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Prof. Rod Ellis
Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics,
University of Auckland

¡§The study of how learners acquire a second language (SLA) over the last thirty years has helped to shape thinking about how to teach the grammar of a second language. There remain, however, a number of controversial issues. This paper considers 8 key questions relating to grammar pedagogy in the light of findings from SLA. These questions address whether grammar should be taught and if so what grammar, when and how; also, they address the roles of the explicit teaching of grammar and implicit teaching through tasks. While SLA does not afford definitive solutions to these questions it serves the valuable purpose of problematizing this aspect of language pedagogy. The paper concludes with a statement of Professor Ellis' own beliefs about grammar teaching, grounded in his own understanding of SLA.¡¨

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