Linda DiDesidero wrote:

> If the subject is simply the word that is sitting in the subject 
> position, then the tag test will work.  And I'd wager that the only 
> subject we are talking about when we teach ESL is the word that is in 
> the subject slot.

And this raises the question of why teach "grammar" in ESL. If we are 
asking students to identify the subject, there must be some reason for 
doing this.

Course book writers love grammar, since it gives them something to fill 
their workbooks with. Teachers like it since it gives them something 
that is relatively easy to test. Students like it since it allows them 
to easily predict what will be asked on exams. Yet, in terms of 
communicative competence, the  best language users are not necessarily 
the best sussed on grammar.

Omar

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