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Gabrielatos, C. (2004).
Teaching the expression of time: A concise framework. In Pulverness,
A. (ed.) IATEFL 2003: Brighton
conference selections. Canterbury, Kent: IATEFL, 133-136. |
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Also here: |
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Introduction ELT materials adopt a system of
twelve ‘tenses’. Typically, they present three factors as affecting choice of
‘tense’: event time, event duration and speech time. This is misleading, as
many more elements are in play. Their treatment is form-based, giving
piecemeal information about the uses of the forms, or providing rules with
quite a few exceptions or ‘special cases’, a practice that tends to confuse
learners. This framework is informed by
descriptive and theoretical accounts of English. It takes into consideration
all the component elements of expressing time in English, including the
meaning of verbs and speaker subjectivity. It presents a small number of
consistent and flexible guidelines, provides a systematic visual
representation of time reference and helps learners put in perspective the
information in pedagogical materials. |
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Relevant details This is the summary of my paper/workshop given at the 37th
IATEFL International Annual Conference, Brighton, UK, 22-26 April, 2003, and
the meeting of the Second Language Acquisition Research Group (SLARG), Department
of Linguistics and Modern English Language, Lancaster University, UK, 1 July
2003. Earlier versions of this framework were presented at the TESOL Greece
Mini Convention, 31 October 1999, and the 23rd Annual TESOL Greece
Convention, 9-10 March 2002. |
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Key words Time, tense, aspect, modality, English language
teaching, language teaching methodology, EFL, ESL, ESOL, ELT, TESOL. |
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Related articles by the same author |
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Gabrielatos, C. (1994). Minding
our Ps. Current Issues 3, 5-8. |
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If you know of any related publications or discussions
freely available online, please contact me. |
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