Re: The old who/whom again

Leslie Danks wrote:

I have never taught English to ESL/EFL students but I cannot help thinking that if they're not made aware fairly early of the existence
of "whom" and the rationale behind it, most of them will never
become aware of it.

Therefore they will get lower marks in tests. Passing the exams has a
very high priority for most students. Acquiring fluency in the language
is a secondary consideration. With some teachers, they will never attain
a reasonable fluency (nor will the teachers, in some cases), but they
can get excellent test results by rote learning of rules.

If fluency were a consideration, the tests would be differently
designed. But, from all that I'm hearing, they test the students'
ability to memorise a huge list of rules, and don't put much emphasis on
ability to communicate.

It's not as bad as it sounds. Those who do well on the tests are more
likely to gain entry into studies where English is the language of
instruction. They'll flounder for the first year or so, but eventually
they'll learn the language by immersion.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org

Please note the changed e-mail and web addresses. The domain
eepjm.newcastle.edu.au no longer exists, and I can no longer
receive mail at my newcastle.edu.au addresses. The optusnet
address could disappear at any time.
.

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