[EngliPatrick]

I teach in Japan public schools as an assistant English teacher. We have to use the English textbooks that have been okayed by the Japanese government.

Problems can potentially arise when these textbooks' English goes into the 'questionable' area and there are bi-lingual/tri-lingual students in the classroom.

The other day, one of these students questioned a certain passage in the textbook. It read, "The people can go to market and buy food." He said it sounds more natural to say, "The people can go to THE market and buy food."

I totally agree with him that inserting "the" sounds better but leaving it out also seems acceptable.

So, here's the question. Should students who have a firm grasp of the English language be forced to sit in the EFL classroom with the rest of their peers?