Job Discussion Forums

[ssjup81]

Hello there. I have a good while before hand, but I'm trying to plan a game for the group of ESL students I'm working with. The thing is, all of my ideas seems that it would benefit children, as I would get them to run around, play, etc., not adults, which is a bit of a challenge for me.

Anyway, the lesson is to review the verb "to be" in the past, present, and future tense. I was thinking of maybe a Bingo set up, but I want a back up as well, so aside from Bingo, my mind is blank.

So, any suggestions?

Oh, and if this is in the wrong section, could a mod please move it? Thanks.

[father Mackenzie]

You could try snakes and ladders with the questions centered around the verb tenses. Dominoes is good as is tic tac toe or matching pairs.

[ssjup81]

Dominoes seems interesting, but I don't see how to set something like that up. Tic Tac Toe as well. Could you maybe provide some examples?

[Stephen Jones]

In pedantic mode, you do know there isn't a future tense in English, don't you?

[Justin Trullinger]

[Betti]

OK, dominoes: print up double-faced cards with the pronouns (I, you , he, she etc) and the verb tenses (am, are, is etc). Shuffle. Deal the cards. SS match the correct pronoun to verb or vice versa. Tic Tac Toe (or Noughts and Crosses for us Brits!) Draw the frame on the board and insert pronouns, verbs etc. Divide ss into groups - O's and X's, ss select a square and make a correct sentence with the information provided. Alternatively you could use time words such as today, tomorrow, last week etc and ss have to use the correct form of be. Obviously, they would have to know some adjectives / nouns to complete the phrases. Another way to practise the present tense question form would be to write the names of famous people on post-it notes. One student comes to the front of the class with said post-it on head - let's say David Beckham. The student then proceeds to ask questions to discover who he/she is. "Am I a man or a woman?" "Am I old or young?" Again, this could be a team game. Hope this helps.

[ssjup81]

[Jetgirly]

If you've got access to a laptop and a projector, download a template for a Jeopardy PowerPoint (for more open-ended questions) or a Who Wants to be a Millionaire PowerPoint (for multiple-choice questions).

[guty]

[Stephen Jones]

[johnslat]

Dear Stephen,
This sounds like some juries are still out on the question:

Is there a Future Tense in English?
While there is no disagreement among grammarians that the PRESENT, as exemplified in he plays and the PAST, as exemplified in he played, are TENSES in English, there is lack of agreement about whether a construction such as he will play is an example of a FUTURE tense.
[Note that the PAST tense has also been called the Preter-Tense (Bullokar,1586.24; Priestley, 1761.13), Praeteritum (Wallis, 1653.51; Cooper 1685148.) Passing (Gildon & Brightland, 1746.104-5) Imperfect (Ash, 1785.39; Murray, 1795.5 and Preterit(e) (Mason, 1882.56; Sweet, 1898.85; Jespersen, 1931.3 , Poutsma, 1926.206)]
Of the writers on grammar noted in the references, some consider that a construction such as he will play is an example of a FUTURE tense. These include: Angus (1870.207), Ash (1785.45), Azar (1999.2), Bullokar (1586.24), Cobbett (1820.42), Cooper (1685.146ff). , Curme (1931.362), Eckersley (1955.119-9), Lowth (1762.47-9), Mason (1882.56-7), Morris (1890.54), Murray(1795.60), Priestley (1761.42), Sinclair et al (1990.255), Sweet (1898.85ff), Wood (1954.165, 1965.171) and Zandvoort (1957.58.
Other writers consider that it is not a future tense. These include: Aitken (1992.63), Biber et al (1999.453), Gildon & Brightland (1746.104), Chalker (1984.9. Christophersen & Sandved (1969.195), Close (1975.11-12), Jespersen (1909-49.IV.3-4, 1933.231), Kruisinga (1931. I.463-499), Leech (2004.56), Leech & Svartik (1975.306), Lewis (1988.50), Palmer & Blandford [& Kingdon] (1969.209), F R Palmer, (1965.62 1979.13), Poutsma (1926.9.), Quirk et al (1972.84-7, 1973.40,47, 1985.176), Schibsbye (1970.84-6), Wallis (1653.51), and Yule (1998.5.
Daniel (1904.75), Hornby (1954.83-4,104), Hurford (1994.239-40), Johnson (1755.6*), and Onions (1904.108) call it a compound tense, Declerck (2004.24), a complex tense form, Thomson & Martinet (1986.187) state: There is no future tense in modern English, but for convenience we often use the term �future simple to describe the form will/shall + bare infinitive. Alexander (1988.159) adopts a similar policy, and Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999.110) state that it is not a tense, and then treat it as such. Parrott (2000.167-182) considers it to be one of a lot of different verb forms to refer to future time; he also refers to these verb forms as future tenses. Carter & McCarthy (2006. 629-636) adopt a similar policy, though to not refer specifically to the WILL construction as a future tense,
Whether they consider the construction with WILL to be the English Future Tense or not, most writers on grammar in the last 80 years state explicitly, or suggest implicitly, that five constructions are the most important methods of referring to future time (Quirk et al,1985.217). These are:
1. Present Simple
2. Present Continuous (Present Progressive)
3. BE going to + infinitive
4. WILL + infinitive
5. WILL + continuous (progressive) infinitive
On the use of SHALL for the future many writers refer to it; for example, Quirk et al (1985.213-4) write: A strong teaching tradition, especially in BrE has upheld the use of shall as the correct form in preference to will with a first person subject in formal style. However, most feel that its use among most native speakers is uncommon and as Parrott (2000.171)notes: Modern teaching materials tend to ignore this use of shall altogether. In normal conversation, both will and shall are shortened to �ll, so that the question cannot be decided finally. ( Carter & McCarthy (2006.632) feel, however, that there are contexts involving decisions and arrangement where �ll is normally the only choice. In such cases �ll is best not seen as a contraction of either will or shall; it may be seen as an independent form.) This article, like the modern teaching materials mentioned above, ignores the use of shall altogether."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_tense

(Hmm, don't know how those "smiley faces" got in there, but perhaps they're appropriate.)

Regards,
John

[Stephen Jones]

The jury's out whether there are two tenses or four tenses in English (Pullum and Huddelston consider the Present and Past Perfect tenses to be independent tenses and not the Past or Present tense with perfective aspect), but nobody of any importance seriously suggesting there's a future tense.

There are varying ways of expressing future time in English including the Present Continous, Present Simple, 'going to' and the 'will' construction, but will belongs to the modal system not the tense system.

At least the wikipedia article does serve some purpose. It suggests that Azar (1999) and Sweet et al (1990) can safely be ignored. The other sources are much too old to be relevant.

It may sound stupid to say that the future construction in Spanish is a tense, whilst the 'will' construction in English, which has almost identical uses isn't, but the point is that English verbs have two separate systems, the tense system and the modal system, and muddying the distinction between the two is a mistake.

[ssjup81]

I just want to say thanks to everyone who has helped. I have to do this short lesson this Thursday. I'm a bit nervous about it since I still haven't fully settled on anything yet, but getting there.

[johnslat]

Dear Stephen,
Why can't you just explain to students that the auxiliary "will" has "two jobs" - a modal helping verb (requests/offers/promises, when its use tells about present/future time) and a helping verb to show only future time (the so-called "future tense"?)
Regards,
John

[Stephen Jones]