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CONCEPTS IN ELT
Grammar
Graham Burton
Grammar 199
While ELT pedagogical grammar might be argued to be robust in the
sense that it is tried and tested, its contents do not appear to have been
arrived at in a systematic way. The current consensus is strong and thus
difficult to challenge; however, recent research, including that using
learner corpora, has begun to call into question both the choice and
treatment of grammar points (see, for example, Barbieri and Eckhardt
2007; Jones and Waller 2011; McCarthy 2015), and the levels (beginner,
intermediate, advanced, etc.) to which they are assigned (Mark and
O’Keeffe 2016; Burton 2019). Can we be sure that the tradition we have
inherited truly reflects what learners need to know? Will, or indeed
should, the consensus be updated to take account of different features
that have been identified in grammars of World Englishes (Davis 2006)
Grammar 201