Grammar

The passive voice and the irksome Agent

From the diary of an E.F.L. teacher

Dedication

I dedicate this paper to the student who asked a curious question about the passive voice totally alien in our high schools today. While the majority of this generation of digitally oriented students still struggle to understand what the passive voice is, and why we should use it, this student goes beyond the simple usual questions the learners frequently ask. She crosses the limits of understanding this voice to raise a tough issue that only grammarians are concerned with.

The question

 “Teacher, in a passive voice construction, shall we always use the “by + agent” phrase whenever the doer or the agent is known or identified?”

Introduction

         At first, I got speechlessly surprised because I didn’t expect this kind of question from a hard working student like her. I am sure she knew all about the rules related to the use of the phrase “by + agent” in a passive voice construction. If anyone else had enquired about this issue, it would have been quite normal because luckily some students still ask questions. There’s surely something else behind that question.

         In general, a matter like this is very so often raised by the learners, in class and on the Internet. Apparently, it looked so common a query that its answer would unthinkably be, ........

WELCOME

Hi everybody,

         Any one believing that digital learning is still not necessary has gone far in ignorance. On the contrary, technology has imposed itself as a reliable means of communication able to foster learning especially for this generation who rely roughly on digital gadgets in their daily lives. Most of them use Television programs, DVD players, and mobile phones to name only a few. Therefore using technology in teaching is not a privilege; it is rather a must to bridge the gap.

         This generation looks very bored in conventional classrooms and this is normal. We generally can not use old tools to fix sophisticated machines, hence the absurdity of using old methods to teach these students who were born in a new era where our old methods are completely outdated and inappropriate.

        However, teens and the new smart technological devices do not match when it comes to communication. It's the grown-ups' duty to supervise the excessive use of chat-language they're almost used to. The supervision is not an easy task, no doubt, still it is not impossible. It should be smooth and gentle so as not to have incurable side-effects.

       The 21^st century learners are about to invent their own dialect for communication. If they do not draw a line between texting language and formal standard language they'll face trouble with their studies.

   To be continued ...