Language Awareness Task 3 Kevin Stein You are revising work on the present simple tense with a class

of intermediate or upper intermediate learners. Discuss with them the six uses of the present simple and give examples of each of the uses. Try to give your work a specific topic or task as a context. One of the major issues I have faced while teaching intermediate and even upper-intermediate level students in Japan is a kind of narrowness of tense usage. This is at least partially due to the fact that the Japanese education system still stresses a grammar-translation method of language learning and a heavy reliance on a structural syllabus. Students either end up spending an inordinate amount of time on one dense text at the expense of breadth of exposure, or speed through artificial readings and dialogues whose main purpose is the highlighting of a specific set of grammar points. To exacerbate matters, the university entrance exam system also tests students' knowledge of grammar as it functions within a relative narrow register, almost exclusively academic. Even Forest, arguably the one of the most popular student grammar texts in Japan, provides a relatively narrow range of functional examples for each tense. The present simple receives only four examples, of which three are just variations on habitual actions (Ishiguro, A. 2003, pp. 51-55), and there is no mention of the present simple tense's usefulness for giving directions, as a narrative device, or it's use in conjunction with 'with' to form a time clause. An extended task, such as writing a class newsletter, could help learners explore the rich variety of functions in which the present simple can be used. It could also serve as a source of meaning based

input which would be both more natural and wider in breath than those to which learners might normally be exposed. To introduce the task, I would provide a sample of a family newsletter, put together from a collection of the newsletters produced yearly by my parents. The newsletter would have examples of the six uses-labeled "1)" through "6)" below--of the present simple tense as identified by Rosemary Aitken (2002, pp. 18-19.). 1) Present simple as narrative device: I would begin by asking students to find all of the article titles written in the present simple tense. I would use the article titles "Mamico Joins Family" and "Danny Moves to India," as my primary examples. I would explain to the students that when this newsletter was sent to my relatives, I had already been married to my wife Mamico for seven months and that my brother Danny had likewise been living in India for nearly a year. From there students could rewrite all article titles using the present simple tense in the past tense and we could discuss the tense related to a sentences sense of immediacy and impact. We could also explore how, when space is limited, "Mamico Has Joined Our Family," while grammatically correct, would perhaps stretch the patience of friends and family who are looking for a relatively quick read. As a class, we could generate a rule that while all titles would not have to be in the present simple in their class newsletter, they would want to use it when it saved valuable page space, and when they wanted to transmit a stronger sense of immediacy. 2) Present simple for giving instructions, directions or

demonstrations: One of the family recipes is usually in the newsletter and would serve as an example of how present simple is used for giving instructions. I could also include a faux-add for the yearly gathering of my family at my grandmother's house in Florida complete

with a map and directions of how to get to my grandmother's house from the airport. I would highlight how the instructions are, in a sense, timeless truths. To make Jewish stuffed cabbage like my mother does, regardless of when cooking it, one would have to follow the instructions. And to get to my grandmother's house by the best route possible (according to my father), one should always take highway 38 along the Ocean View Parkway. And in the recipe article, I would especially highlight how the beginning of the article, which is a short history of stuffed cabbage in our family, makes use of the past tense and help contrast it to the actual recipe itself which is written in the present simple. We could then identify a number of articles students could include in their class newsletter which would make use of the present simple tense, such as how to make effective vocabulary cards or how to flirt in a foreign language. 3) With a future marker as a timetable future: There are always a number of family events that my mother has planned which she then informs the rest of the family about through the newsletter. The present tense is used liberally when explaining the days planned activities. I would ask the students to read one such article and then to rewrite it in the future tense. If possible, I would have one student read both versions of the article to the class and ask the students to assess the force and feeling of command expressed by each version of the article. In the present simple tense version, do the students feel they could refuse attending? Do they feel that asking for a change of plans is possible? When producing the class newsletter, I would encourage the students to write two articles about upcoming class projects, one mainly using the present simple and one which uses a wide range structures for expressing futurity. 4) Describing feelings and senses: While in truth there is no gossip column within my family's newsletter, I could easily write one. Such a

column would help students focus on how expression of feelings and senses which are immediate and sudden as opposed to ongoing, and which are not necessarily under the conscious control of the subject (hear, feel, see) are best expressed in the present simple tense as opposed to the present progressive. Students could then take sentences from the gossip column, and change them into the present progressive and compare how it changes the sense of immediacy, locus of control, or results in grammatical errors. Some example sentences might include: - The Gabbing Nanny feels terrible that one little girls Christmas wish of getting the lead in the school play didnt come true. - The Gabbing Nanny hears rumors of a big move for a certain young man who now lives in Switzerland, but might be going to India. - The Gabbing Nanny smells the coming of spring and knows it's almost time for the big Florida Bar-B-Q. We could discuss in what other instances would a feeling or sense be sudden and not necessarily under the control of the subject, and how present simple could be used within a newsletter article. If students had difficulty identifying such articles, suggestions such as grief expressed in an obituary, a sense-based description of a current change of season, or horoscopes, could be provided. 5) In the formation of a time clause with 'when': while it would be difficult to provide an entire article using "when" clauses, I could include the following famous Yiddish sayings, in a proverb corner: "When men plan, God laughs."

"When you marry for money, you earn it." "When a thief kisses you, count your teeth." We could discuss the meaning of the proverbs and how when + verb in present simple functions as a time clause. I would also highlight how proverbs, in their entirety, express ideas which also might be considered truths. I would also provide personal examples of this function of the tense, such as, When my wife doesn't make me a lunch, I go to McDonalds, and how this sentence expresses a habitual truth, something I do about once a week. An article in the students written class newsletter which highlights class rules and explanations would be able to make good use of this aspect of the present simple tense (i.e.: When the bell rings, be in your seats. When class starts, have your paper and pencil out.) 6) The present simple tense as a means of denoting truths: The sheer number of types of truths which can be denoted using the present simple could lead to confusion if dealt with one by one. To simplify the process, I would break these uses down into two larger categories of personal truths and external truths. I would first review the use of personal truths by having students read the article in which my mother introduced my wife to the family. This article includes habitual truths (Mamico practices Yoga and jogs three times a week.), permanent human truths (Mamico loves to cook and is a big fan of Murakami Haruki.), and internal truths (I think that Mamico is a great addition to the Stein family and we are all looking forward to the next additions to come.) External truths such as scientific truths (Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe.), general truths (Americans are less interested in environmental issues that most Europeans.), and

recurrent truths (Tides come in and release a large amount of unused energy.) could be introduced in a separate article in which my father, a chemist, describes his scientific research. To help explore the two different forms of truths, I could provide students with a list of article titles and descriptions and ask them to identify if the articles contained mainly personal or external truths. Conclusion All six of the uses of the present simple tense, as explored and explained through the presentation and language awareness activities based on a family newsletter, could be structured so as to allow students to take the next step and naturally identify class newsletter articles which could also make use of similar expressions of the present simple tense. The writing of the articles and the editing process would then allow students to engage in hypothesis testing through output production (Swain, 2000, p.100) and to raise awareness in gaps between their interlanguage and the target language forms (Ellis, 1997, p.57). The production of one newsletter would most likely result in only modest changes to students interlanguage. However, the activity could be repeated on a regularly basis, each previous newsletter serving as a source of rich input and a template for the writing of new newsletters, which would in turn provide the opportunities for language recycling and consolidation so necessary for language acquisition. Considering the narrow manner in which tenses are taught in Japan, it is not surprising that even upper-intermediate students of English feel and exhibit habitual behaviors in which the present simple tense is only used to express feelings or habitual behaviors. But through a series of awareness raising and task based classes, students would have the chance to broaden their understanding of the simple present tense,

and in doing so, see it for the truly rich form that it is.

When that

happens, the headlines might scream, Students Master Tense. References: Aitken, A. (2002) Teaching Tenses. Brighton: ELB Publishing Ellis, R. (1997) Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press Ishigiro, A. (2003) Forest. Tokyo: Kirihara Shoten Swain, M. (2000) The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue. In J. Lantolf (ed.) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.