This is the most persistent and most damaging misconception. It must be admitted, however, that there are good reasons for its existence. There have been a number of applied linguists who have argued strongly and in theoretically persuasive terms that explicit grammar teachig should be avoided. One line of argument is that grammar teaching is impossible because the knowledge that a speaker need in order to use a language is simply too complex. Another is that grammar teaching is unnecessary because that knowledge is of kind which cannot be passed on in the form of statable rules, but can only be acquired unconsciously trough exposure to the language.