Grammar, grammars and intuitions in ELT: A second opinion.

http://www.gabrielatos.com/Grammar-Intuitions.htm

Gabrielatos, C. (2003). Grammar, grammars and intuitions in ELT: A second opinion. IATEFL Issues 170, 2-3.

Richard Bradford (IATEFL Issues 167: 13) criticises the treatment of grammar in ELT materials and invites the ELT community to do something about the situation. He implies that we should stop using any grammar-related books, because they are riddled with terminology, and their content has little to do with what he terms “humanistic”, “free-range”, “standard” English.

Although his assessment of ELT materials is valid to a large extent, the implications of some of his arguments and solutions invite scepticism. He seems to argue that grammarians are neither (human) language users, nor in touch with reality, to conflate the ‘what’ of grammar teaching with the ‘how’, to advocate reliance on native speaker intuitions, to equate ‘native speaker’ with ‘(good) language teacher’, and to treat grammar books as a uniform category.

I would like to use this response to consider some issues from a different perspective, introduce more aspects to the discussion, and propose alternative solutions.