During the 1980s, there has been some movement toward a return to grammar in the applied linguistics of language teaching, as seen in the number of grammar-based English-as-a-Second-Language textbooks published and in the grammatical emphasis of certain successful textbooks. However justifiable this is as a reaction to the move away from grammar and toward communication, it is a regressive step if the concept of grammar used is confined to outdated and invalid concepts. Applied linguists must seriously consider the advantages of contemporary models of grammar that have developed between 1980 and 1988. Neglecting these developments could progressively isolate the applied linguist from current and relevant research into native-language acquisition and second-language learning, impoverishing the field of applied linguistics for language teaching. (MSE)