This thesis has dealt with the area of tense in both Arabic and English. First, a contrastive analysis between the two languages was made. The areas of similarities and differences were discussed. Second, an error analysis was made to examine the validity of the predictions of the contrastive analysis. The errors committed by thirty Arab Palestinian students were analysed and discussed.To examine the validity of the results and to measure the frequency count and the correlations among the categories of errors, a statistical analysis was made.

Three adult ESL students in a private setting participated in this case study, which investigated the effects of teaching students through strategy instruction, to adopt learning strategies that matched their individual learning style. I designed the training to draw attention to 16 learning strategies, that learners could chose from, according to their VARK (visual, aural, read and write, kinesthetic) profile. Instruction was provided in the context of an intermediate level 1 class, for a weekly three hour class. The focus of the study was to gain knowledge of cognition, metacognition and apply that knowledge to the use of personalised learning strategies. The goal was to then apply these strategies to facilitate learning a new verb tense, the present perfect. The training provided opportunities for practice, in both the learning strategies and the linguistic content. This study is a descriptive case study and not an experimental study. Therefore, in order to describe the contributions of strategy instruction, as revealed by the data, I employed a number of procedures. Pretest and postest results were analysed and showed a significant increase in the ability of students exposed to the training to correctly use the present perfect in context. Interview and questionnaire data were used to complement the test score data. It appears that strategy instruction is a factor that contributed to the score improvement and, because strategy instruction entails a number of elements, it is the combination of these elements such as the selection and use of appropriate strategies, cognitive and metacognitive awareness, knowledge of self, and practice in context that contributed to the score gains.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1985. / Bibliography: leaves 147-151. / Photocopy. / xiv, 151 leaves, bound 29 cm

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts

This data study concentrates on the past tense marking in the interlanguage (IL) of Chinese speakers of English. Following the assumptions of Hawkins & Lizska, (2003), it is assumed that unlike native speakers of English, Chinese speakers of English have a higher level of optionality within the past tense marking of their grammars. It is claimed that the primary reason for this occurrence is the lack of the functional feature T(ense) [+/-past] in Mandarin Chinese. If a particular functional feature is missing in a learner's L1 grammar, it is thought that it will be absent in one's L2 grammar as well. Three advanced Chinese speakers of English were tested on the past tense marking in their IL production. Both spontaneous oral and reading speech were used for this data analysis.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts

It has not been my aim to provide conclusive evidence for or against anyone hypothesis regarding Time and Tense. I have simply attempted to collect together and collate much of what has been written on the topic of tense in English, in order to show what the current trends of thought are. In Chapter One I presented a brief survey of some of the more basic notions associated with time and tense, in order to provide a background for the more linguistic approach to follow. I therefore examined such issues as the difference between time and tense, the problem of the passage and directionality of time, of the present moment, time and space , tense as a universal, "and various features of tense systems. I sketched Bull's system of scalars, vectors and axes as representative of our English tense system. Chapter Two dealt with time and logic, but as I am a mere layman in matters logical, I refrained from discussing any individual logical system in depth, and rather discussed various problems which appear to confront the logician in formulating a tensed or tenseless logic. This chapter aimed at providing a better understanding of the linguistic issues to follow, for time and logic are intimately connected with language. Chapter Three was more linguistically oriented, and in it I attempted to provide a broad outline of the development of thoughts about tense before the Transformationalist period (pre 1960). Because of the vast scope involved, I had, perforce, to be brief at times. I gave attention to tense in classical grammatical studies, and summarized how it was seen from about 1500 to 1800. I gave more detailed treatment to the twentieth century, focussing specifically on grammarians like Jespersen (1933), Twaddell (1960), Ota (1963), Palmer (1965) and others - all, writers typical of the structuralist era. At the end of Chapter Three I provided an overall summary of ideas on the main tenses by the end of the structuralist period - ideas which were to change radically within the next few years. In Chapter Four I discussed the ideas of tense of some of the main transformationalist/generativists - Diver (1964), Crystal (1966), Huddlestone (1968), Gallagher (1970), McCawley (1971) and Seuren (1974), in an attempt to show how theories on tense were becoming increasingly abstract, and how most data indicated that it is highly probable that tense is an abstract higher predicate of the sentence in which it appears in surface structure, closely related to temporal adverbs. Chapter Five continued in the same vein. I tried to show, using syntactic tests, that tense is a higher predicate, and used arguments involving Conjunction Reduction (based on Kiparsky (1968)), VP Constituency, Sequence of Tense, Pronominalization, and Quantification. In Chapter Six I focussed more closely on tense-time adverbials, in order to show that they have the same syntactic properties as tense, are also probably deep superordinate predicates, and are closely related to tense. My suggestion was that either tense is derived from temporal adverbs or vice versa, as this would simplify the grammar. The derivation procedures at the end of the chapter (6.8) were largely based on Hausmann (1971). I made no detailed reference to extralinguistic matters which affect tenses, in this study - such factors as are diScussed by G. Lakoff (1971) (presuppositions and relative well-formedness) and by R. Lakoff (1975). Tense is not a matter of pure Structuralism, just as language is not - extralinguistic factors ought to be accounted for before any study can claim to be conclusive. For this reason I do not in any way claim to have made an exhaustive study of time and tense - I have simply attempted to summarize and coordinate thoughts on the subject, and to suggest tentatively that the most adequate grammar of English would probably derive tense from underlying temporal adverbs.

PhD (English) / Department of English / Learning English as a second language by the South African learners studying English First Additional language (EFAL) presents many challenges, such as poor competence in the use of tenses, because of the differences between the learners’ first and second languages. In Grade 11, which is the closest point with regard to the exit point to institutions of higher learning or to the workplace, learners still display certain discrepancies in the mastery of the English tenses. These discrepancies occur despite the fact that in many South African schools, English is used as a medium of instruction and is learnt as a First Additional Language. The study used pragmatist research paradigm to collect data from the sampled respondents. The study answered four questions based on the types of errors committed in the use of tenses, the description and evaluation of errors, establishment of the causes of errors; and remedial measures for the errors committed by the Grade 11 EFAL learners in the use of tenses. Thus, Error Analysis Approaches were applied to find learners’ errors committed in written tasks. The types of errors identified include the inter-lingual transfer, overgeneralisation, false concept hypothesised, inadequate learning, fossilisation and ignorance of rule restrictions. Learners’ errors occurred in the domains of the simple present, the simple past, the present perfect and the past perfect tenses, regular and irregular verb inflectional morphemes, third person singular and plural subjects; and subject-verb agreement. In essence, this study reveals that some learners still face challenges in the use of tenses. Thus, remedial measures were suggested for the errors committed. / NRF