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Teachers' Attitudes Towards Disputable Usages

Hong Kong Baptist University

Some previous studies have found that teachers are sensitive to traditional prescriptions such as the use of whom rather than who in object function, and between you and me rather than between you and I. This paper aims to examine whether Australian teachers as native speakers of English and Hong Kong teachers as non-native English speakers still display such conservative attitudes towards disputable usages these days. Data were collected via two elicitation tests. In the first survey, 34 Australian teachers and 37 Hong Kong teachers were invited to participate in a judgement test. Their responses were compared with those of students. In the second survey, 73 Australian teachers, 70 Hong Kong teachers, 207 Australian students and 188 Hong Kong students were presented with a proofreading test. The findings showed significant differences between teachers and students towards disputable usages. Both Australian teachers and Hong Kong teachers had a higher tendency to reject and replace items such as different to, less + plural noun and final prepositions. This suggests that tolerance diminishes with involvement in teaching and familiarity with prescriptive rules. Pedagogical implications of these findings are also discussed.

RELC Journal, Vol. 32, No. 2, 1-15 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/003368820103200201


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