Course book materials, exams and approaches to language learning

A question that has puzzled me over the years I have been teaching English is why most course books contain exercises modelled on the ones that are set in the exams five or six years later.

To my mind, material writers should be striving for as much variety as will accommodate learners’ widely differing approaches to second language acquisition. Ideally, the activities should suit individual learners’ needs, which vary depending on the mother tongue, age, exposure to English where they live, learning difficulties and many others. Of course, this would involve more varied course materials aimed at different markets and, potentially, less profit for publishing companies. And this is where our mindset and genuine concern for equality is pitted against homogenisation and globalisation.

Exams, in their turn, should reflect the different approaches to learning, which takes a good deal of research and the will to set aside convenience and time-saving considerations when creating exams.

How sound is it scientifically to subject a dyslexic candidate to the same test as non-dyslexic ones and content oneself that the extra 25% of time allotted to the former will compensate for the inequality especially when we know that there is even a special font – Dyslexie font -- to help people struggling with reading? One would expect updated exam types to reflect those new facilities meant to support different learners.

Even if one thinks of the weight of the different parts of most tests administered nowadays for the total grade, some steps towards equalising the results are imperative if fairness is to be ensured. For instance, in class we acknowledge the fact that dyslexic students perform better in spoken English both passively and productively than in written English. How can we take this into account when we calculate the grades of dyslexic candidates?

I may have focused on one group of “different” candidates but the same applies to all other groups of students with special needs, and in an age when “difference” is glorified perhaps more should be done to really prove our commitment to this attitude.