Ways of expressing future in English ─ How Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively

Ways of expressing future in English ─ How Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively 1. RationaleTime plays a key part in humans’ language: “Humans conceive time in terms of space, as shown by the language that we use to talk about temporal relations: we habitually speak of stretching out or compressing an activity heading toward the future, returning the past and so on” (Whorf, 1956).And “Time and space are the basic categories of our experience and our cognition, and without efficient communication about them, no wellcoordinated collective action, hence no human society, would be impossible” (Wolfgang Klein, 1994).Until now, there have been many research topics about time expression in English as well as in Vietnamese. However, the topic Ways of expressing future in English ─ How Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively focuses on studying future express in English then study how learn and use them effectively. This topic is carried out with the following reasons: Some people want to study a foreign language because they think it offers a chance for advancement in their profession. Some study a foreign language because they want to know more about the people who speak that language. Some people do it just for fun etc. There are students who study a language because they have an idea of something that they wish to achieve, or just because it’s a compulsory subject etc. Such reasons might somewhat influence the learning styles or strategies. Whatever purposes the learners have, knowledge of the target language or the second language clearly shows the interference from the mother tongue. In other words, the second language learners already know a first language, whereas the mother tongue children start with zero state. The mother tongue children progress from an initial state of knowing nothing but their innate quality or ability to a final state of knowing everything about a particular language (the second language). Adults learning the second language posses competence in their mother

Graduation Paper PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Time plays a key part in humans’ language: “Humans conceive time in terms of space, as shown by the language that we use to talk about temporal relations: we habitually speak of stretching out or compressing an activity heading toward the future, returning the past and so on” (Whorf, 1956) And “Time and space are the basic categories of our experience and our cognition, and without efficient communication about them, no well-coordinated collective action, hence no human society, would be impossible” (Wolfgang Klein, 1994) Until now, there have been many research topics about time expression in English as well as in Vietnamese However, the topic Ways of expressing future in English ─ How Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively focuses on studying future express in English then study how learn and use them effectively This topic is carried out with the following reasons: Some people want to study a foreign language because they think it offers a chance for advancement in their profession Some study a foreign language because they want to know more about the people who speak that language Some people it just for fun etc There are students who study a language because they have an idea of something that they wish to achieve, or just because it’s a compulsory subject etc Such reasons might somewhat influence the learning styles or strategies Whatever purposes the learners have, knowledge of the target language or the second language clearly shows the interference from the mother tongue In other words, the second language learners already know a first language, whereas the mother tongue children start with zero state The mother tongue children progress from an initial state of knowing nothing but their innate quality or ability to a final state of knowing everything about a particular language (the second language) Adults learning the second language posses competence in their mother Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper tongue Learned knowledge may increase with age So, in some ways the second language learners are better prepared for language learning Theoretically, there exist many research works on future expression in English with typical research such as Pence R.W.,Emery D.W (2005), Randolph Qirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffreey Leech, Jan Svartvirk (1985 ), B.Ilyish (1965), Roderick A Jacops (1995), Pence R.W., Emery D.W (2005), Wekker H Chr (1976), Nehls D (1988) These researchers studied future expression on English in relationship with time expression in English Through this topic, it is always hopeful that this thesis will be helpful to English learners in their studying The thesis will help the Vietnamese learners of English overcome difficulties and errors by mentioning information involving future expression on English Aims of the study The study Ways of expressing future in English  How Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively attempts to: - Give an overview of English time expression - Give an detail on future expression on English - How Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively Scope of study In time expression, there are three main types: present expression, past expression, and future expression, but this paper focuses on future expression only It is commonly known that English and Vietnamese are two different languages, so this paper will study difficulties and suggestion to overcome these difficulties Through this paper, it is hopeful that Vietnamese learners can learn and use the ways of expressing future in English effectively Methods of the study This thesis uses the following methods: Firstly, the descriptive method is used to explain and prove an overview of time expression in English and the ways of expressing future in English Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper Secondly, the contrastive analysis method is used to analyze how Vietnamese learners learn and use the ways of expressing future in English effectively Many materials used in this thesis statement are collected from books, journals, newspapers in English, English novels, etc Design of the study With the aims and the methods mentioned above, this paper is designed in three parts focusing on the followings: Part A is the introduction, presenting the rationale for choosing this topic, starting the aims of the study, the scope of the study and providing the methods to be applied in the study Part B is the development divided into three main chapters: Chapter I refers to the literature review of time expression in English This chapter attempted to point out an overview of time expression in English (two tenses are used to express the present, six tenses used to express the past and more than ways are used to express the future Chapter II offers the ways of expressing the future in English All information about ways of expressing the future in English are mentioned in this chapter We can use seven tenses (present continuous tense, simple present tense, be going to form, simple future tense, future continuous tense, and perfect continuous tense) and some other ways to express the future in English Chapter III is the major chapter, focusing on how Vietnamese learners learn and use the ways of expressing future in English effectively With via the contrastive method were used to point out some difficulties learners meet and give out some suggestions to overcome these difficulties Part C is the conclusion, giving all brief results of all the above sections References and Appendix come at the end of the thesis Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper PART B: DEVELOPMENT *** CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW In order to understand ways of expressing the future in English and how Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively, it is necessary to have a broad context regarding time expression in English Therefore, this chapter deals with time expression in English It covers how to talk about the present, the past, and the future in English 1.1 An overview of time expression and tense in English According to linguists, time is the universal category in any particular language It is considered under two different points of view: (1) Grammatical: Time is a grammatical concept which is reflect in verbs; and (2) semantic: time is shown in specific situations: state, event, action, speech…Most languages have ways to refer to time Situations are located in time for when we are making an utterance, we may need to indicate whether we are referring to a situation which happens now, happened in the past or is likely to happen in the future The point in time that an utterance relates to is usually shown buy the verb group called tense According to Roderick A J (1995: 187), tense is the grammatical marking on verbs that usually indicates time reference relative to either the time at which some other situation was in force When we deal with tense, we’re dealing with actual language forms used to represent time reference notions, and time reference, unlike tense and aspect, has to with meaning rather than form Languages needs ways to refer to time Events and situations are located in time, perhaps prior to our speaking about them, perhaps while we are speaking about them, perhaps at some later time Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper Besides, …Tense is a way of expressing events as occurring at points situated along the linear flow of time Within the linear flow, a point of reference must be established, with respect to which past events precede and future events follow The normal, universal and unmarked point of reference is the moment of speaking -speech time It can be diagrammed as follows: _ ● Past Now Future Speech time The present moment (Angela Downing & Philip Locke, 1995: 354) Further more, we may also need to locate situations relating to some other reference point, for example: Have you a moment? I want to ask you something Have you a moment? I wanted to ask you something Here, the choice of present or past tense depends on the speaker’s attitude The present tense is more direct The past tense is more distant It makes the request more tentative and polite (Eastwood J., 1994: 78) With the above- mentioned, we can see that time is shown by means of the category of tense Tense is any forms of a verb that may be used to indicate the time of the action or the state expressed by the verb English has category of tense, and … Tense can be defined as the linguistic expression of time relations when these are realized by verb forms Time is independent of language, and is common to all human beings… (Angela D & Philip L., 1995:353) 1.2 The meaning of Aspect Aspect is concerned with the internal character of the event as it is presented by the speaker; it focuses on such contrasts as durative (extending in time) or non- Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper durative , whether the event is seen in its initial stage or its final stage, whether its completed or uncompleted It is important to differentiate the notion of tense from that of aspect: “Tense locates situation on time… Aspect is not concerned with relating the time, but rather with the internal constituency of the one situation; one could state the difference as one between situation- in eternal time (aspect) and situation- external time (tense)” (Corie, 1976 ) The difference between the meaning of tense and aspect can be exemplified by the sentences: She played tennis yesterday afternoon and she was playing tennis when I came yesterday afternoon (Cammie McGovern., 2002: 20) These two sentences posses the same tense, past tense However, while in the first sentence, the meaning relates to the complete event of her playing happening yesterday afternoon, with no attention being paid to the internal situation of playing, in the second sentence, the information of the situation- playing- is of attention, namely, that when I came yesterday afternoon, she was in the middle of playing tennis 1.3 Mood According to Corie, 1976 , the term mood is traditionally applied to systems of syntactic contrast whose primary semantic function has to with the level of the speaker’s assurance in the factuality of what he is saying There is a most common point of view that modern English has indicative, subjunctive, and imperative mood 1.3.1 Indicative Mood Indicative mood presents predication as reality The predication does not need to be true but the speaker presents it as being so It is not relevant for the purpose of our grammatical analysis to account for the ultimate truth or untruth of a statement with its predicate expressed by a verb The form of the verb of Indicative mood is used in declarative sentences or in questions Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper 1.3.2 Imperative Mood The imperative mood serves to express request which in different contexts may range from categorical order or command or entreaties Imperative mood is used only in the second person singular and plural The imperative mood can take over the function of the subjunctive mood 1.3.3 Subjunctive mood The formal mark of the subjunctive is the absence of inflection for the third person singular except in the verb to be, where it has full conjugation In Modern English the subjunctive is almost out of use except a few well- established phrases such as: Long live peace and friendship among nations! ( Jeff C., Stacy M., 2003:270) 1.4 An overview of English tenses From the above points of view, it is clear that time and tense are different but they have relationship with each other, and we can use tenses to express time in English But how to express time with tenses? Many English learners worry too much about tense If you stopped 100 native speakers in the street and asked them about tense, one of them might you an intelligent answer if you were lucky The other 99 would know little about terms like past perfect or present continuous And they would know nothing about aspect, voice and mood (http://www.vns.edu.vn/vns/contents/view/175/177/lang,en/,1st, May 2010) Even to the native speakers, tense is very poorly understood like this Up to now, after hundred years of investigation and research by students of meaning, grammar, logic, and philosophy toward understanding tense, it remains the case that of the many accounts which have been given of it ( Robert I B, 1991) But nobody can deny the role of tenses in time expression in English Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper According to Hornby A.S (1960: 83), “the word tense stands for a verb form or series of verb forms used to express a time relation Tense vary in different languages Tenses may also indicate whether an action, activity, or progress over a period of time” In Stanley J C, Richard W S, William A T’s opinions (1980: 47), “tenses refer to the forms that verbs take in order to communicate information Usually, this information relates to time” They also give an illustrated example: For examples, the form of the verb ‘trim’ in the sentence ‘Sandra trimmed that tree’ indicates that the action of trimming was completed in the past The verb form ‘trim’ in ‘her father trims trees’, however, shows that the act of trimming occurs repeatedly in time, as it might if her father were a professional tree- trimmer From the above grammarians’ points of view, tense plays an important role in time expression in English However, if we want to use tenses to express time, what we have to do? The following part is to discuss English tenses in details According to Angela D and Philip L (1992), there are three main times that we use tenses to convey information: the present, the past, and the future Verbs tenses are used to express the relationship between time and other factors so that we can tell if an action is still in progress (present), completed (past), or whether the sentence states a prediction of future actions or event (future) And in English, we use two tenses to talk about the present and six tenses to talk about the past They are several ways to talk about the future 1.4.1 Present time According to Angela Downing and Philip Locke, (1992), there are two main tenses which are used to talk about present time They are the simple present tense and the present continuous or progressive tense 1.4.1.1 Simple present Tense We use simple present tense to talk about: Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper First, as its name implies, simple present tense indicates actions occurring in the present Let’s see the following examples, The moon is full tonight (Patricia M., 2001: 79) Next, the simple present tense can be also used for statements generally regarded as true, regardless of time (something happens all the time or is true in general), for instance: The moon travels around the earth and the earth and moon together around the sun (Chautauqua, 1896: 79) Then, the simple present also indicates habitual, repeated, customary or permanent actions or conditions, for example: I drink one cup of coffee in the morning and one at night…enough to keep me awake for a little while (Walter C R., 1929: 130) The post office is open at seven in the morning and shuts at in the evening ( Goby and Thomas H, 1815: 250) Last, the simple present tense narrates single events (quoting from books, notices, letters, formal declaration, proclamations, and concise announcement of a scheduled event, demonstrations, sports commentaries) Let’s see the following example: And the batter hits the ball into the outfield for another home run for the Yankees (Andrea D., 2008: 169) 1.4.1.2 Present continuous tense In English, the present continuous tense in used in the following situations: Firstly, the present continuous is used in situations that are temporary for action happening exactly now, for example: She is eating her lunch, struggling with some applesauce (Camie M, 2002: 17) Student: Tran Thi Van Anh Graduation Paper Besides, it is also used in situations that are temporary for action happening around now: the action may not be happening exactly now, but it is happening just before and just after now, and it is not permanent or habitual, for instance: When Paul gets home at six, I am sitting at the kitchen table trying to convince myself that I am awake (Susan B, 2000: 130) Secondly, the present continuous tense is also used when we describe temporary habit or repeated activity Following sentence is illustrated example: These days all I’m hearing are good reports about you and the part (Calvin T, 2003: 124) Thirdly, the present continuous tense is used for frequent repetition, especially for some action that causes annoyance or irritation, for example: You are continually finding fault with me (Marianne C., 1983: 63) Finally, when we talk about repetition of temporary happening, we also use the present continuous tense Let’s see the following example: I’m studying Geology at the University Phyllis (Marianne C., 1983: 63) In general, to talk about the present time in English, we can use two main tenses: the simple present tense, and the present continuous tense When we talk about actions occurring in the present; statements regarded as true in general; habitual, repeated, customary or permanent actions; or single events, we use the frequent repetition causing annoyance or irritation; repetition of temporal happening, we use the present continuous tense Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 10 Graduation Paper between the future time in English and Vietnamese Therefore, an error analysis or a contrastive analysis could be conducted on this area What was stated above is all the review of the study The writer hope that this research work would be more or less beneficial for the Vietnamese learners of English References Andrew J., ( 2008), A memoir of Early Year, Hyperion Books Angela D & Philip L., (1992), A university course in English grammar, Prentice Hall, New York Attarde I P., (2007), Encyclopedia Graded Grammar Volume 1, Book surge Llc Bertrand D G., (1991), Touchdown for love, Avon Books Betty S A, Understanding and Using English Grammar, 1999, Long Man Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 50 Graduation Paper Binnick & Robert I (1991), Time and the Verb: A guide to Tense and Aspect, Oxford University Press, US Bowen C P., (1976), John Patten, 1751-1820, and His Descendants, Bowen Braudy & SuSan (2000), Between Marriage and Divorce : A Woman’s Diary, Wellness Institute, InC Caryn J.(1998), Gloria: A novel, READ BOOK Charner K., (1996), The Giant Encyclopedia of Circle Time and Group Activities for Children to 6: Teachers for Teachers, Gryphon House 10 Coghill J., Stacy M., (2003), English Grammar, John Willey and Sons 11 Collins T., (2008), Correct Your English Errors: Avoid 90% of the Common Mistakes Made by Learners of English, McGraw Hill Professional 12 Cook S J., Richard W S., William A T., ( 1980), The Scope of Grammar : A Study of Modern English, MacGaw- Hill Book Company, New York Course, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 13 David M S., Ronni L G.,(2008), The Big Blue Book of French Vets: (555 Fully Conjugated Verbs), McGraw-Hill Professional 14 Dawson J L., Peter H., David M., Thomas S E., (1995), A Concordance to the Complete Poems and Plays of T S Eliot, Cornell University Press 15 Decapua A., (2008), Grammar for Teachers: A Guide to American English for Native and Non-Native Speaker, University of Michigan 16 Elster J., (1899), Exploring Social Behavior! More Nuts and Bolts for the social Sciences, Cambridge university Press 17 Etherton A., Thelma B., (2004) English Alive: Nelson Thrones Caribbean English, Nelson Thornes 18 Farhathullah T M., (2002), Communication Skill for Technical Students, Orient Black swan 19 Freeman J., (2007), Once Upon a Time Using Storytelling, Creative Drama and Reader’s Theater with Children in Grades PreK-6, Greenwood Publishing Group Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 51 Graduation Paper 20 Gass S M., Larry S., (2001), Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory 21 Gordaon R.; Allen R & 22 Hornby A S., (1960), A guide to Patterns and Usage in English, Oxford University Press 23 Huddleston R D., (1998), English Grammar: At Outline, Cambridge University Press 24 Jacobs R A., (1995), English Syntax A Grammar for English language Professionals, Oxford University Press 25 Jesperson O., (1933), Essentials of English Grammar, Rout ledge 26 Jones T., (1998), English grammar, R I C publications 27 Kanfer S., (1978), The Eighth Sin, Random House 28 Leech G., (1987), Meaning and the English Verb, Longman, London 29 Lin L.& Lynn L., (2004), Barron’s How to Prepare for the TOEIC Bridge Test: Test for Internal Communication, Barron’s Educational Series 30 Mackey W F., (1967), Language Teaching Analysis, Indiana University Press, Bloomington 31 Malot H., (1962), Nobody’s Boy, Platt & Murk 32 Mai F M., (2007), Diagnosing Genius: The Live and Death of Beethoven, McGill-Queen’s Press- MQUP 33 Mark T., (1920), The adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hayes Barton Press 34 Mary W Ng., (2002), Basic Grammar Step – by- Step, Aim Publishing 35 McGilvay & James A (1991), Tense, Reference and World making, McGill_Quee’s Press- MQUP 36 Merino J.,(1971), Diccionario de dudas inglés-espanol, Paraninfo 37 Micheal S., (1995), Practical English Usage, Oxford University Press, Oxford 38 Mulcrone P., (2001), McGraw-Hill’s GED: the Most Complete and Reliable Study Program for the Ged Tests, McGraw-Hill Professional 39 Murcia Marianne C., Diane L – Freeman, (1983), The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL teacher’s Course, Newbury House Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 52 Graduation Paper 40 Nehl D., (1988), Modality and the Expression of Future Time in English International Review of Applied Linguistics 26, Longman 41 O’Brien M., (1998), Father Elijah: An Apocalypse, Ignatius Press 42 O’Neale E., Dayne B., (1991), Caribbean English: A Preparation for Secondary School, Nelson Thornes 43 Oxlan K., (2004), Game play and Design, Addison-Wesley Resource from internet: http://www.vns.edu.vn/vns/contents/view/175/177/lang,en, 15h:00, 1st, May 2010 The best way to learn English Grammar by Chad Bulee, ehow Contributing Write, http://www.ehow.com/way_5232861_ways- learn- english- grammar.html, 15h:00, 1st, May 2010 APPENDIX This questionnaire aims to identify how learners master about future tense in English Exercise I: To give appropriate verb tenses for the verbs given in blank in the following conversation: A: What you (1) _ (do) next week? You haven’t told me your plan B: I (2) _(think) about my schedule for next week It is a busy week Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 53 Graduation Paper What you (3) _ (do) next Thursday evening? You (4) _ (be) on duty at the hospital? A: I (5) _ (be) on duty, but I (6) _ (change) with a friend who wants Friday off What you (7) _ (have) in mind? You seem to be unrelaxed B: I (8) _ (have) final tests next week I (9) _ (try) to well I (10) _ (not go) out these days I (11) _ ( stay) in That (12) _ (be) the best way to prepare for tests A: Nam (13) _ (have) an engagement party this Sunday Here are his invitation cards to us You (14) _ ( come)? B: I (15) ( arrange) and come Exercise II: Choose the best answer for the sentence: Look at the black cloud It ( rain) a rains c will rain b rain d is going to rain I ( get married) next week a get b am getting c will get married d am going to get married Today is Tuesday Tomorrow (be) Wednesday a is going to be b will be c is d is being I talked to Bod yesterday He is tired of taking the bus to work He (buy) _ a car That’s what he told me a will buy Student: Tran Thi Van Anh b buys 54 Graduation Paper c is going to buy d bought A: Why did you buy this paint? B: I (paint) my bed room tomorrow a will paint b is going to paint c is painting d paint A: The phone’s ringing B: I (get) it a will b am going to c get d am getting A: I don’t understand B: Ask your teacher about this problem She (help) you a helps b will help c is going to help d help Which way you think the best for presenting a new tense? a: the teacher gives students examples of the tense to be learned After the examples have been practiced, students are guided in forming a generalization about the rules and form of the tense (teacher may speak in English or in the mother tongue) b: the teacher states the rules and form of the tense to be learned Then the teacher gives sample opportunities for students to practice (the rules may be in the native or target language) c: the teacher gives the tense explanations directly in the mother tongue and then asks students to some translation exercises for practice Who you think should provide the explanation of a new tense? Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 55 Graduation Paper a: the teacher b: the students c: both of them Thank you for your co-operation Answer Key Exercise I: 1.are you doing will am thinking 10 am not going are you doing 11 am staying Are you 12 will 5.will be 13 is going to have will change 14 Are you going to come? Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 56 Graduation Paper you have 15 will arrange am going to have Exercise II: d b b a c b c Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 57 Graduation Paper Student: Tran Thi Van Anh 58 Graduation Paper Declaration ways of expressing the future in English  How Vietnamese learners learn and use Them effectively I certify that no part of this paper has been copied or reproduced by use from any other person’s word without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor Date submitted: May 15th, 2010 Student Supervisor Trần Thị Vân Anh Hoàng Tuyết Minh Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Mrs Hoang Tuyet Minh She is the person who made clear my confused initial ideas, step by step guiding me during my writing graduation Thanks to her detail Student: Tran Thi Van Anh i Graduation Paper comment, her useful materials, as well as many hours she devoted to precious discussion of matters related to my work on the report Secondly, I would also like to acknowledge a debt to Dean and Leading Board of English Faculty who gave me opportunities to study and my graduation paper Thirdly, my special thanks to all lecturers, who have taught me for four years and gave me many useful ideas and librarian who gave me useful books during my doing this graduation paper Fourthly, I am indebted to my friends who willingly completed the questionnaires and helped me during my writing this graduation paper Last but not least, I wish to express my sincere thanks to my parents who encouraged and supported me during my four year studying, especially during my writing graduation paper Hanoi, May, 2010 Student: Trần Thị Vân Anh Table of contents 3.4.2.1 The role of the teacher and student change in communicative language teaching (CLT) .41 Pay Attention 42 Read Books .43 Work Meticulously 43 Listen to Yourself 43 ● The Grammar - Translation Method 44 Student: Tran Thi Van Anh ii Graduation Paper ●The Direct Method 45 Tables Table 3.1: How students use verb tense ……………………………………………33 Table 3.2: How students master about other expressions of future in English ……34 Table 3.3: Students’ desire for method of teaching……………………………… 35 Table 3.4: Contrast the present continuous tense versus the simple present tense 42 Table 3.5: Contrast be going to form versus the simple tense…………………… 44 Student: Tran Thi Van Anh iii Graduation Paper Student: Tran Thi Van Anh iv ... the ways of expressing future in English and How Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively Ways of expressing the future in English will be mentioned in chapter II in details, and how Vietnamese. .. of Ways of expressing future in English and presents How Vietnamese learners learn and use them effectively through finding and analysis of error in using them made by the learners at preintermediate... chapter in order to know how Vietnamese learners learn and use the ways of expression the future form in English effectively CHAPTER III: HOW VIETNAMESE LEARNERS LEARN AND USE THE WAYS OF EXPRESSING