Teaching Grammar in an Integrated-interactive Framework: Some Pedagogical Applications Vijay Singh Thakur * English Language and Linguistics in the Department of Languages and Translation, Dhofar University, Sultanate of Oman; vijay_oman@yahoo.co.in 1. Introduction Exchange, to use Well’s [3] remark, is the basic unit of dis- course, which implies centrality of interaction to become more important in language learning situations. As Rivers [4] argues, “students achieve facility in using a language when their attention is focused on conveying and receiving authentic messages, i.e. messages that contain information of interest to speaker and listener in a situation of impor- tance to both”. From a functional point of view, the information in our head is a living resource that allows us to communi- cate and be understood. Supposedly, we teach grammar to facilitate communication in the target language. Terefore, the knowledge of grammar should not become merely a dry record of facts and rules. For this reason, Scrivener [5] argues that learning rules from a grammar book by heart is probably not learning grammar and, similarly, reciting grammar rules by heart may not be understanding gram- mar”. Even doing grammar exercises and tests may not nec- essarily be learning grammar. Tere is no hard evidence that any of these lead to people being able to use grammar accurately and fuently in speech. In this context, Torns- bury [6] suggests that we could open up our concept of grammar if we start thinking of it as not just a noun (i.e. the information), but as a verb as well (i.e. the active skill of using language). Before getting down to illustrate as to how grammar could be taught as a verb, it would be in the ftness of our discussion to briefy look at why is it needed to teach gram- mar in terms of an active skill of using language. 2. The Need to Teach Grammar as a Dynamic Verb A natural language, in the functional paradigm, is seen as an integrated part of Communicative Competence of the natural language user. Incidentally, a natural language, in the frst place, is conceptualized as an instrument of estab- lishing communicative relationships. Tus, if learners are to achieve a functional command of language, they will need to be able to understand and produce context-sensi- tive and context-efective language. Since the introduction DOI: 10.15613/hijrh/2014/v1i1/54302 ISSN (Print): 2349-4778 HuSS: International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol 1(1), 18–21, January–June 2014 ISSN (Online): 2349-8900 Abstract Communication always remains one of the central goals in ESL/EFL teaching. If communication is our major objective as language teachers, then interaction, i.e. reception and expression of messages, must be present from the first encounter with the language in the class. In the backdrop of Rivers’ [1] premise, that “Communication derives essentially from interaction,” this paper argues that grammar needs to be taught in an integrated-interactive framework through what Ellis [2] calls a natural developmental route in the theory of second language acquisition. This involves both instruction and natural exposure to target language and its use in communicative situations. In view of this, an attempt is made to illustrate some functional pedagogical applications of a grammar point of using conditionals in a contextual integrated framework. *Author for correspondence Keywords: Context-sensitive and Context-effective Language, ESL/EFL Teaching, Exchange, Pre-grammar Stage, Post-grammar Stage