Grammar application in the classroom. Old and new teaching resources to teach grammar

This paper introduces a typology of grammar exercises that builds on that put forward in Bosque (2015b), to which we add some others. Both types of exercises are compared with the ones that are typically found in language textbooks in Spain, as well as in the university entrance exams (so-called Selectividad). In the following pages we contend that the exercices that are less frequent among us are precisely those that better develop students' ability to observe, argue, reflect, and, in sum, understand grammatical structures. On the contrary, the exercises that have become standard in Spanish textbooks and examinations (especially those of labeling and amplification) are the ones that fail to favor those abilities. The paper pays special attention to the competences that each type of exercise is meant to strengthen and its educational developments in class.