In school, knowledge-based topics like history, economics, math, and science are all studied in the same way: as a collection of facts that need to be absorbed. Since languages are taught within the same academic structure as these other courses, students fall into the trap of believing that they should be treated the same way.
However, languages are not like these other subjects, which can mostly be studied and memorized from books. To know a language is to have developed a skill.
If a student remains unaware that a language is a skill, and instead treats it like all of his other school subjects, this will have a profoundly negative impact on the decisions he makes, material he uses, and actions he takes along his learning path.
Many students are given textbooks they find boring at best and unpleasant at worst. To solve this problem, I believe that teachers should create material that is adapted to their unique classroom of learners, be open to suggestions, and above all, encourage students to participate in the resource-selection process and create or find interesting learning material on their own.