The Big BEASTS of English Grammar: What we Need to UNLEARN - Graham Burton

Jul 10, 2025

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50% off our CPD courses for podcast listeners - click here and use the code "TTT"

Does the grammar that is normally taught match the evidence corpus linguistics shows? Dr. Graham Burton helps us dissect the big beasts of English grammar.

Dr. Graham Burton is assistant professor at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy). His main research interests are applications of corpus linguistics to language teaching, materials development, pedagogic grammar, academic writing and multilingualism.

He has two recent book publications, Grammar in ELT and ELT Materials: Evaluating its History and Current Practice and The Big Beasts of English Grammar: An Exploration of Form and Function in Conversations

*Discount codes:

40% off Grammar in ELT using code ELT40 (valid until the end of July, 2025)
25% on ebook of The Big Beasts of English Grammar via Payhip only, using code bigbeasts25 (valid for 10 downloads only)

In this episode, Graham discusses:

Corpus Linguistics in Language Teaching
Benefits of Corpus for Learners
The Big Beasts of English Grammar
Example-Driven Grammar Teaching
What Teachers Should Unlearn about Grammar
Challenges in Teaching Grammar
Prototypical vs. Natural Grammar Usage
Misconceptions in Grammar Teaching
The Evolution of Grammar Teaching
What the CELTA Should Do to "Re-do" Grammar
The History of Pedagogical Grammar
Why the word "grammar" was negative (and "structure" was used instead)

FOR MORE FROM GRAHAM BURTON:

1. The Big Beasts of English Grammar: An Exploration of Form and Function in Conversations

Discount of 25% on ebook via Payhip only, using code bigbeasts25 (valid for 10 downloads only)

2. Grammar in ELT and ELT Materials: Evaluating its History and Current Practice

Discount of 40% on hardbook or ebook, using code ELT40 (valid until the end of July, 2025)

3. Connect with Graham on LinkedIn

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