Should grammar be taught?

Abstract

With the communicative methodology favored in the language teaching beginning in the late 1970s, the helpfulness of formal instruction to grammar teaching in the second or foreign language has been questioned. For instance, in China, many language experts advocate that grammar teaching should be excluded for the purpose of pursuing language learners' communicative competence. Others, however, suspect this statement and demonstrate the opposite point of view. Thus, it is necessary to pay special attention to and show the debated issue related to the explicit grammar teaching through focusing on forms and the implicit teaching through communicative focus. The illustrated discussions related to these issues about the language accuracy and language proficiency will be concerned to that extent. © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.