I once knew an English language examiner who had to sit and write an English exam paper for a candidate. The exam candidate would dictate his answers to the scribescribe, and because the scribe was an examiner, she knew when to ask the candidate to spell out words learners typically had difficulty with. The candidate in question had severe dyslexia and difficulty in holding a pen. Obviously the candidate was in a separate room, and extra time was awarded to complete the writing paper.
The Cambridge English Language Assessment exam board calls this helperhelper/aidaide/scribescribe, a reader.
- Having someone read to you or write down your answers
A reader is a person who will read the questions out to you. Note that the reader will not explain the questions to you and cannot give you any advice. They can also read back your answers to you. In Reading papers, a reader is not normally allowed to read out texts to you and you are not normally allowed to use screen-reading software to do this.
If you want someone to write down your answers, you should note that:
- you will be asked to spell certain words
- you must also give the punctuation.