Sometimes these debates ignore the fact that grammar is a discovery not an external creation laid on top of language.  It is only through observation of language that grammar can be found.  It is only IN language that grammar can be found.  There is'nt something else like langauge that is being brought to the description of language nor is there something unlike language that is being unsuitably forced unto language or language forced onto it.  All of grammar is a discovery about the nature of language.  It is not a discovery about biology nor is it biology forced onto it.  

Phil Bralich


>Is is annoying to hear again and again statements about the grammar 
>knowledge which the "natives" possess when nothing of the kind could 
>be substantiated with evidence from research. The truth is that 
>children should not be assumed or expected to KNOW language, but 
>should be TAUGHT language from the time they are born, and especially 
>from the time they step into the schools. As you state, knowledge of 
>grammar must be inculcated into the minds of the students so that 
>when they go to college they will not look like children who grew up 
>in to jungle and have never been language socialized.

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