This article synthesises progress made in the description of spoken (especially conversational) grammar over the 20 years since the authors published a paper in this journal arguing for a re-thinking of grammatical description and pedagogy based on spoken corpus evidence. We begin with a glance back at the 16th century and the teaching of Latin…

Discusses the concept of language awareness and its use in language teaching, which refers to the development in learners of an enhanced consciousness of and sensitivity to the forms and functions of language. The approach has been developed in the contexts of both second and foreign language learning, as well as in mother tongue education.…

This paper argues that second language instruction that aims to foster speaking skills and natural spoken interaction should be based upon the grammar of the spoken language, and not on grammars that reflect written norms. Using evidence from a corpus of conversational English, this examination focuses on how four grammatical features that occur…