ABSTRACT

One misconception associated with communicative approaches led to a loss of belief in grammar teaching in the classroom (Thompson 1996). Teachers sometimes found it necessary to teach grammar almost secretly, while others strenuously avoided references to grammar. Consequently, some teachers may still not be sure how and where it fits with communicative approaches, even though the teaching of grammar has been rehabilitated in the new National Curriculum for modern foreign languages. There are many English language teaching sources of ideas for teaching grammar (for example, Ur 1988, Harmer 1987, Rinvolucri 1984) and for modern languages teachers there are now a number of sources, for example, Rendall 1998, and Halliwell 1993, who reminded us that grammar does matter.