The ‘slender technique’ of reproducing educational disadvantage: The discourse of English literature examiners' reports¹

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Seminar on the Teaching of literature, Singapore, RELC, May 1997.

Abstract

In the last decade, a number of studies, influenced by the work of French sociologist Bourdieu, have investigated the nature of examinations and the cultural assumptions which underlie the questions posed and the criteria for assessment of the student answers given (e.g. Freebody, 1992; Farrell, 1996, 1997). Building on this work, the focus of which is on the Australian HSC papers, this paper will attempt to do a critical reading of annual reports of the GCE (Cambridge) Examination committee, which comment on the performance of overseas, notably Singaporean, candidates sitting for the O‐Level Literature paper. Largely informed by a mixture of Leavisite ideals and personal growth pedagogy, these reports will be shown to increasingly scrutinize students’ answers for a display of a cultural capital, a way of thinking, valuing and writing about texts which display ‘flair’, ‘maturity’ and ‘genuineness’. Such distinctive features are difficult to specify and, since they are the most tied to culture‐based and class‐based varities of language, are not equally available to students, especially to those from non‐English, non‐Western backgrounds. Hence, an examination system that discriminates against student texts, and ultimately against students themselves, largely on the basis of the display of such discoursal features cannot but maintain ‘the architecture of educational disadvantage’ (Freebody, 1992, p. 97).

Notes

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Seminar on the Teaching of literature, Singapore, RELC, May 1997.