Hello all,
How would you go about teaching past tense narrative to a group of upper intermediate students. They are unclear when to use the past simple, past perfect, past conitinuous and past perfect continuous as sometimes these are interchangeable. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Grammar: Narrative (past)
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The phrase from your post that caught my attention was They are unclear when to use the past simple, past perfect, past conitinuous and past perfect continuous as sometimes these are interchangeable. In other words, it sounds like your students want things to be black and white, and are confused because there's usually more than one way to say things depending on what the speaker wants to emphasise. What I'm about to say rests on this assumption; if it isn't the case, maybe you could get back to us with more info on the students.
As they're Upper-Intermediate, I would start by exploring the differences in meaning between the forms rather than simply adopting a "Which one is correct?" approach. Also, look at the situations when the forms are interchangeable and ask "Why?" - the answer will usually be "It depends what the speaker wants to emphasise".
I should warn you, though, that many students don't like this approach at first because it takes them out of their black/white comfort zone and want you to give them certainty. The problem is that if they want to progress much beyond upper intermediate level, they will have to change their attitude to language, and think less about right and wrong and more about meanings.
As they're Upper-Intermediate, I would start by exploring the differences in meaning between the forms rather than simply adopting a "Which one is correct?" approach. Also, look at the situations when the forms are interchangeable and ask "Why?" - the answer will usually be "It depends what the speaker wants to emphasise".
I should warn you, though, that many students don't like this approach at first because it takes them out of their black/white comfort zone and want you to give them certainty. The problem is that if they want to progress much beyond upper intermediate level, they will have to change their attitude to language, and think less about right and wrong and more about meanings.