| Second language acquisition practice has for several decades been influenced by the idea that language, being innate, is something not so much to be learned as it is to be accessed through a process of natural acquisition. This has led either to a demotion of grammar in the pedagogical hierarchy of teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) or in those cases where grammar is still introduced, to a pedagogy based on the idea of genetically predetermined, invariable grammar rules, with very little consideration of the possible pragmatic impetus, and form-function implications, of these systems.;Recently, however, these assumptions have been challenged by the idea of linguistic systems as a product of cognitive processes whose structures can be cognitively accessed. This paper will explore the development of these ideas and present grammatical analyses as they pertain to the English verb phrase. The objective is to demonstrate cognitively based analyses of the English verb phrase and suggest how their application through grammatical consciousness-raising can facilitate adult ESOL learners' acquisition of verb forms and so assist them in producing academically acceptable English, particularly in writing. |
