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taught meaningfully rather than through repetition and meaningless drills, or through too much emphasis on abstract rules. Functions, lexical choice and fluency are important to achieve what the speaker wants to convey, sometimes mistakes have to be corrected and accuracy promoted. Additionally, it seems of great importance that items be taught in context and the whole context has to be presented. CLT concentrates on the development of leamers’ communicative competence, and “in addition to formal linguistic knowledge, leamers are considered to need both rules of use to produce language appropriate to particular situations, and strategies for effective communication” (McArthur, 1992:583),

11.2.2.5. Second Language Acquisition theory

It suggests that both adults and children can acąuire foreign language rules unconsciously from input if the conditions of leaming are right, that is if the input is at the right level (slightly above that of the leamers’ output) and if it is comprehensible, if there is an emphasis on meaning, if the environment is anxiety-free and if the leamer is allowed a ‘silent period’ - they will speak when ready, after enough input. This suggests that explicit grammar teaching is a waste of time sińce leamers will acąuire forms when they are ready and not before and, additionally, in a certain order no matter what is done. Most learners seem to go through the same stages when leaming negatives in English (Nunan, 1991: 147):

Stage 1: ‘no + verb’ No work / No understand.

Stage 2: ‘don’t + verb’ I don’t like / He don’t can swim.

Stage 3: ‘auxiliary + negative’ She can’t go / He don’t stay.

Stage 4: analysed ‘don’t’ He didn’t stay.

The grammatical syllabus that is adopted for foreign language teaching should therefore follow the natural order of acąuisition.

11.2.2.6. Conclusions

One will clearly observe that the behaviourists (audio-lingual method) adopted a very simplified view of the leaming of grammar, which is, in fact, a very complex process. Furthermore, the teaching of abstract rules may speed up the leaming process, but it cannot be taken for granted as tme or universal for all leamers. It is definitely an inappropriate way when young children are taught. However, what seem to be successful with children is the application and use of natural approaches (Total Physieal Response, immersion). Moreover, learning grammar is not an orderly linear process, ‘it is characterised by backsliding, leaps in competence, interaction between grammatical elements etc.’ (Nunan 1991:148). For that reason it is difficult to establish exactly how much grammar a leamer ‘knows’ at any point, and whether teaching is going to be successful in the long run. The role of the teacher is to facilitate the process of leaming which is under the control of the learner, not the teacher. The latter cannot assume that the former wants to leam in the way that s/he did her/himself, or in the way the book seems to indicate. Finally, both explicit (overt) and implicit (covert) grammar teaching should be utilised, but how grammar is taught depends on the item to be taught, the kind of leamers, their prior leaming experience as well as the materials and resources which are available to both the teacher and the students.

11.2.3. Grammatical consciousness-raising

Contemporary approaches tend to be centred around the following consciousness-raising conclusions (based on Nunan, 1991):

•    understanding the relations between form, function and meaning need to be emphasised,

•    teachers cannot simply ‘give’ grammatical rules to leamers because they are usually too complex and interrelated;

•    grammatical items are not discrete, but interconnected and for better retention and comprehension they have to be set in

. appropriate context,

•    the leaming of grammar is a gradual ‘organie’ process that is not linear therefore one cannot assume that what has been ‘taught’

, has necessarily been leamt,

•    certain aspects of grammar are leamt unconsciously and '■ ciassroom activities ought to be inductive rather than deductive,

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