A COGNITIVE-PERCEPTIVE APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING: THE CASE OF EXPLICIT GRAMMAR

This paper proposes a theoretical model, which justifies the teaching of grammar rules within those courses specifically designed to exploit the innate capacity to acquire language, i.e. that species-specific ability whereby linguistic information is intuitively processed and encoded into an implicit language source from whence it is retrieved to direct language production. The parameters for the provision of a suitable grammatical input are directly extracted from the model. It is highlighted that the perception of syntax, which results from a filtering by the brain, can only be mediated or verified within a communicative context, that is, by using one or more of a set of interactive modes. It is argued that a refusal by the teacher to provide an explicitly-requested grammatical input is inconsistent with the model and must be considered a departure from the same. From an empirical examination, it would appear that any such departure provokes an interference with or a breakdown in the interaction between teacher and learner with the result that the efficiency of the entire model is put into jeopardy.