ABSTRACT
Issues concerning the notion of grammar, such as its nature and how to describe it or its relevance and role in foreign language (FL) teaching and learning, have traditionally occupied theoretical linguists as well as language teachers. They have given rise to heated debates and considerable fluctuations in the importance grammar has been afforded in FL classrooms. In recent years, after a period of two decades or so during which the role of grammar in school-based FL teaching and learning in the UK has been marginalised if not actively discouraged, voices in support of the need for explicit and coherent grammar teaching can increasingly be heard. In this chapter, the role of grammar in FL teaching and learning in general and in A/AS level modern foreign languages (mfl) teaching in particular will be discussed.
