Teaching the English Modal Perfects

Bowen, J. Donald; McCreary, Carol F.

doi:10.2307/3586025

Cited by 4 publications

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“…(See Fingado et al, 1981, for an approach that stresses such functional categories in presenting tense modality.) Bowen and McCreary's (1977) techniques for engaging a class in communicative exercises could be adapted for teaching each category. Students could be told, for example, that sometimes we make guesses about present events when we are not at all sure what the facts are.…”

Section: Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It would be helpful to use time expressions like yesterday and ago to help students recognize the conceptual time frame of modal simple past. Bowen and McCreary (1977) offer especially good examples of techniques for teaching hypothetical past. For must in the meaning of probability, for instance, students can be given situations to speculate about, like "Geoffrey won the lottery two years ago''(p. 292), and can then be asked to tell how he must have felt.…”

Section: Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…AlthoughBowen and McCreary'S (1977) article is cited several times here as an excellent source of information and practical teaching techniques, some aspects of it are open to the same kind of criticism mentioned earlier with respect to most ESL texts, namely, that past time relationships in modal contexts are not adequately explained.…”

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confidence: 98%

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Tense, Aspect, and Time in the English Modality System

DeCarrico

1986

TESOL Quarterly

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A major problem in ESL instruction on the English modality system is that grammar texts do not adequately clarify past time relationships. Without this clarification, students presented with hypothetical past or past conditional forms (modal+ have+ past participle) are likely to infer (from the form) the past time frame associated with present perfect aspect (i.e., I have seen that movie = unspecified past, with current relevance; see Moy, 1977). This article argues that unless a clear distinction is made between the semantic time reference of the modal "perfect" and that of the present perfect aspect, these forms will remain a major source of confusion for ESL students. The article includes a brief suggested sequence for teaching modals which incorporates and clarifies these time relationships and thus simplifies the teaching of the entire modality system.Modern ESL grammar texts generally present fairly clear explanations of present and future time relationships in modal contexts. Several of the more recent texts also initially stress function over form, and since modal concepts are apparently universal (see Horn, 1972, andSteele, 1975, on the universal nature of modal concepts), students begin with concepts they already know and then proceed to learn the forms used to express them in English. These include epistemic modals of logical possibility, such as may, might, could, and must, and deontic (i.e., "root") modals, such as should, ought to, be able to, and so on.However, ESL texts do not generally provide adequate explanations of past time relationships in modal contexts, that is, the hypothetical past or past conditional, as in I would have helped you, but I was busy or If you had asked me, I would have helped you. In the view of many ESL teachers, these cases present the most difficulty for students, including those who are able to gain full mastery of the semantics, functions, and forms of modals used in present tense, such as I would help you, but I am busy or It might 665

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Section: Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tense, Aspect, and Time in the English Modality System

DeCarrico

1986

TESOL Quarterly

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“…However, it is not at all clear that relative clauses are especially diffi cult for advanced adult NNSs compared to other English structures. Instead, structural features that involve tense, aspect, conditionality, modality, and voice have been more frequently mentioned in the literature as posing diffi culties for language learners (Bowen & McCreary, 1977 ;Dabrowska & Street, 2006 ;DeCarrico, 1986 ;Hinkel, 1992Hinkel, , 2004Hyland, 1996Hyland, , 2000Montrul & Slabakova, 2003 ;Skelton, 1988 ;Swan & Smith, 2001 ). It is unfortunate, however, that little is known about the online processing diffi culty that these particular language features might present for NNSs.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The choice to examine MP sentences also makes this study of direct relevance to some of the practical concerns of SLA. The MP is known to present acquisition difficulties for English language learners (Bloom, 1981, 1984; Bowen & McCreary, 1977; Chou, 2000; DeCarrico, 1986; Frazier, 2003; Swan & Smith, 2001; Thomas, 1994), and a comparison of NSs’ and NNSs’ processing strategies may therefore help to explain this difficulty. DeCarrico (1986) referred to the difficulty that MP clauses pose for advanced English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners, when she stated that:In the view of many ESL teachers, these cases [MP clauses] present the most difficulty for students, including those who are able to gain full mastery of the semantics, functions, and forms of modals used in present tense, such as I would help you but I am busy.…”

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confidence: 99%

We Could Have Loved and Lost, or We Never Could Have Love at All

Conroy

Cupples

2010

Stud Second Lang Acquis

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This study investigated sentence-processing strategies adopted by advanced nonnative speakers (NNSs) and native speakers (NSs) of English in the context of an English structure with which NNSs reportedly have an acquisition difficulty (e.g., Swan & Smith, 2001)—namely, modal perfect (MP). Participants read MP sentences such as He could have worked at the shoe factory and closely related analogous sentences (e.g., He could have work at the shoe factory), and reading times and errors were measured in an online grammaticality-judgment task. It was hypothesized that NSs would have a processing preference for MP sentences compared to the analogues, reflecting the primacy of syntactic information in NS processing and a preference for late closure, whereas NNSs would show no such preference because they rely less on syntactic information when processing sentences. The results revealed, however, that both NSs and NNSs read MP sentences more quickly and with fewer errors than the closely related analogues, consistent with a processing preference for MP sentences. Both groups were also influenced by word-category frequency information, which moderated, but did not fundamentally alter, their syntactic preference for MP. The significance of these findings is discussed in terms of models of second-language sentence processing and NNSs’ reported MP acquisition difficulty.

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Grammar Teaching: A Case Study of a Pakistani School in Sultanate of Oman

Mesti¹

2021

AWEJ

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Grammar constitutes an essential element in the learning and teaching of any language. English as a foreign language is being taught in Pakistani government-run schools and in non-elitist private schools. The focal question in this paper centers on the several implications of the teaching process of grammatical concepts. The main aim of this research study is to find out the methods adopted in the teaching of grammar and whether these methods are updated with recent methods recommended in recent research on effective teaching and learning. The content analysis of books and review of teaching methods are used as methodological tools. The results suggest that the grammar teaching methods are outdated, the text material contains misleading explanations, and lack understanding of descriptive linguistic concepts on grammar. The core recommendation is that the grammar teaching methods and text material in question should be reviewed and updated with a more up-to-date material. The significance of the study lies in the fact that it will shade light on the teaching practices of grammar and review updated research on the teaching of grammar, which need consideration in teacher training programs and study material design.

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Teaching the English Modal Perfects

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Tense, Aspect, and Time in the English Modality System

Tense, Aspect, and Time in the English Modality System

We Could Have Loved and Lost, or We Never Could Have Love at All

Grammar Teaching: A Case Study of a Pakistani School in Sultanate of Oman

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