Grammaring – The Fifth Language Skill

Traditionally, language instruction has centered around four core skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. However, recent developments in applied linguistics have proposed a fifth skill – grammaring – which highlights the dynamic and functional use of grammar in real-time communication. Coined by Diane Larsen-Freeman, grammaring refers to the process of using grammatical resources to convey meaning effectively and appropriately within specific contexts. This conceptual shift reframes grammar not as a static body of rules but as a skill that is actively developed and refined through usage. This paper explores grammaring as an emergent language skill, emphasizing its pedagogical implications in communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language learning (TBLL). Drawing on research in second language acquisition (SLA), the study investigates how learners internalize and manipulate grammatical structures in interaction, and how instruction can scaffold this development. It also considers the role of consciousness-raising, feedback, and repeated practice in promoting grammatical competence. The inclusion of grammaring as a fifth skill underscores the need for a more holistic and integrative approach to language education – one that acknowledges grammar as a process-oriented, meaning-making activity rather than a purely formal system. This reconceptualization holds significant potential for enhancing language learners’ fluency, accuracy, and communicative effectiveness.