Teach English in Wangfu XiAng - Tianshui Shi

PRESENT TENSE: Tense System in English Language most difficult for teachers & students. Linguists say only two tenses exist i.e. the PRESESNT & the PAST. EFL teacher?s state twelve tenses i.e. ? PAST ? PRESENT ? FUTURE Each has four aspects i.e. ? SIMPLE ? CONTINUOUS ? PEREFCT ? PERFECT CONTINUOUS Thus giving us PRESENT SIMPLE; PAST CONTINUOUS; FUTURE PERFECT etc?twelve in all. EFL teachers MUST have understanding of this system! FORM: Shows affirmative (positive), negative, question examples of the tense or grammar point. Form includes grammatical construction & fundamental guidelines as to how tense or grammar point is made. Useful when identifying tenses or when outlining student grammar errors. USAGES: How & under what circumstances grammar points are used. Tenses can be used in unlike ways & have several usages. Sometimes some usages overlap from one tense to another. Examples are given of each. TYPICAL STUDENT ERRORS: Some are expected. Teachers must form correction strategies in advance. ACTIVATE STAGE TEACHING IDEAS: Activities to encourage communicative use of tense/grammar point during Activate stage of each lesson. PRESENT SIMPLE: FORM: AFFIRMATIVE: subject + base form (+s/es) I work We work He/She/it works They work NEGATIVE: subject + aux verb ?do? + not + base form. DON?T & DOESN?T appear as DO NOT & DOES NOT I don?t work We don?t work He/She/It doesn?t work They don?t work QUESTION: aux. verb + subject + base form Do I work Do we work Does he/she/it work? Do they work Some examples of third person singular (he/she/it) forms: watches thinks fakes fishes tries takes chops lays looks drinks waits goes preys preaches writes amazes dresses? etc. How to form third person singular: Most verbs: Add s to base form ? sits Verbs ending in a consonant plus y, change y to i and add es ? tries Verbs ending in o, s, z, ch, sh ? add es i.e. washes (+extra syllable when pronounced) In negative form, auxiliary verb doesn?t have the s so main verb does not need an s ? i.e. She doesn?t work. Same applies with does in questions. Usages with examples: HABITUAL/ROUTINE ACTIONS: He goes hunting every week. PERMANENT SITUATIONS/FACTS: The sun sets in the west. COMMENTRIES: Beckham passes to Fowler who shoots and scores. DIRECTIONS/INSTRUCTIONS: First you go left, and then you go straight on. NEWSPAPER HEADLINES: Stock market falls to below all-time low. PRESENT STORIES: So I open the door and what do I see but a policeman in a pink uniform. HISTORICAL SEQUENCE: 1545: The Second World War ends. 1969: The first man lands on the moon. TYPICAL MISTAKES with Present Simple: She walk to school every day. Where lives your father? He no(t) like to watch TV. She go often to Paris. I?m play golf most weekends. SAMPLE ACTIVATE STAGE TEACHING IDEAS: Find someone who?.activities in which students have to interview each other in order to complete forms. Questionnaires?.students ask each other questions about their customary actions. A day in the life of?.a student chooses a career. The other students have a limited number of questions (20 perhaps) in which to find out what the profession is. i.e. Do you wear a uniform? Information-gap?.activities whereby 2 students are provided with diagrams/maps with different information. One student then gives the other directions to a particular location. PRESENT CONTINUOUS: FORM: The present continuous or present progressive tense is made with the present simple tense of the auxiliary verb to be & the present participle (verb + ing ?working) of the main verb. AFFIRMATIVE: (subject + aux. verb ?be? + ing) NEGATIVE: (subject + aux. verb ?be? + not + verb + ing) QUESTION: (aux. verb ?be? + subject + verb + ing) REGULAR FORM: PERSON AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE QUESTION I I am learning I am not learning Am I learning? You You are learning He is not learning Is he learning? He/She It He is learning He is not learning Is he learning? We We are learning We are not learning Are we learning? They They are learning They are not learning Are they learning? CONTRACTED FORM: I I?m learning I?m not learning. NO CONTRACTED FORM You You?re learning. You aren?t learning. NO CONTRACTED FPRM He/She/It She?s learning. She isn?t learning. NO CONTRACTED FORM We We?re learning We aren?t learning NO CONTRACTED FORM They They?re learning They aren?t learning NOCONTRACTED FORM PRONOUNCIATION: The main point relates to contracted forms; drilling & constant reminders are often required. NON- PROGRESSIVE VERBS: Non action verbs are not normally used in the continuous forms. We use the simple form instead i.e. Like Love Hate Understand Want Believe Hear Own Seem Appear Wish Mean Remember Non-Progressive verbs can be divided into following groups: ? verbs of the senses (involuntary) ? verbs expressing feelings?/emotions ? verbs of mental activity ? verbs of possession There are exceptions. Some verbs have different meanings depending on where they are used in Simple or Continuous Tense i.e. She thinks you are right. (Meaning > has the opinion that) She?s thinking about it, (meaning > considering) USAGES: Some of the main usages of present continuous i.e. 1. To talk about an action that is in progress at the time of speaking. ? Please be quiet. I?m watching TV 2. To talk about a temporary action that is not necessarily in progress at the time of speaking. ? I am reading a good book at the moment. 3. To emphasize very frequent actions (often with always) ? She is always biting her nails, 4. Background events in a present story. ? So I?m standing there when a policeman comes in. 5. To describe developing situations ? It?s getting dark. 6. To refer to a regular action around a point of time. ? He?s usually working at this time. TYPICAL STUDENT MISTAKES with Present Continuous: He watching TV. We are have meeting. Do you not coming to cinema? I?m working hard every day. I?m believing in God. TEACHING IDEAS: Developing Situations: ? Provide students with different material in form of graphs, charts, tables etc. to help use Present Continuous. They can describe changes that occur i.e. unemployment, rise of crime etc. Telling Stories: ? Narrating stories using combination of Present Simple & Present Continuous. These can be centred on visual prompts/other stimuli. Action in Progress: ? Mime is a good way of demonstrating actions ? use as game where students have to guess action. ? Pictures of actions can also be used i.e. idea for information-gap activity is to give students different pictures of various actions and have them discover which is the same by asking their partners about their pictures or spot the different types of activities. PRESENT PERFECT: Relates past to present. Commonly used by native speaker. Presents some difficulties to English language learner. FORM: I/you/we/they/have OR he/she/it has plus past participle. With regular verbs past participle is verb + ed i.e. worked. There are however a lot of irregular verbs i.e. write ? written. AFFIRMATIVE: subject + aux. verb ?have? + past participle NEGATIVE: subject + aux. verb ?have? + not + past participle. QUESTION: aux. verb ?have? + subject + past participle. AFFIRMATIVE: I have written NEGATIVE: I haven?t written. QUESTION: Have I written? USAGES: 1st: When we talk about finished actions/states that happened at indefinite time. Refers to gegeral experience without specific detail. ? I have eaten octopus. 2nd: When we are thinking about completed past actions carried out in an unfinished time period at the time of speaking. ? It has rained a lot today. i.e. The rain has stopped but it is still today. ? I have eaten eight cakes this afternoon. 3rd: When we talk about something which began in the past and is still now true, at time of speaking. We don?t know if this is likely to continue or not. ? We have lived in Paris for five years. ? She has been a vegetarian since 1988. i.e. When did she become a vegetarian? ? 1988. Is she still a vegetarian now? ?yes. 4th: When we describe past actions with present results. ? Oh no! I?ve left my bag at home. ? Can you help me? I?ve lost one of my contact lenses. i.e. lost in the past and still lost now. NOTE: The following contractions are normally used in speech ? see examples in the 4th usage above. LONG FORM >> becomes>> CONTRACTED FORM I have I?ve You have You?ve We have We?ve They have They?ve He has He?s She has She?s It has It?s ? SINCE or FOR with Present Perfect: We?ve lived here for 2 years. They?ve been at home since six o?clock. I haven?t slept for 28 hours. She has been a doctor since October. The rule with FOR or SINCE: We use FOR with periods of time i.e. a week, six months. We use SINCE with points of time i.e. Monday, 186 to really mean ?from?. ? GONE or BEEN: Past Participles He?s been to Whales. He?s gone to Whales. The Rule with BEEN or GONE: He?s been means the trip is finished. He?s gone means he is still on his trip. Irregular Past Participles: This verb tense requires Past Participle. Unfortunately for English language students many of these past participles are irregular ? not formed according to a set outline. With regular Past Participles the verb will end in ?ed?, i.e. worked, cooked, watched etc. Irregular verbs don?t have a outline and must be learnt from memory. Most dictionaries, course books and reference materials will have complete tables of Irregular Verbs. Common Verbs that have Irregular Past Participles: VERB PAST PARTICIPLE be been fall fallen hit hit go gone read read speak spoken teach taught get got eat eaten feel felt write written tell told think thought wake woken NOTE: There are many more. These are just a few. TYPICAL STUDENT MISTAKES: Think about: ? What kind of mistakes are they. ? Why they have been made. ? How do you go about correcting them? ? I am a secretary for 3 years. ? I have seen him yesterday. ? She?s liked him since four months. ? When have you bought your car? SAMPLE ACTIVATE STAGE TEACHING IDEAS: Find someone who?. ? Has kissed a foreigner, has been on TV, has written a song. ? Students mingle, asking questions until they have found people who have done the things on their list. This can lead to discussion containing Present and Past Simple. ? A: Paul has been on TV. ? B: Really! When where you on TV Paul? ? C: I was on a quiz show last year. What have you done today? ? Student mimes actions & others guess what they are using: affirmatives or questions. i.e. You?ve washed your hair/have you washed your hair? You?ve changed a light bulb/Have you changed a light bulb? Change the room: ? Three students leave the room while others change it in five different ways i.e. move the dustbin; the absent students return and try and guess what has been done. i.e. Have you moved the desk? Song U2: I Still Haven?t Found What I?m Looking For. Role Play ? Job Interview PERFECT CONTINUOUS: relates past activities to the present. It implies that the activity is likely to continue in the future or the activity was in progress for some length of time, or both. FORM:AFFIRMATIVE: subject + aux. verb ?have? + been + verb + ing NEGATIVE: subject + aux. verb ?have? + not + been + verb +ing. QUESTION: aux. verb ?have? + subject + been + verb + ing. AFFIRMATIVE: I have been dancing. NEGATIVE I haven?t been dancing. QUESTION: Have I been dancing? USAGES: 1st: To communicate an incomplete on-going activity, when we want to say how long it has continued. ? I?ve been dieting for the last seven years. (and am likely to continue doing so) 2nd: To describe a recently finished & uninterrupted activity which has a present result. ? I?m tired because I?ve been chopping all day. i.e. the work lasted some time & was extensive. TYPICAL STUDENT MISTAKES: Using verbs that don?t take the continuous form. i.e. prefer, believe, like ? I?ve been knowing her for six months. Comparison of Present Perfect with Present Perfect Continuous. With the Present Perfect Continuous, emphasis is on the action/activity NOT the result/completed action. ? What have you been doing today? I?ve been cleaning the car. ? What have you done today? I?ve cleaned the car. NOTE: We do not use present Perfect Continuous to communicate the number of things we have done; for this we use Present Perfect. ? I?ve written two letters since breakfast. ? I?ve been writing letters since breakfast. ? I?ve marked thirty tests since lunchtime. ? I?ve been marking tests since lunch time. ? SAMPLE ACTIVATE STAGE TEACHING IDEAS: 1. A student takes a piece of paper with Past Present Activity & a result written on it ? You?ve been chopping onions. You?re crying. ? You?ve been playing football. You?re dirty. ? You?ve been washing your dog. You?re wet. The student tells the others the result & they have to guess the activity i.e. A. I?m crying B. Have you been watching a sad film? 2. Students study the class to find out who has been doing something the longest. They should write the surveys themselves.