Discusses the various functions of grammar in second-language (SL) education, and examines the relationship between discourse and grammar in SL education. Two problems are then examined concerning the relationship between discourse and grammar within grammatical exercises, and with the help of concrete examples, suggestions are offered to better…

Discusses the advantages of the use of large natural language corpora in promoting grammatical awareness among language teachers and students, focusing on word classes and prescriptive approaches to language as they relate to Britain's National Curriculum at the elementary level. (13 references) (MDM)

This paper argues that second language instruction that aims to foster speaking skills and natural spoken interaction should be based upon the grammar of the spoken language, and not on grammars that reflect written norms. Using evidence from a corpus of conversational English, this examination focuses on how four grammatical features that occur…

Past perceptions of the role of grammar in the second language syllabus have been limited by the attitude that grammatical content should be addressed directly in the language classroom and that it is limited to language items and rules with definable boundaries. However, language has properties crucial to its use for communication that are not…