ABSTRACT
We know that children and adults can acquire a second language without the benefit of explicit instruction in grammatical form(s) as is the case with learners all over the world who acquire a second language in natural settings such as in contact situations, languages of commerce, and heritage languages spoken in homes or communities. We also know that instruction can accelerate acquisition as well as help learners ultimately attain greater proficiency. Instruction is, therefore, beneficial but not necessary for acquisition to take place. Within language teaching circles, a great debate arose around the issue of grammar teaching in a communicative or communication-oriented curriculum. The debate polarized as whether or not to teach grammar, that is, the presence or absence of explicit instruction in form. VanPatten (1988) redirected the debate from “do we or don’t we?” by asking a better question, “how do we?.” How do we teach grammar in a communicative framework? How do we teach grammar so that instruction works with acquisitional processes not against them? A partial answer to these questions is to teach aspects of a second language grammar through Processing Instruction (Lee & VanPatten, 1995, 2003; VanPatten, 1996, 2000a, 2000b, and elsewhere).
