Although there is general agreement on the value of teaching grammar, for some time it has been debated whether instruction should be explicit or implicit. In explicit grammar teaching, the rules are explained to learners, or the learners are directed to find the rules by looking at linguistic examples, that is, sentences that embody the rules. Implicit teaching, on the other hand, 'makes no overt reference to rules or forms'. Until recently arguments in favour of one or the other approach were not supported by evidence. But a careful examination of Norris and Ortega's (2000) analysis of 49 studies, referred to earlier, has shown that explicit teaching produces better and long-lasting learning than implicit teaching.