| Grammar and ESL Teaching: Past and Present Tense | | | | social and work settings as well. |
| Introduction | | | | Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, & Svartik (1995) |
| The teaching of grammar as part of ESL programs is | | | | identified five major classes of alternations used in the |
| important; while it is a debated subject, it has been | | | | making of English past participles. |
| demonstrated that "natural learners" of second | | | | The first class includes all regular verbs (e.g., cleaned, |
| languages do not become proficient in the language if | | | | kicked, smashed) and a large set of irregular verbs, |
| they do not understand the basic structure as provided | | | | and is composed of those verbs whose past tense |
| by grammar studies. Hinkel and Fotos (2002) note that | | | | and past participle forms are identical (e.g., brought, built, |
| individuals over a "critical period" of age 15 are at risk | | | | caught, had, left, kept, said, taught, thought, told). The |
| for this problem, as are individuals who acquire enough | | | | second class contains high frequency irregular verbs |
| of the second language to be able to communicate | | | | such as hit, cut, and put that remain unchanged across |
| even with grammar deficiencies, and many individuals | | | | their present, past, or past participle forms. For a third |
| who learn English as their second language do not | | | | class of irregular verbs, the past participle is generated |
| receive the negative feedback that would let them | | | | via the affixation of -en to their past tense form. This |
| know they are doing something wrong that they would | | | | class includes verbs like beaten, broken, spoken, stolen. |
| receive in a structured situation (18). | | | | For the fourth class of irregular verbs, the - en |
| The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of | | | | morpheme is affixed to the present tense form (e.g., |
| the literature to demonstrate the importance of | | | | blown, eaten, taken, thrown). A final class of irregular |
| thorough attention to verbal tense. | | | | verbs uses participle forms that are distinct from both |
| Literature Review | | | | their present and past tense forms (e.g., been, drunk, |
| Plotnik discusses the effect of tense: every narrative | | | | gone, written, ridden). |
| has a base tense, one that moves the action of the | | | | Redmond (2003) notes that production of the English |
| communication forward. The use of the tense | | | | past participle requires command of four advanced |
| establishes the mood for the conversation or the story | | | | grammatical contexts: the passive, the present perfect, |
| being told - past tense is traditionally the storyteller's | | | | the past perfect, and the past modal. From syntactic |
| medium, in which events have taken place and people | | | | and semantic perspectives, each of usage is |
| have acted out their destinies. There is a finite basis to | | | | considered complex relative to simple active |
| expired time. Present tense, on the other hand, | | | | sentences because they require speakers to |
| promotes a feeling or mood of immediacy and the | | | | coordinate multiple relations between tense, voice, |
| potential for change or flexibility (Plotnik, 2003). | | | | aspect, and mood within the verb phrase. |
| According to Mc Carthy and Carter (2002), | | | | Ionin and Wexler's 2002 research amongst 20 child |
| communication involves relational aspects and the | | | | ESL learners found that they almost never produce |
| desire to express oneself politely and indirectly (as | | | | incorrect tense/agreement morpohology. Also, the |
| opposed to bluntly), often manifests itself in tense | | | | researchers noted, "the L2 learners use suppletive |
| forms that are part of the knowledge of correct | | | | inflection at a significantly higher rate than affixal |
| grammatical construction. These include verbs in a | | | | inflection, and overgenerate be auxiliary forms in |
| progressive context such as want, like, have to and so | | | | utterances lacking progressive participles (e.g., they are |
| forth. The range of tense helps individuals to create | | | | help people). |
| communication with relational, interpersonal meaning. | | | | A grammaticality judgment task of English tense |
| The speaking strategy of tense creates a relationship | | | | agreement morphology similarly shows that the child |
| between the speaker, the event and the listener that | | | | ESL learners are significantly more sensitive to the 'be |
| can either involve or detach the participants from the | | | | paradigm' than to inflection on thematic verbs. These |
| event and each other. Understanding and correctly | | | | findings suggest that tense is present in the learners' |
| using the past and present tense has the potential of | | | | grammar, and that it is instantiated through forms of |
| significantly increasing not only effective | | | | the be auxiliary. It is argued that omission of inflection is |
| communication of verbal and written messages, but | | | | due to problems with the realization of surface |
| also of correctly and proactively establishing relational | | | | morphology ... it is furthermore suggested that second |
| aspects of events and situations that it is an important | | | | language learners initially associate morphological |
| part of proactive grammar instruction. | | | | agreement with verb-raising and, thus, acquire forms of |
| Limitations in the development of the English past | | | | be before inflectional morphology on in situ thematic |
| tense affix -ed have been well-documented in ESL | | | | verbs (95). |
| students across a variety of language tasks, including | | | | Conclusion |
| spontaneous conversations, elicited productions, | | | | The correct use of tense is an important skill for adult |
| sentence completion, sentence recall, production of | | | | ESL individuals to have and the lesson plans developed |
| nonsense forms, writing samples, and grammaticality | | | | to address this directly will help them communicate |
| judgments. Specifically, "the morphophonological | | | | effectively with co-workers and people in the |
| component of English tense marking represents the | | | | community as to what they want and need, what they |
| patterns children need to extract from the input in | | | | have had and have done and also to establish their |
| order to produce the various forms associated with | | | | identity based on their past history and future wants. |
| past tense. Specifically, children have to learn to "add | | | | It is important for ESL students to learn grammar so |
| -ed " to regular verb stems and recognize the various | | | | that they are able to express personal thoughts in the |
| alternative phonological processes involved in indicating | | | | appropriate syntax. Effective use of syntax is |
| the past tense of irregular verbs." | | | | important to show different attitudes and express |
| There is a semantic contrast between tenses under | | | | power and identity. Some incorrect forms of grammar |
| three headings, location in time, factuality and | | | | may even be interpreted by the listener/reader as |
| backshifting. The primary use of the past tense | | | | being rude or impolite. The more precisely an individual |
| indicates a situation in which "actions, events, | | | | can express their thoughts and meanings, the more |
| processes, relations, states of affairs or whatever a | | | | effective their communication will be, and the more |
| clause expresses" are dynamic (in which case they | | | | potential for success they will have in their |
| 'take place') or static in which case they 'obtain'...The | | | | interpersonal and business communications throughout |
| past tense may be more directly indicated by an | | | | their lives. |
| expression including time such as "yesterday", a | | | | References |
| definite time in which the topic of the sentence | | | | Hinkel E. and Fotos, S. (Eds.) (2002). New perspectives |
| occurred. Use of the past tense remarks on | | | | on grammar teaching in second language classrooms. |
| something that has happened, but does not necessary | | | | Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erbaum Associates. |
| indicate that the situation continues into the present. | | | | Huddleston, R. (1984). Introduction to the grammar of |
| Huddleston (1984) noted that past time is an inherently | | | | English. New York: Cambridge University Press. |
| relational concept; the past tense inflection indicates | | | | Ionin, T. and Wexler, K. (2002). Why is 'is' easier than |
| that the time the situation or even took place is past in | | | | '-s'?: acquisition of tense/agreement morphology by |
| relationship to another time, usually at the time the | | | | child second language learners of English. Second |
| sentence is said or written. The time of the situation in | | | | Language Research, 18(2): 95-136. |
| the present tense will normally be present or future, | | | | McCarthy, M. and Carter, R. (2002). Ten criteria for a |
| and may also be expressed in temporal terms (such | | | | spoken grammar. In: Hinkel E. and Fotos, S. (Eds.) New |
| as now, next week) or by a subordinate when clause | | | | perspectives on grammar teaching in second language |
| such as 'when she gets here, I am going to talk to her', | | | | classrooms. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erbaum |
| indicating future. One important use of the subordinate | | | | Associates. |
| clause is restricted to cases when the future situation | | | | Plotnik, A. (2003). Tense counts! Writer, 116(10): 17-18. |
| in which the predicted event will take place is assured | | | | Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., and Svartvik, J. |
| - Huddleston uses the example "He is ill next week" as | | | | (1995). A comprehensive grammar of the English |
| a nonsensical misuse of the present tense as opposed | | | | language. New York: Longman. |
| to the action verb in "We leave for Paris next week" | | | | Redmond, S.M. (2003). Children's productions of the |
| (145). This example shows how incorrect usage of | | | | affix -ed in past tense and past participle contexts. |
| past and present tense can not only impair | | | | Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Resources, |
| communication and understanding, but have the | | | | 46(5): 1095-109. |
| potential to affect the "face" of the speaker/writer in | | | | |