EnglishandChinee--TimeGrammticalApects英语论文.docxVIP

PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 1English and Chinese Time: Grammatical AspectsResearch Paper: TSL 5208 - Pedagogical GrammarDmitri Priven Fall 2010Michael J. Ryan This research paper will look into the difficulties of establishing the period during which an activity occurs in the English language grammatical system for a native speaker of Chinese. Firstly, an appreciation of the acquisition of a first language (L1) and learning of a second language will be briefly offered. Then to ensure the reader is properly oriented, some necessary definitions and an overview of the grammatical differences between English and Chinese (Mandarin) for establishing time, primarily at a sentence level, will be vital. Next the preferred methodological tool, a “conjugation chart” of the present, past and future simple tenses in English and Chinese has been developed and will be presented. A highly speculative overview of the cultural root and the differences in the measurement of time as the causal factors in the massive variation will be briefly outlined. The conjugation chart is original and is not the pattern currently in use, and though it may not be the ultimate tool in language learning, it appears to have no inherent negative impact. Finally, this preferred method will be defended on the basis of providing the means to overcome the inherent difficulties in English verb tense through an initial grammar-based approach and the initiation of longer term contextualization. Scott Thornbury in How to Teach Grammar has written: “The language of early childhood is like this: it is essentially individual words strung together, but because it is centered in the here-and-now, it is generally not difficult to interpret…. (p. 3)”. This assessment of the primacy of the present tense would appear to be self-evident. Our earliest forays into our acquired language are in the present tense, even when the verb is not vocalized. Normally, a NNS of English would be introduced to the pres