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What do you think about the teacher’s answer?
“Please explain Past, Present and Future Tenses.”
• Past Tense is about the past
• Present Tense is about the present
• Future Tense is about the future
Misleading and simplistic
Misleading
• Present Past “Burt Reynolds dies at age 82”
• Present Future “When you become a DoS, please employ me.”
• Past Present “What was your name again?”
Problem 1
• Simplistic: meaning is generalized.
Problem 2
Solution
• Tenses and grammar are “context-sensitive”
• Tenses are seen as packaged items with “ready-made meanings”
“When speakers build meaning they are influenced by the world around them”(Batstone, 1994:16)
“Please explain Past, Present and Future Tenses.”
• Past Tense is about the past
• Present Tense is about the present
• Future Tense is about the future
_____________________________|_________________________________
past now future
Tense is not just about time near remote
Tense is about distance: “learn” is “near”
and “learnt” is “far”
Grammar as Distance
Temporal Distance
“I train on CELTA courses.”
I trained on a CELTA course in the US last year.”
• daily routine, the event is “near” to me
• past time, the event is “far” away from my reality
Social Distance
“Pass the salt, please.” vs “I was wondering if you could pass the salt, please?”
• Present tense = near and Past Tense = far
• Used to signal respect and politeness (Willis, 2003)
• Directness= near/close and politeness= far/distant (Batstone 1994)
“Water!” “ Give me some water!” “ Can you give me some water?” “Could you give me some water?” “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me some water, please”
Social Distance
“I was wondering if you could be so kind as to pick up the dirty socks”
• Passive Voice “keeping our distance”. “Oh wow, this carpet hasn’t been vacuumed in weeks!”
• Past tense used to signal social distance doesn’t necessarily mean “politeness”.
• Careful with overgeneralizations, always consider context and attitude
• Sarcasm? Impolite? (Chong, 2018)
• Context: Said by a roommate you’ve been living with for a few years
• We avoid naming/blaming by simply presenting observations
Hypothetical Distance
• Used to signal the distance between the here and now world (Present=near) and the world of imagination and dreams (past=far) (Thornbury , 2001)
• Conditional sentences: “If I were you, I’d leave early” “If you’re late again, you will lose your job!” • Wishes and regrets: “If only I had more time.” “I’d better not miss that train again.” “It’s time I stopped going to bed so late.” “I wish I wasn’t so lazy.” A mother talking to her son: “If you finished packing up your toys we could go outside to play” • hypothetical distance or bribing? • Grammar is context sensitive and sometimes the concepts of “near and far”
aren’t separate and exclusive
Psychological Distance
• Psychologically close, relevant to us: John: Hey what’s the name of that actor your mum used to love? Joe: Sam Waterston? Yeah she loves him… John: She would’ve loved this new show. The “near” tense still part of his current mental world. John: Are you still going out with that guy you work with? Sam: No, we broke up. He was too jealous. • The “remote” tense psychologically away from the person/
no longer relevant in her current mental world.
Psychological Distance
• The “near” tense making a story exciting, being part of the event,
as if the event was unfolding before the listener’s eyes. “So I meet her in the street and she starts yelling at me.. everyone is watching.. I’m so embarrassed.“ “Princess Kate gives birth for the 3rd time”
What type of distance?
Temporal Distance
Hypothetical Distance
Psychological Distance
Social Distance
What type of distance?
• A horse walks into a bar. The bar tender says: “Why the long face?”
• Prince Harry gets married.
• “Why did you break up with him?” “He was very jealous”
• If only I could teach as well as you do, Chris!
• Had I taken the grammar course earlier, I would be an expert now.
• If you were to do this for me, I’d owe you big time.
• I would appreciate it if you remembered not to leave dirty dishes in the sink.
• I don’t suppose you could lend me some cash, could you?
• I was wondering if you would mind coming earlier tomorrow.
• He completed the CELTA course last month.
• I will teach overseas one day.
• They’ve never taught a beginners class before.
Temporal Distance
Hypothetical Distance
Psychological Distance
Social Distance
You know what? She’s ……..
Yeah I heard it too!
Really?!
Hmm…What are they talking
about?
Gossip
What do people gossip about?
Is it good to gossip? Why/Why not?
Nina Nancy
Let me tell you about them!
Hugh Phil Alex Lucas
Hmm…..Who are they?
Hugh • taught at IH Chile from 2010 to 2015 • lives in Chile now and works as a dancer • enjoys eating out and hanging out with friends
Phil • taught at IH Sydney from 2012 to 2017 • lives in Sydney now and works as a national park ranger • loves animals and is a vegan
Alex • has been teaching at IH Laos since 2013 • lives in Laos but is now travelling in Asia • is keen on meditation and loves hiking in nature
Lucas • started teaching at IH in 2013 and is now still a teacher and director of
studies. • lives in Sydney • loves spending time with his 2 cute little children
1. Where do they live?
• Hugh:_________ • Phil :_________ • Alex :_________ • Lucas:_________
2. How many years of teaching do they have? • Hugh:_________ • Phil :_________ • Alex :_________ • Lucas:_________
Chile Sydney
Laos Sydney
5 5 5 5
Lucas Phil Alex Hugh
Lucas has been working at IH Sydney since 2013.
Phil worked at IH Sydney from 2012 – 2017. He now works as a park ranger in Sydney.
Alex has been working at IH Laos since 2013. He’s now travelling in Asia.
Hugh worked at IH Chile from 2010 – 2015. He now works in Chile as a dancer.
Still at IH Still at IH Not at IH Not at IH
He said he had been a teacher there
for 5 years.
Lucas
Nina Nancy
Direct Speech Reported Speech
General rules about reported speech Tense shift:
Present Simple Past Simple
Present Continuous Past Continuous
Present Perfect Past Perfect
Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
Past Simple Past Perfect Simple
Past Perfect No change
Past Perfect Continuous No change
Adverbial shift:
now then
last ….. (e.g. week) the previous ….. (e.g. week)
next ….. (e.g. week) the following ….. (e.g. week)
yesterday the day before
tomorrow the next day/ the following day
today/tonight that day/ that night
here there
this that
I have been a teacher here for 5 years. He said he had been a
teacher there for 5 years.
Lucas
Nina Nancy
Lucas
Alex
Hugh
Phil
Classroom application
• Many of these structures and functions are already present in course-books
• They are presented in isolation
• Grammar is “context-sensitive”
• By providing a context we can help students identify “a common grammatical thread”
A: “Hey Bea, I was wondering if you could (1) help me. I need to borrow this book to
study for the exam.”
B: “I wish I could (2) say yes but I haven’t finished with it yet.”
A: “No worries. I don’t mean to be nosy but you look really sad.”
B: “It’s ok, thanks for asking. Remember that guy I was dating (3)? Well…It’s over…”
A: “Oh no! That guy that works at your school?”
B: “Yes, that’s the one.”
A: “I’m so sorry! What happened (4)?”
B: “He was too possessive (5). It didn’t work out.(6)”
A: “What a shame! Do you want to go out for a drink and talk some more?”
B: “If only I had (7) the time! I’m teaching later on.”
A: “Ok, maybe next time.”
Clarification of meaning task
• Match the underlines past forms to the correct meaning
A) The speaker wants the situation to be different from what it is
B) The speaker is being polite and professional
C) The speaker wants to distance themselves from the person they are speaking
about
D) The speaker describes a specific event in the past
E) The speaker questions about a specific event in the past
Answers: A-2; B1; C-5; D-3/6; E-4
Practice Task focusing on oral fluency
• Work in pairs. Choose a relationship status, you can be:
a) Friends
b) Colleagues
c) Classmates
Write a conversation using past forms. You must include all of the following :
a) A description of a past event
b) one of the speakers trying to politely decline an invitation
c) one of the speakers imagining a different reality
d) one of the speakers talking about a person who is no longer in their lives (even though the person is still alive)
• Several of these concepts are taught in isolation (e.g. hypothetical distance and conditional clauses; the use of present simple in news headlines, etc.)
• Instead, we should make learners aware of a common grammatical thread, which might enable them to formulate more useful generalizations (Batstone, 1994)
• Raising students’ awareness of these concepts can also help them develop intercultural communication skills
