The English Grammar Day

The ‘English Grammar Day’ is an annual event open to the public, with a wide range of speakers, to discuss the role of grammar in the English language curriculum.

A day of talks and discussion on aspects of English grammar

Are you sat down or sitting down while reading this? Have you got or do you have a preference for one form over the other? English has a number of ways of expressing the same concept, and with approximately 400 million mother-tongue speakers and an estimated 1.4 billion non-native speakers it has become a diverse, flexible language that continues to adapt, evolve – and provoke strong reactions. You only need to search for #grammar on Twitter to see what we mean!

Developments in the National Curriculum for England have placed grammar in schools at centre stage once more, and divided opinion among politicians, teachers, linguists and journalists, as well as the wider public, on how and whether it should be taught. How have teachers implemented changes to their teaching and learning programmes to adapt to the new syllabuses, assessment criteria and tests? What resources are available for students, teachers and the general public to learn more about English grammar, and how reliable are they? What is or should be the role of English grammar teaching in schools today and why is this so controversial? What do teachers, professionals, academics and the general public feel is the cultural and educational significance of knowledge about the language?

Join us for a day of talks and discussion, and feel free to ask our panel of experts to explore any aspect of English grammar from ain’t to innit.

Presented by University College London, the British Library and the University of Oxford, with the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas.

Our Next Event

The next English Grammar Day will take place on 29 June 2026.

More information

History

The first English Grammar Day was held at the British Library in 2014. It was a great success, attracting interest from school teachers and pupils, the wider public and grammar enthusiasts. It has been repeated every year ever since, except for a gap in 2020 and 2021 at the height of the Covid pandemic.

In 2022 it restarted, again in-person, at University College London. The English Grammar Day returned to the British Library in 2024.

Earlier events were published on the British Library website. Their timetables are listed below.

2014 Timetable

09:30-10:00	Registration
10:00-10:15	Introductory words
10:15-10:45	Dick Hudson, UCL, Grammar schools and school grammars
10:45-11:15	Jonnie Robinson, British Library, If it ain’t broke don’t fix it: exploring vernacular grammar
11:15-11:45	Coffee
11:45-12:15	Bas Aarts, UCL, Introducing Englicious: a web-based platform for teaching English grammar
12:15-12:45	Debra Myhill, University of Exeter, Grammar, creativity and language play
12:45-14:00	Lunch break
14:00-14:30	Lindsey Thomas, Buckinghamshire Learning Trust, The Buckinghamshire Grammar Project
14:30-15:00	David Crystal, New directions in grammar teaching
15:00-15:30	Break
15:30-16.45	Any Questions-style panel discussion chaired by John Mullan with Debbie Cameron, David Crystal, Dick Hudson, Debra Myhill and Lindsey Thomas
16:45-17:00	Closing remarks

2015 Timetable

09:30-10:00	Registration
10:00-10:15	Welcome and Introduction
10:15-10:45	Jenny Cheshire, Queen Mary, University of London, London teenagers’ grammar
10:45-11:15	Jonnie Robinson, British Library, I’m gonna like go British Library innit: celebrating vernacular English
11:15-11:45	Coffee
11:45-12:15	Dan Clayton, Colchester VI Form College, But what does it mean? Making meanings from grammar
12:15-12:45	Amanda Redfearn, Holland Park School, Literacy and Language teaching at the heart of school improvement
12:45-14:00	Lunch
14:00-14:30	Charlotte Brewer, Hertford College, University of Oxford, Monarchs and minnows vs. broadband and bungee jumping: what is the job of a children’s dictionary?
14:30-15:00	Harry Ritchie, author English for the Natives: You are a grammatical genius
15:00-15:30	Tea
15:30-16.45	Any Questions-style panel discussion. Chair: John Mullan, UCL
16:45-17:00	Closing remarks

2016 Timetable

09:30-10:00	Registration
10:00-10:15	Welcome and Introduction
10:15-10:45	Deborah Cameron, Worcester College, University of Oxford, Grammar is cool: young people, new media and the popular culture of pedantry
10:45-11:15	Jonnie Robinson, British Library, Grammar on tour: grammatical variation in the UK
11:15-11:45	Coffee
11:45-12:15	Ian Cushing, Sheffield High School, Integrating grammar in the secondary English classroom
12:15-12:45	Simon Horobin, Magdalen College, University of Oxford, Does Spelling Matter? English spelling in the classroom
12:45-14:00	Lunch
14:00-14:30	Michael Rosen, Goldsmiths, University of London, SPaG for Key Stage 1 and 2: how grammar got hijacked
14:30-15:00	Bas Aarts and Ellen Smith, University College London, Grammar’s not grim! How to teach it in a fun and engaging way
15:00-15:30	Tea
15:30-16.45	Any Questions-style panel discussion. Chair: Oliver Kamm, The Times
16:45-17:00	Closing remarks

2017 Timetable

09:30-10:00	Registration
10:00-10:15	Welcome and Introduction
10:15-10:45	Devyani Sharma, Queen Mary University of London, Old and new norms in World Englishes
10:45-11:15	Lucy Dipper, City University of London, Grammar in the speech and language therapy clinic
11:15-11:45	Coffee
11:45-12:15	Marcello Giovanelli, Aston University, Birmingham, Knowing about language: what, why and how?
12:15-12:45	Eleanor Trafford, Bradford Grammar School, Getting your clause into grammar in the secondary school classroom
12:45-14:00	Lunch
14:00-14:30	Geoffrey Pullum, University of Edinburgh, If doctors knew medical science like writing critics know grammar, you’d be dead
14:30-15:00	Oliver Kamm, The Times, Grammar guidance in the media: the search for certainty
15:00-15:30	Tea
15:30-16.45	Any Questions-style panel discussion. Chair: John Mullan, UCL
16:45-17:00	Closing remarks

2018 Timetable

09:30-10:00	Registration
10:00-10:15	Welcome and Introduction
10:15-10:45	Jonnie Robinson, British Library, Evolving English GrammarBank
10:45-11:15	Lynne Murphy, University of Sussex, Separated by a Common Grammar: Differences between the UK and US
11:15-11:45	Coffee
11:45-12:15	Rebecca Woods, University of Huddersfield, Questions in and on child language acquisition
12:15-12:45	Suzannah Ferguson, Broke Street Primary School, Ipswich, Teachers’ perspectives on teaching and learning grammar
12:45-14:00	Lunch
14:00-15:00	Professor David Crystal, How Poppy fell in love with grammar: the indispensable role of semantics and pragmatics
15:00-15:30	Tea
15:30-16.45	Any Questions-style panel discussion. Chair: John Mullan, UCL
16:45-17:00	Closing remarks

2019 Timetable

09:30-10:00	Registration
10:00-10:15	Welcome and Introduction
10:15-10:45	Charlotte Brewer, Hertford College, University of Oxford, Grammar and gender: do dictionaries keep up?
10:45-11:15	Jon Hutchinson, Reach Academy, Feltham
11:15-11:45	Coffee
11:45-12:15	David Denison, University of Manchester, So, let’s talk about ‘so’
12:15-12:45	Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade, Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands, No complaint tradition in the Netherlands
12:45-14:00	Lunch
14:00-14:30	Barbara Bleiman, English and Media Centre, Grammar and Reading – Necessities and Opportunities
14:30-15:00	Rob Drummond, Manchester Metropolitan University, Language and identity: In defence of the non-standard
15:00-15:30	Tea
15:30-16.45	Any Questions-style panel discussion. Chair: John Mullan, UCL
16:45-17:00	Closing remarks