entry into a specific department of the university of your choice, look for information on the official website of the educational institution.
Dates for the Unified State Examination in English
A draft schedule for final tests for 11th grade graduates has already been drawn up. If no changes are made to the established calendar before the start of the Unified State Exam 2018, the exams will be held on the following dates:
Oral part | Written part |
|
Early period | (Monday) | (Wednesday) |
(Monday) | ||
Main period | (Wednesday Thursday) | (Monday) |
(Tuesday) |
||
(Friday) |
||
Additional period | September 2018 |
|
Graduates of 2017-2018 can focus on the main period of the Unified State Examination.
Graduates of previous years and those who have a valid reason for postponing the test date can apply to take the exam early.
The September stage is the last retake, which is open to persons whose result was not accepted for technical reasons (not through their fault) and those who were unable to take part in the main session of the Unified State Exam for a valid reason.
Preparation for the Unified State Exam in English
Most teachers encourage high school students to decide on their future specialty and choose their desired university in the 10th grade. This approach makes it possible to find out in advance which subjects need to be emphasized in order to successfully pass the Unified State Exam.But, even if the decision to take the English language test was made not so long ago, you have every chance to be well prepared for the final test, because there is still more than half of the academic year ahead.
Where to begin?
- Familiarize yourself with the structure of tickets and typical tasks.
- Find your weak points and educate yourself.
- Practice and practice again.
You can find many manuals online that will help you repeat the basic rules and prepare well for the written part. Trial versions of this year and last year’s assignments will be indispensable in preparation, because in 2018 the structure of Unified State Exam tickets in English will not change.
Practice is required to pass the oral exam. You can get it by signing up for group courses to prepare for the Unified State Exam or simply by communicating a lot with native speakers. But keep in mind that the exam will offer a classical version of the language, and friends on the Internet may turn out to be native speakers of different regional dialects.
Grammar (tasks 19-25):
How to write an essay in English:
Oral part:
Answers and solution – Demo version of the Unified State Exam 2018 ENGLISH LANGUAGE project
Explanations: Galyautdinova Alsou Aidarovna
1. Listening.
A. 2(Christmas day is nothing special)
Speaker A
Holiday or no holiday, if I have a business deal going on, I work. At Christmas, for example, I am often quite alone because I’ve got no family or kids but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying myself. Sometimes, I go to a party with some of my single friends but even then, we usually reserve that for the New Year celebration. So you see, this holiday that seems to be so important for so many people, is really just another day for me.
B.3(Adults could still enjoy some magic getting presents)
Speaker B
The night before Christmas I take a train to the suburbs to visit my parents. It takes an hour to get there by car but the traffic on Christmas Eve is so bad that it takes hours to drive there. That's why I take the train. On the morning of the 25th we usually have a leisurely breakfast and open the presents Santa has left for us. Of course, I am all grown up now but believing in Santa is still kind of fun in our family. We like finding small packages in our stockings.
C.5(The bigger family, the bigger fun.)
Speaker C
There is really no more fun for me than to spend my Christmas holidays with my big family. My six brothers and sisters all sleep in one room the night before Christmas and before bed my dad reads us Christmas poems. Then he leaves, and we make up a strategy to wake up our parents the next morning. We try to be creative because we want them to get up early to open our presents, and they like us to surprise them with a special wake up call.
D.4(Gifts from young children bring joy.)
Speaker D
You know, Christmas is such a lovely family holiday. My children are all gone from home now with families of their own, but on Christmas morning they come to my house for breakfast. I’ve got 26 grandchildren opening presents around my tree. To say the least, my heart is always full on this day because not only do they open the presents I’ve prepared, but they also bring their presents for me. I love their handmade things – they are filled with love.
E.6(Christmas away from family can be enjoyable.)
Speaker E
I am a student and rather far away from home. Unfortunately, Christmas break is not long enough for me to travel to see my family, so I stay at the dormitory. Our college is very nice because it organizes a Christmas party for everyone who finds themselves alone on this day. The college makes a traditional Christmas meal and puts a big tree in the middle of the dining hall. We all bring a present and put it under the tree for someone else to open.
F.1(Exotic location makes Christmas memorable.)
Speaker F
Our family always takes a holiday during Christmas break. We usually go abroad and celebrate this day in a hotel. One time we were in Africa, so on Christmas Eve we went to the beach and had a barbeque. My parents put our presents under the palm tree outside our hotel room, and that’s where we found them the next morning. I remember laughing that Santa went swimming after delivering our presents that year. I won't forget that holiday.
2. Listening.
1132232
Emily: Hello Sam! How are you? How was your first day of classes?
Sam: Hello Emily! I am well. Classes this semester seem interesting, but I am sure they will be a lot of work, as always.
Emily: Yeah, mine look that way, too. My history teacher told us that we will have to write four research papers by December and will have five big tests. It’s a good thing, I like history.
Sam: No kidding, I think my biology class will be the same way. Our teacher is very demanding. But with all the summer rest we’ve had, we should have enough energy, right?
Emily: Yes, by the way, Sam, how was your summer? Did you do anything special?
Sam: It was great. I spent two months at my grandparents’ cottage on a lake. My grandfather is into fishing, so every day we went out on a boat with him. The weather was hot, so I was able to sunbathe and swim a lot. My friend was visiting his grandparents in the cottage next door, so we spent some time running around the countryside, climbing trees and picking wild berries.
Emily: Sounds like a nice relaxing summertime. I wish I had done the same. I envy you for having spent it outdoors because my summer wasn’t nearly as active as yours.
Sam: Really? Why not? What did you do this summer?
Emily: I spent June on the couch in my flat, reading books and watching some boring TV shows. All my friends were gone by then, so I didn’t even have anyone to go roller skating or bike riding with. Then in July I went to the seaside with my family. We visited Greece but the sea was stormy most of the time, so we mostly did some sightseeing and shopping. We swam only two times! The most exciting part of the trip was visiting the ruins of Athens.
Sam: Wow, did you see the famous Parthenon? Is it as beautiful as they told us in history class?
Emily: Yes, it is very graceful and the feeling of visiting such an ancient place is amazing, so I took a lot of pictures.
Sam: I would love to see them when you get the chance. Have you got them on your phone?
Emily: No, I took them with my camera, so you can see them on my computer. I am also making a photo album of my trip to Greece, so when I am finished, why don’t you come over and look at it?
Sam: I'd really like that, thanks. Let me know when it would be a good time to do that.
Emily: I will. I have to run now, time to get some homework done. Bye, Sam!
Sam: Bye, Emily!
3.2
Presenter: Kim, your last success as a hockey wife in the sitcom “Married to an Ice Rink” is unbelievable. You are considered the sitcom actress of the year. How do you feel about that?
Kim: Well, it is great, of course, but I’ve never really been big on all that attention. I simply try to do my job well, and I guess it pays off, but all the noise around my success is not really my cup of tea.
4.1
Presenter: What do you mean? Do you not like to be seen as glamorous?
Kim: Not really. It’s funny but I am first a mother and a wife and then an actress. You know, I see this as a job and not as a life-style. It is what I am good at, and it brings money, good money, of course, but this job doesn’t own me.
5.1
Presenter: I’ve heard that you have an unusual outlook on life for a celebrity. Tell us a bit more about your role as a family woman.
Kim: It’s ironic, really, but in this last sitcom I play a hockey player’s wife, but at the same time that’s who I am in real life as well. My husband is a well-known hockey player, and we have three kids. All the kids are in school now, but they are still my main priority in life. We do a lot together.
6.3
Presenter: That's interesting. Do you think that is why your role in “Married to an Ice Rink” came so naturally to you?
Kim: Maybe. Of course, my heroine is quite different from me in terms of character and temperament, but the day to day routines of juggling my husband’s schedule and mine were very familiar to me. We are both very active, public, busy people, so we work extra hard not to lose our close connection to each other.
7.2
Presenter: You said your heroine is different from you, could you tell us how so?
Kim: Sure, Lisa, my heroine, is selfish and ambitious and I prefer to put the needs of others first. Also, she is very athletic, a lot more than me. I work out twice or three times a week and Lisa goes to the gym daily. She also has a million friends whereas I have a couple of close friends and spend time with family more. Those are the main differences, I believe.
8.2
Presenter: It must’ve been challenging to play such a different person but you did an excellent job. Tell us, what are your plans for the future? Will this sitcom have another season?
Kim: Yes, and I will be starring again as Lisa, but this will be our last season. My contract is for two years. I am looking into some TV journalism, doing some talk shows or hosting a show of my own. I have a university degree in media, so this is something I’ve been dreaming of since I finished studying. My acting career picked up from the time I graduated, so I haven’t had time to slow down and do something different. So, I believe next year I will try something new.
9.3
Presenter: How exciting! What kind of people would you want to invite to your shows?
Kim: I am hoping to hear from people who do something to change the world. I’ve been reading about men and women who volunteer in difficult areas of our globe, where there is fighting, hunger, destitution. I would love to listen to their stories and have the audience get acquainted with these modern day heroes.
10. 7348621
A.7
As some of these languages are nearly extinct, the City University of New York has begun a project called the Endangered Language Alliance. It aims to preserve rare languages like Bukhari, Vhlaski, and Ormuri.
B.3
But New York City can reveal new treasures even to its veterans. Beyond the city where New-Yorkers work, eat, play and commute every day lies a hidden New York: mysterious, forgotten, abandoned or just overlooked. There are places about which you’re not likely to read in any guidebook.
C.4
But the spire of the Chrysler Building was constructed in secret inside the tower. Just one week after the Bank of Manhattan was finished, it was put in place, making it 318 meterstall and beating the Bank. It wouldn’t keep this title for long: one year later the Empire State Building was erected.
D.8
the skyscraper was meant to be named Fuller Building. But locals soon started calling it “Flatiron” because of its unusual shape. The name stuck and soon became official.
E.6
They do aerial searches by helicopter, of course, and bring it to the city during the night when there isn’t much traffic on the streets. After the tree is taken down for the year, it continues to be useful.
F.2
When you multiply that by more than eight million people in less than 500 square miles, you get the idea: everyone goes everywhere as fast as it is humanly possible. Whatever you do, don’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk or you’ll make everyone around you incredibly angry.
G.1
Buses are useful to travel around Manhattan, and the subway is the best means of transport to the other parts of the city. At some stage you’ll definitely use a yellow taxi. Try to get one on an avenue that’s going in the same direction you are – you’ll save time and money.
11. 253671
A.2
The narrowest section is located from the Admiralty to the Moika River, showing the original width of the avenue.
B.5
After the construction of the Admiralty in 1704 and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in 1710, it was decided to build a road connecting these two important structures with each other and with the Novgorod Path, which was used by Russian merchants.
C.3
The construction began on both sides at the same time, the roads were laid through the wood, and in the 1760s they were connected into one road, which was not as straight as it was planned but with a turn at the Vosstaniya Square. Nevsky Prospect got its name only in 1783.
D.6
The road was paved with cobble stones, and a few rows of trees were planted along the street.
E.7
By the early 20th century Nevsky Prospect had become the financial center of Russia as the 40 largest banks of Russia, Europe and America had their offices there.
F.1
There are museums, theaters, exhibition halls, cinemas, restaurants, cafés, shops and hotels there or nearby the avenue.
12.2
It is predicted that driverless vehicles will be commercially available at a high cost within 7 years, but it may take another 8 years for prices to drop enough to spur mass consumption.
13.1
Today, the discussions focus primarily on the shifting of accident liability to manufacturers and all the goodness that comes along with reducing accidents
14.1
The concept of a “driver” will be replaced with that of an “operator”, who simply programs the vehicle’s GPS to arrive at the desired destination
15.3
Each passenger will have a personal video display informing about a current location
16.3
Vehicle owners will no longer buy collision insurance since manufacturers will be solely responsible for damage.
17.4
The social and cultural impact of driverless cars could cause far more upheaval than any of us could imagine.
18.1
Obviously, the picture being painted is the one that assumes total adoption, which is far from realistic.
19 . meaning -noun
20 . formed –verb
21 .was considered- to be+verb in second form
22 . located-verb
23 . was designed- to be+verb in second form
24 . won- irregular verb(win-won)
25 .their (they-their- pronoun of appurtenance)
26 . beautiful-adjective
27 . specialize –verb
28 . Construction-noun
29. arguments- noun in plural
30
. peaceful –adjective
31
. visitors- noun in plural
32
. 3.Long time
33
. 4. Struggling with – struggling with
34
. 2. After just
35
. 1. Give up
36
. 4. Although
37
. 2. Join them
38
. 4. By change
Demo version of the Unified State Exam 2018 in English and others from FIPI, approved
Explanations for the demo version of the control measurement materials of the 2018 Unified State Exam in ENGLISH
When familiarizing yourself with the demo version of the 2018 Unified State Exam test measurement materials, you should keep in mind that the tasks included in it do not reflect all the content issues that will be tested using the CMM options in 2018.
A complete list of questions that can be controlled at the unified state exam in 2018 is given in the codifier of content elements and requirements for the level of training of graduates of educational organizations for conducting a unified state exam 2018 in English.
Changes in the 2018 Unified State Exam in foreign languages:
There are no changes in structure or content. The criteria for assessing the completion of tasks 39 and 40 have been clarified.The work consists of four sections: listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary, writing.
Section 1 (“Listening”) contains 9 tasks. The recommended time to complete the tasks in section 1 is 30 minutes.
Section 2 (Reading) contains 9 tasks. The recommended time to complete the tasks in section 2 is 30 minutes.
Section 3 (“Grammar and Vocabulary”) contains 20 tasks. The recommended time to complete the tasks in section 3 is 40 minutes.
Section 4 ("Letter") consists of 2 tasks. The recommended time to complete the tasks in this section of the work is 80 minutes.
The purpose of the demonstration version is to enable any USE participant and the general public to get an idea of the structure of future CMMs, the number of tasks, their form and level of complexity. The given criteria for assessing the completion of tasks with a detailed answer, included in this option, give an idea of the requirements for the completeness and correctness of recording a detailed answer.
This information will allow graduates to develop a strategy for preparing for the Unified State Exam.
The English language exam consists of four sections (listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary, writing), including 40 tasks.
3 hours (180 minutes) are allotted to complete the examination work.
Answers to tasks 3-9, 12-18 and 32-38 are written as one number, which corresponds to the number of the correct answer. Write this figure down on answer form No. 1.
Section 4 (“Writing”) consists of 2 tasks (39 and 40) and is a short written work(writing a personal letter and a written statement with elements of reasoning). In answer form No. 2, indicate the task number and write down the answer to it.
We wish you success!
Specification
control measuring materials
to be held in 2018
unified state exam
in FOREIGN LANGUAGES
1. Purpose of the examination paper
Control measuring materials make it possible to establish the level of mastery by graduates of the Federal component of the state educational standard of basic general and secondary (complete) general education.
The results of the unified state exam in a foreign language are recognized by general educational institutions in which they implement educational programs secondary (complete) general education, as the results of state (final) certification, and by educational institutions of secondary vocational education and educational institutions of higher professional education - as the results of entrance tests in a foreign language.
2. Documents defining the content of the examination paper
1. Federal component of state standards of basic general and secondary (complete) general education, basic and profile level (Order of the Ministry of Education of Russia dated March 5, 2004 No. 1089).
2. Sample programs in foreign languages // New state standards in foreign languages. Grades 2-11 / Education in documents and comments. M.: AST: Astrel, 2004.
3. Programs educational institutions. English for grades 10-11 in schools with in-depth study of foreign languages. M.: Education, 2003.
4. Programs for general education institutions. German language for secondary schools with in-depth study of the German language. M.: Education: MARCH, 2004.
5. Programs of general education institutions. French for grades 1-11 in schools with in-depth study of foreign languages. M.: Education, 2001.
6. Programs of general education institutions. Spanish for grades 5-11 in schools with in-depth study of foreign languages. M.: Education, 2005.
When developing CMMs, the following are also taken into account:
7. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. MSLU, 2003.
3. Approaches to selecting content and developing the structure of the Unified State Exam KIM
The purpose of the unified state exam in a foreign language is to determine the level of foreign language communicative competence of the examinee. The main attention is paid to speech competence, i.e. communication skills in different types of speech activity: listening, reading, writing, as well as language competence, i.e. language knowledge and skills. Sociocultural knowledge and skills are tested indirectly in the “Listening” and “Reading” sections and are one of the objects of measurement in the “Writing” section; Compensatory skills are tested indirectly in the “Writing” section.
Consequently, the Unified State Exam KIM in foreign languages contains sections “Listening”, “Reading”, “Grammar and Vocabulary” and “Writing”. It should be borne in mind that although the sections “Listening”, “Reading” and “Writing” have skills in the corresponding types of speech activity as objects of control, these skills are provided by the necessary level of development of the language competence of the examinees. Successful completion of tasks for the control of receptive types of speech activity is ensured by knowledge of lexical units, morphological forms and syntactic structures and the skills of their recognition/recognition. The tasks in the “Writing” section require the examinee, in addition to this knowledge, to have the skills to operate lexical units and grammatical structures in a communicatively meaningful context. Spelling skills are the object of control in tasks B4-B16 of the “Grammar and Vocabulary” section, as well as tasks C1, C2 of the “Writing” section.
4. Structure of KIM Unified State Exam
The examination paper contains sections “Listening”, “Reading”, “Grammar and Vocabulary” and “Writing”.
To differentiate examinees by levels of foreign language proficiency within the limits formulated in the Federal component of the state standard of general education in foreign languages, all sections include, along with tasks of the basic level, tasks of higher levels of complexity.
The level of difficulty of tasks is determined by the levels of complexity of the language material and skills being tested, as well as the type of task.
The foreign language work includes 28 tasks with a choice of answers from three or four proposed ones, 16 open-type tasks with a short answer, including matching tasks, and 2 open-type tasks with a detailed answer.
Basic, advanced and high levels of complexity of Unified State Examination tasks correlate with the levels of foreign language proficiency defined in documents of the Council of Europe 1 as follows:
- Basic level - A2+ 2
- Advanced level - B1
- High level - B2
1 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. MSLU, 2003.
2 Since the entire possible range of levels of foreign language proficiency is presented in the Council of Europe document by only six levels, it is obvious that within each of them certain sublevels can be distinguished. The designation of the basic level of the Unified State Examination as A2+ means that from the description of level A2, to prepare tasks at the basic level, developers are guided by descriptors that lie closer to level B1, and not to level A1.
............................
English is the most popular of the Unified State Examination languages. Today, without knowledge of a foreign language, it is difficult to achieve career heights in almost any profession, so a significant number of humanitarian universities require their applicants to present an appropriate certificate. Answers to the Unified State Exam in English 2018 for all options, download without SMS.
The English exam is chosen by students who plan to devote their lives to linguistics, teaching, technical and literary translation, diplomacy and international relations.
IN last years exams in foreign languages are becoming more and more difficult for graduates - now they are required not only to know the basic rules and language norms, but also to have significant speaking skills, because the oral part has been added to the Unified State Examination. Successfully passing the exam will require months of persistent and systematic independent work, and maybe even the help of a tutor. Another important point is awareness of possible innovations. Let's figure out how this exam will go in 2018!
- Demo version of the Unified State Exam in English (written part)
- Demo version of the Unified State Exam in English (oral part)
- Demo version of the listening task (audio file)
- Requirements Codifier
The approved schedule for the all-Russian examination will be published in January 2018. But today you can find out the approximate periods for conducting the Unified State Examination, designated by Rosobrnadzor:
- Early examination will take place from the second half of March to mid-April 2018. The starting date is stated to be March 22. Let us remind you that not all schoolchildren can take the Unified State Exam early. These graduates include those who graduated from school earlier than the 2017/2018 academic year, unsuccessful students from previous years without a certificate, as well as evening school students. Those who decided not to enroll in a university but to serve in the army, applicants to foreign universities, children going to live abroad, or those who came to study in Russia from abroad can also take the test early. An exception is made for children leaving for sports, cultural or scientific competitions and competitions, as well as for schoolchildren who are prescribed medical or rehabilitation procedures during the main testing;
- from the last days of May to the beginning of June 2018, the main period of the Unified State Exam. Most likely, the first exams will begin on May 28, 2018;
- The start of the additional period of the Unified State Exam is announced on September 4, 2018. Additional examinations will take place during the first half of September.
The popularity of the English language among future students of Russian universities is confirmed by official statistics - about 9% of all graduates (which is about 64.5 thousand schoolchildren in 2017) choose the Unified State Exam in this foreign language. In 2017, the proportion of graduates who were unable to score even the required minimum of 22 points decreased significantly.
The percentage of such failing eleventh graders in recent years has fluctuated between 1.8-3.3%, which looks very optimistic in comparison with other exams. The average score that Russian schoolchildren demonstrate when passing English is 64.8-65.1 points, which is approximately equal to the “four” mark. This is significantly higher than the results of other Unified State Examinations show.
According to statistics, English is one of the easiest exams
Specialists from FIPI did not make any significant changes to the 2018 materials. The only innovation is that in English KIMs, the criteria-based approaches to assessing assignments numbered 39-40 have been clarified.
The main purpose of the all-Russian examination in English is to check the level of mastery of a foreign language. The primary goal of the commission is to determine how free the student feels in various types of language activities, which include listening, reading, writing and speaking. High school students will have to show their skills in mastering lexical units, morphological forms and syntactic structures. The exam card itself is divided into two parts:
- written - within 180 minutes, students will have to solve 40 tasks. In this part of the exam, you need to pass listening (worth 20 primary points, which is 20% of all exam points), demonstrate reading skills (another 20 primary points), convince the commission of your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary (20 primary points), and show your level of written language proficiency (20 primary points);
- oral - within 15 minutes, students will have to solve 4 more tasks. They will have to answer questions and describe the pictures. This part is worth another 20 raw points (or 20% of the total exam points).
In total, graduates will have to cope with 44 tasks of basic, advanced and high levels of complexity, which in total give 100 points.
Structurally, KIMs in English are presented in several main sections:
- Listening assessment, aimed at identifying how well the student understands the text being listened to. This task is allotted 30 minutes of exam time, during which the student must complete the following tasks:
- 1 – identifying the correspondence of statements and statements made in the recording. Students are asked to evaluate 6 statements, comparing them with 7 proposed answer statements, one of which is incorrect. The student is given 20 seconds to read the answer statements, then the audio recording will be played 2 times. After this, the student must mark the correct answers on the exam form;
- 2 – assessment of the correctness of judgments, which must be made after listening to an audio recording in dialogue form. The student is required to enter only the words “true”, “false” or “not stated”;
- from 3 to 9 – an audio task in the form of a short interview, after listening to which the student will need to choose the correct answer from the options presented on the form. Most often, the task is presented in the form of a question that needs to be answered, or an unfinished sentence that needs to be supplemented with the correct words.
- Reading aimed at checking the understanding of structural and semantic relationships in the proposed text. The student will receive 30 minutes, during which he must complete the following tasks:
- 10 – familiarization with seven short texts and identifying the correspondence of the information presented with 8 headings, among which one option will be incorrect;
- 11 – working with text that has missing parts. There will be 6 such gaps in total. They need to be filled in by choosing words from the seven proposed options;
- from 12 to 18 – familiarization with an artistic or journalistic fragment, to which interrogative sentences and statements with missing words are attached. You will need to choose the correct answer or complete the phrase.
- Grammar and vocabulary - this part of the Unified State Exam will test how well the student operates with these language skills. This part of the ticket is considered the most difficult, because this is where students lose the most points. You will be given 40 minutes to work with this part of the ticket, during which you will have to solve the following tasks:
- from 19 to 25 – familiarization with several fragments of text in which words or phrases will be missing. The blanks will need to be filled in based on the answers, which must first be converted;
- from 26 to 31 – exercises testing word formation skills. The student is asked to read the text with missing pieces to determine which parts of speech are missing. To write down the correct answer, the missing word will need to be transformed (for example, turning a noun into an adjective);
- from 32 to 38 – vocabulary exercises that involve working with text fragments in which words are missing. Options for the correct answers are offered in the KIM form, so you just have to make the right choice.
- Writing – This part of the ticket will test your ability to produce different types of written text. You are given 80 minutes to complete the tasks, during which you need to complete the following exercises:
- 39 – the student will need to write a letter of a personal nature, keeping it to 100-140 words (it is proposed to complete the task in 20 minutes);
- 40 – writing an essay (200-250 words). Focus on the plan and topic proposed in the KIMs. In this task you will need to write a short introduction to the problem, express your opinion on this issue, support it with argumentation and draw a conclusion. For execution of this assignment approximately 60 minutes should be allowed.
In this part of the exam, the commission will evaluate the student’s speech skills. A separate day will be allocated for this test. Each student will receive 15 minutes to complete the following types of tasks:
- Reading aloud a short text. For 1.5 minutes, the student has the opportunity to read the text to himself and then speak it out loud;
- Formulation of five questions based on a fragment of text. Most often this is an advertising message. The student will have 1.5 minutes to read the text, and then another 20 seconds to voice each question;
- Description of the photograph. Students are given a choice of five photos, among which they need to take one and describe it according to the plan proposed in KIMs. 1.5 minutes will be allotted for preparation, and then within 2 minutes you will need to express in your own words what you see in the picture;
- Comparison of two photographs. The student will have to identify similarities and differences between two pictures in 1.5 minutes, and then tell them to the commission in 2 minutes.
The examination is regulated by strict standards. Firstly, during the Unified State Exam it will not be possible to use smartphones, video and audio equipment, smart watches and reference materials. Secondly, you should not look at someone else’s answer sheet, talk to other exam participants, or leave the classroom without an observer - this will be a reason for the cancellation of your work. Remember that in 2018, 100% of exam rooms will be equipped with online surveillance systems.
Each classroom allocated for the written part of the examination will be equipped with technical means for playing audio recordings during listening. Classrooms for conducting the oral part of the Unified State Exam will be equipped with computers with headsets, microphones and appropriate software for recording answers.
Points for work affect the certificate and are easily transferred to the usual school system:
- 0-21 points correspond to the “two” level;
- 22-58 points indicate satisfactory preparation and are equal to a “three”;
- 59-83 points allow you to get a “B”;
- 84 points and above tell us that the student knows the subject “excellent”.
The minimum score that you need to score to receive a certificate is 22. However, it is worth remembering that to enter a “mediocre” university you need to score at least 45 points, and in this case we are not talking about budget places. Educational institutions in the capital usually accept schoolchildren on a budget who have managed to score 86 points or higher in English.
To pass the English language test, you will have to spend a lot of time preparing. Try to properly distribute the time remaining before the exam to repeat the school course and work on demo versions of CMMs. Their solution will help you understand the structure of the exam - you must agree that if you see a ticket for the Unified State Exam for the first time, you will probably get nervous. And this, in turn, will lead to a lot of small annoying mistakes. Official CMMs can be downloaded on our website simply by using the link at the beginning of the article.
When preparing for the Unified State Exam, not only textbooks, but also audiobooks will help you!
Don’t forget about preparing for listening, because not every teacher at school devotes enough time in class to teach students to perceive foreign speech by ear. Audio books, songs by your favorite artists, films or television series in English will come to your aid. Watch at least a couple of episodes of an interesting TV series or movie a day, and listen to a book on the way to school. After a few months of such training, you will be able to distinguish words and learn to understand the meaning of the text by ear.
A frequent problem is also the inability to speak - if in vocabulary, grammar and writing most of the children who have chosen a foreign language for the Unified State Exam demonstrate good results, then the oral part causes certain difficulties, the TPP-Inform website reports. You can practice this skill in a fairly simple way - constantly playing small dialogues with everyday situations in your head, or describing objects, people and buildings that you see while going to school or shopping at the supermarket.
Writing an essay also requires special preparation. Hone your mini-essay writing skills using previous years' papers. Each new essay will help you better formulate your thoughts and present arguments in favor of your point of view. When writing an essay, keep these tips in mind:
- do not choose the first topic that comes to you - it is better to think about which one will be closer to you and will not require significant effort for argumentation. Part of the points in this task are awarded specifically for understanding the subject of discussion. If a committee member notices that you do not understand what you are writing about, the assignment will be given a zero;
- do not write a full-fledged essay in draft, correctly following all the rules and regulations - no one checks this form anyway, but you may simply not have enough time to rewrite the text. Just sketch out theses and thoughts, which you will then arrange into a single whole;
- do not forget to make an introduction, in which you will certainly emphasize the relevance of the problem;
- describe other approaches to this problem, provide alternative points of view or supporting statements;
- summarize by summarizing all of the above.
Media news
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In the 2018–2019 academic year, eleventh-graders will be introduced to an innovation - a mandatory all-Russian test in English. This is “training” before the mandatory Unified State Exam in 2022. What should high school students and their parents expect, how ready are our schools for innovation and what level of language proficiency will 100 points for the Unified State Exam correspond to? These and other questions were answered by experts at the Izvestia round table.
Izvestia: In four years, current eighth-graders will have another mandatory Unified State Examination - in a foreign language. Are our schools ready for its introduction?
Oksana Reshetnikova, Director of the Federal Institute of Pedagogical Measurements
Oksana Reshetnikova, director of the Federal Institute of Pedagogical Measurements (FIPI): Now the Unified State Exam in a foreign language is an optional exam. And only 10% of graduates of this year and previous years choose the Unified State Exam in a foreign language. Their results are quite decent and stable, and we understand that the level of foreign language proficiency of these motivated guys is quite high. But the remaining 90% of graduates and their level of foreign language proficiency are a subject for serious research. We assume that there are problems here.
Maria Verbitskaya, Head of the Federal Commission for the Development of CMM (Control and Measuring Materials) for the State Examination in Foreign Languages, Vice-President of the National Association of Teachers of English : All schooling cannot be reduced to the Unified State Exam and the Unified State Exam. This is just a form of control, a check, an exam. It is important to have something that can be tested in the exam. And this is a learning process where we have very strong teachers, strong schools and very good students, but there are also not very good ones, to put it mildly. There is quite a lot of work here, especially because the Unified State Exam focuses on the modern understanding of proficiency in foreign languages.
Izvestia: What does this mean?
Maria Verbitskaya: “I know English (German, French or Spanish)” - this means that I speak, listen and understand, I read and understand. I can write in language what I need. Unfortunately, there is also a grammar-translation method, rules, and proposals for translation. Some teachers speak very little in a foreign language in class because they were taught differently, as teachers they were formed in a different paradigm.
Izvestia: Maybe it’s worth using the experience of other countries? Sweden has an English proficiency index of 71%, ranking first in the world. How did the Swedes achieve this?
Lydia Lagerström, student at Uppsala University (Sweden), Swedish language teacher in Moscow: We learned English from first grade. Every year we took an exam. In high school, the last exam is the most difficult. We took math, Swedish and English. But we didn’t even think about English, because we studied it for many years.
Izvestia: How is English taught in Swedish schools? Do you also start with grammar?
Lydia Lagerström: Yes, of course, we start with grammar, and then we talk a lot. We watch movies. The most important thing is to learn to speak correctly so that there is no fear.
Big change
Izvestia: Is it necessary to change something in the teaching of a foreign language in schools?
Irina Rezanova, Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Languages, National Research University Higher School of Economics: Changes are happening. It's unavoidable. They say that many teachers do not want to adapt to the new format. This is wrong. There are many young teachers appearing. They look at education differently and already know about international standards. Our federal standard has many similarities with international education standards. The level of teaching in schools is growing every year.
Izvestia: Nevertheless, children have been learning English for almost ten years, and at the end of the day...
Maria Verbitskaya: The end result is very different.
“Izvestia”: Those who take additional courses with a tutor have good results. How can we ensure that we have enough school lessons? Is this possible?
Oksana Reshetnikova: It should be. The standard has already laid down this requirement - mandatory knowledge of a foreign language at a basic level. This can no longer be changed, the teacher is aware of this. The situation when the most motivated are taught a foreign language, and the rest are left to their own devices, has developed because the results are not checked. Introduction to the standards of the requirement to pass a foreign language at the State Examination upon completion high school took place, will be submitted for inspection academic achievements on this subject. There is a problem with teachers. Are there enough competent foreign language teachers for everyone? It is no secret that the best teacher is assigned to a class with in-depth study of a foreign language. Progressive and serious educational and methodological sets are selected, and everything else follows the residual principle. The signal for the system is the appearance of a prototype of the measuring material, its complexity, and its content. Unfortunately, until they check, you can close your eyes.
Maria Verbitskaya: Making the exam mandatory will be an incentive and motivation not only for teachers and school administration, but also for students. They will understand that they will definitely be tested at the end of the training. Now the social situation itself, the digital economy are pushing us towards learning foreign languages. What kind of digital economy can there be without inclusion in global processes? This is impossible.
Maria Verbitskaya, head of the Federal Commission for the Development of CMMs
Izvestia: Where are the most serious language gaps among schoolchildren?
Irina Rezanova: Children know the rules, but when it comes to using the rule in context, they lack the skills to manipulate them in speech. The textbooks that we mainly use give situations divorced from real life. Children have a question about where to use complex tenses and complex grammatical constructions. There are no answers in the textbook; they give rules taken out of context.
Izvestia: What exactly needs to be changed in order for foreign language teaching to be of high quality in all schools?
Maria Verbitskaya: A normative document is needed that defines the subject content for each year of study. The authors of educational and methodological complexes (UMCs) would write textbooks on this basis, and we would make CIMs. The current Federal State Educational Standard has formulated the requirements for a graduate in such a way that KIMs cannot be done: everything is possible and nothing is possible. So far, KIMs are being created on the basis of the requirements of the federal component of 2004, where the requirements and subject content are clearly defined. But for the mandatory Unified State Exam, we need detailed subject content in the Federal State Educational Standard. School teachers are also waiting for decisions from the ministry. One of the possible administrative solutions: I would like to have fewer students in the language group. By law, a class can be divided into groups only if there are at least 26 students in it. There are issues of improving the qualifications of teachers. For many of them, communication in the language, oral speech, is a problem.
Izvestia: How many students are there in a Swedish school class and are they divided into groups when learning the language?
Lydia Lagerström: We were not divided. There were 30 people in the class. English lessons - three times a week. But the number of students does not in any way affect the quality of teaching. I think the difference is that in Sweden you study to learn the language, not to pass an exam. In Russia, you will still get a job even without knowing the language. And in Sweden, English is needed for work. If you don't speak English, you'll sit at the checkout counter at the supermarket.
Maria Verbitskaya: 90% of Russians need a foreign language to travel to Turkey or Egypt once a year for a week, where everyone in hotels already speaks Russian. By introducing a foreign language as a compulsory subject, we are working for the digital economy and the future of Russia. Because a doctor, an engineer, a chemist, and a pharmacist must have instrumental knowledge of a foreign language.
Graduate training
Izvestia: Many parents of current eighth-graders are already thinking about tutors. Is this the right approach?
Oksana Reshetnikova: FIPI and Rosobrnadzor have been fighting this approach for many years - “you need to prepare for the exam.” Parents must understand: if the learning process is controlled by them, if they are in contact with the teacher, then there is no need to prepare for anything - you just need to study from grades 1 to 11, and not just from September 1 to May 31 in grade 11 try to master the entire school program.
They don’t need to do anything now, except for one thing: to realize that a foreign language is a compulsory subject that they have to not only pass, but also use in life. And the main task of the ministry is to ensure equal conditions for everyone.
Izvestia: How will schoolchildren be “accustomed” and prepared psychologically for the mandatory Unified State Examination in a foreign language?
Oksana Reshetnikova: Rosobrnadzor and I discussed the scenario for the next academic year, and there is already a road map. As part of the implementation of the road map, this year a VPR model was created for eleventh-graders. All regions gave their graduates the opportunity to participate in the VPR on a voluntary basis. The next step will be the introduction of this procedure, mandatory for everyone, in 2018–2019. It does not affect the certificate in any way, but is mandatory, and will allow us to assess the level of training of those children who have not studied the language in depth. Only 11th graders will participate.
Next, we plan to connect computer models of the conduct, and give the regions the opportunity to choose paper or computer technology in order to assess their capabilities and potential readiness, according to which scenario we should proceed next. These are very important and effective steps towards the mandatory exam.
Lydia Lagerström, student at Uppsala University
Two difficulty levels
Izvestia: How difficult will the compulsory Unified State Exam be?
Maria Verbitskaya: The mandatory Unified State Examination in a foreign language is two different exams. A basic level exam for those who do not connect their lives with the language profession. The advanced level exam is designed for those who imagine themselves in language professions. The in-depth exam is probably very close to what we have now. The basic exam will apparently be close to what we currently offer at VPR.
Izvestia: What level of language proficiency according to the Council of Europe classification will correspond to 100 points for the non-basic Unified State Exam?
Maria Verbitskaya: There is no definitive answer yet, because we do not have content on academic subjects in the current Federal State Educational Standard. The current in-depth exam contains tasks from level A2+ to B2 in the European school. 100 points is a B2 in the current exam and will probably remain so. Today 22 is the minimum score. A student who studied normally at school and did his homework easily achieves this level.
Izvestia: Don’t you want to raise the threshold?
Maria Verbitskaya: For what? The exam should be feasible for children graduating from school. We can give 55 points, and it turns out that the child studied for ten years, did his homework honestly, but studied according to the minimum basic program and cannot pass the basic Unified State Exam? This is an unacceptable situation.
Izvestia: How proficient will a child who successfully passes the basic exam be in the language?
Maria Verbitskaya: E T o there will be a level from A2 to B1. It cannot be higher than B1 and lower than A2.
Izvestia: What should the weakest student who has passed the basic Unified State Exam be able to do?
Maria Verbitskaya: He must explain himself on the street, in a store and in a hotel. He must read and understand a fairly simple but authentic text. We don't know if we will include this, but he should be able to write an email about his life, factual content, ask questions.
Oksana Reshetnikova: The mathematicians called their basic exam "mathematics for life." We will have a foreign language for life.
Izvestia: What will the Unified State Exam consist of?
Maria Verbitskaya: There will definitely be an oral part. If we suddenly drop it from the basic exam, speaking at school will go away again, again “read, translate, retell.”
Izvestia: What form will the oral part be in?
Maria Verbitskaya: Now we use computer technology and offer a choice of one of three photographs. The following communicative situation is given: “These are photographs from your photo album. Choose a photo and describe it to your friend.” We give a five-point plan of what to say: where and when this photo was taken, what is depicted, what is happening, why you decided to show your friend, why you keep this photo. A very communicative situation, a fairly easy plan - this is a basic level task. But we want to hear spontaneous, unprepared speech.
“Izvestia”: Is it supposed to be an essay, presentation, composition?
Maria Verbitskaya: There are two tasks in the “Writing” section of the current Unified State Exam. One is a personal letter. An excerpt from a friend’s letter is given, where three questions of this kind are asked: “How did you spend your holidays?”, “What book did you read?” You also need to ask your friend questions: “A friend has moved to a new house. Ask him questions."
The second task is called quite difficult: a detailed written statement with elements of reasoning “My opinion”. This is neither a Western essay nor our native essay. It is quite difficult, this is a B2 level task. A statement is suggested, for example: “Exams motivate schoolchildren and students.” You need to agree or disagree, give arguments, express a different point of view, give arguments from supporters and give your counter-argument. We attach great importance to this task.
Izvestia: Is this there now and will it remain in four years?
Oksana Reshetnikova: We have no reason to change anything, because this is a serious differentiating task. Statistics show that the best get the maximum score. The Unified State Exam in the present and the Unified State Exam at an advanced level in the future is a tool that should select the most prepared for the university.
But the basic exam is a serious topic for discussion. It must be made accessible so that it does not cause fear and excitement, but it must motivate people to learn foreign languages and be interesting. It's very difficult.
Irina Rezanova, Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Languages, National Research University Higher School of Economics
Izvestia: What does the final English exam look like in Sweden?
Lydia Lagerström: We have a listening test, one grammar test, there is a speaking part, we also write an essay - they give us three different topics to choose from. If you want a high score, you need to analyze. Don't write simple sentences, but draw conclusions. It's not very easy. The test is not computer based.
Izvestia: By what year will the final CMMs be ready?
Oksana Reshetnikova: After all testing studies , no later than August 2021, draft demonstration versions of the Unified State Exam KIM at basic and advanced levels will be published. A demonstration version of the all-Russian test for grade 11 this year has been posted on the FIPI website in wide access since November last year. Nothing is hidden.
Izvestia: What can we expect in four years, what should children and parents expect?
Oksana Reshetnikova: We can start preparing this summer, while we have many foreign guests at the World Cup. Try to talk, communicate, overcome the conversational barrier.
Maria Verbitskaya: Children need to get ready to study: regular, normal, with homework. Watch films in English, listen to songs. For young people there are clubs and cafes where they speak English. And the most important thing for parents is not to stir up fears. There is no need to create a stressful situation or excitement. Life does not end with the Unified State Exam.
