Grammar Revisited: Issues of Choice

Resumen

The article reviews five interrelated areas that contribute to a view of grammar as a system of choices that language users make. Some of the grammar areas that are typically covered in English Language Teaching (ELT) are considered from the lens of Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis, Corpus Linguistics, Register and Genre Theory and Conversation Analysis. The overall objective is to suggest that a deterministic perspective on grammar rules should be combined with a probabilistic perspective that considers how language empowers speakers and writers to express nuances, stance and identity through grammar choices. The five areas reviewed are illustrated with traditional grammar points in ELT and suggestions are made for a pedagogy that incorporates an exploratory, awareness-raising approach to the teaching of grammar.