To Teach or Not to Teach Grammar: a Controversy?

With the advent of the Communicative Approach in ELT, grammar has been marginalized as the focus has shifted from accuracy to communicative competence. Yet an obvious decline in written proficiency has been noticed due basically to poor grammar. If a high written proficiency is required at the academic level, could this be achieved without grammar instruction in the foreign language? This paper will investigate this issue by addressing the following questions: To Teach or Not to Teach Grammar: a Controversy? In fact the ebb and flow of the attitudes for or against grammar teaching have been influenced by the changes in language teaching methods and approaches. For grammar proponents, it may be inconceivable to teach a foreign language without teaching its grammar. But for grammar opponents, it can be argued that one can learn a foreign language without learning its grammar. The latter view a foreign language as a skill to be acquired through use not through grammar rules. This paper will discuss these different attitudes and focus on the importance of grammar in view of the latest ELT approaches.