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Understanding C through English grammar

An effective approach to teaching a computer language to a novice student would draw on the student's knowledge of another language-notably one on which he has a firm handle. This language could serve as a frame of reference. Unfortunately, this is not done by current computer programming teaching methods, instead a "those who can will" or the "sink or swim" method is often implemented; resulting in many floating cadavers in the ocean of academia. With the present methods many beginning students are bewildered with cryptic syntax and unclear concepts. Not surprisingly, they typically drop out and give up altogether. The blame often fails on their supposed inaptitude. We propose a kinder and gentler pedagogy that uses English grammar as a base to convey C language rudimentary concepts. This paper brings forth C's grammatical gears as they relate to those of English. This is not a tutorial in the rudiments of C but an orientation to another point of view.