Spoken grammar: what is it and how can we teach it?

The teaching of grammar is regularly based on written examples and on a proscriptive approach to ‘correct’ English. This article argues that consideration by teachers of spoken English shows that learners need to be given choices between written and spoken grammars, that the interpersonal implications of spoken grammars are important, and that methodologically inductive learning may be more appropriate than the 3Ps (Presentation–Practice–Production) approaches adopted in traditional grammar books.