<b>PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR AND OTHERS: WHICH IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE PARADIGM FOR THE CONTEMPORARY LEARNER AND USER OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE?</b>

What this work, which is situated in comparative grammar, is an examination of the three selected types of English grammar – prescriptive, descriptive and Transformational Generative Grammars (TGG), for they have provoked controversies today with regard to the particular type that serves as an appropriate model for teaching and learning of the English Language. The paper adopts an argumentative and analytical approach to reach its conclusion. In this regard, each type of grammar is looked at closely to deduce its strengths and weaknesses . On this basis, a synthesis of all the three grammars is provided to show their meeting points or otherwise. In order to obviate the dilemma of the choice of the suitable model to teach and learn, it is recommended that all the models play complementary roles, hence should be used and considered relevant. Therefore, none should be sarcastically branded old –fashioned or too complex. That is, both the teacher and the learner should be exposed to all.