I'd like to insist on the relationship between grammar competence and the production of a relatively correct text by a begginer student of English as a second language. First of all I've found that there is a big amount of grammar rules to master in order to produce a simple text. However a student doesn't need to use them all. It is possible to write a 100 word text, giving information about yourself and only use a part of the grammar you have learned. So one can conclude that the use of English and the knowledge of grammar donīt go neccessarily together. That is frustating for a teacher to find out, because you can have your students write a text for you to assess whether they have studied and successfully learned the set of grammar rules you have taught, and see how they can write a good text without the grammar you were waiting for. Consequently I try to ask for compositions that will make them use their grammar. For example if I ask for a composition on the topic "My last weekend" you can be sure the students have to use the past simple tense.However it is difficult to find a composition topic that will make them use the Present Perfect tense. On the other hand there are times when a students uses a tense that he or she wasn't supposed to. However his/her text asked for it. It is amazing how live a language is! Probably too alive for a teacher to fully control it.