The Present Perfect Simple - Getting It Right With Pre-Intermediate Learners
The Present Perfect Simple - Getting It Right With Pre-Intermediate Learners
The Present Perfect Simple - Getting It Right With Pre-Intermediate Learners
Jo Bloggs
13 October 2009
2697 words
Centre No. 00
Candidate No. 00
Contents
Introduction Page 3
Conclusion Page 9
Bibliography Page 10
I have chosen this language point because, in my opinion, it is an area which non-native
English speakers often continue to struggle with at higher levels and which I therefore believe
needs to be dealt with thoroughly at pre-intermediate level so as to give learners the best
chance of using it well. Although the present perfect continuous is sometimes introduced at
pre-intermediate level, I have chosen to narrow my focus to the present perfect simple only.
I will start by examining which meanings are often presented to learners at this level in
published material, focussing on the contexts used and on the language points presented
alongside the present perfect simple. I will then go on to discuss the difficulties that learners
face when trying to express ideas which require the use of the present perfect simple,
followed by a section on classroom activities which may serve as possible solutions to these
issues.
the present simple of have is usually abbreviated to s or ve in speech and informal writing
An overview of meaning
According to Carter and McCarthy, the present perfect (simple and continuous) is used to
refer to events taking place in a past time-frame that connects with the present (2006, p.613).
This suggests that the action takes place in the past, but is relevant to or connected with the
time of speaking. On the other hand, we can also say that the perfect aspect of the tense1
1
Some grammarians claim that English only has two tenses, present and past, since tense needs to be shown
by verb inflection rather than using compound forms. Continuous/progressive and perfect are therefore
aspects. In many coursebooks, however, present perfect simple or present perfect continuous are referred to
as tenses (Alexander,1988)(Thornbury, 1997) . I shall refer to the present perfect simple as a tense throughout
this assignment.
Swan (2000) defines the two uses of the present perfect simple as
These are broad areas, which I will narrow down by looking at the specific meanings as
presented to pre-intermediate learners.
This is what Comrie (1976) calls experiential perfect, and tends to be one of the first
meanings introduced in pre-intermediate level coursebooks. It follows the general form
presented above. In face2face Pre-Intermediate Unit 4, it is presented as Present Perfect for
life experiences (2007) and the focus is on actions in unspecified time without an adverbial
(Alexander,1988). It is similarly introduced in Total English Pre-Intermediate Unit 2 for life
experience. Both books use a text to introduce a topic and then draw the target language
from it. This results in sentences such as:
Hes been to Star Wars conferences all over the world (Face to Face, p. 24)
These are contrasted with sentences in the past simple which include specific times and dates
in the past.
Total English Pre-Intermediate and Natural English Pre-Intermediate combine the above
with the question:
What is interesting is that Have you ever...? is not mentioned in Carter and McCarthys
Cambridge Grammar of English either under the heading present perfect simple or under
ever, although ever is mentioned in affirmative sentences. There therefore seems to be a
mismatch between what is presented in coursebooks and the actual usage of the structure.
At this level, learners are also usually exposed to the use of the present perfect simple with
just yet and already, which Swan includes in time up to now expressions (2000, p 420).
Coursebooks at this level tend to simplify the rules: We usually use just and already in
positive sentences We usually use yet in negative sentences and questions (face2face Pre-
Intermediate, p142) .
Some coursebooks, such as face2face also touch on the point made by Swan (2000) that in
American English it is common to use the past simple with these expressions.
Actions and situations continuing up to the present /Present perfect with for and since
(referring to (a) above)
The present perfect is used when the activity or state starts at a specific point in the past and
continues up until the present. It appears in most pre-intermediate coursebooks only in the
simple form around half-way through the books, although the continuous form is introduced
late on in New Headway Pre-Intermediate. As the Teachers Book of Natural English
points out, present perfect with for and since
is particularly difficult in the negative form i.e. the idea that something has continued not to
happen or negative duration ..so at this level we are concentrating on the positive form and
question forms, especially with how long. (Gairns and Redman, 2005 (2), p.83).
She + has + past participle + (place adverbial) + since + a specific point in time
Once again, target language is usually introduced through a text whose meaning students
analyse to work out the usage of the target language.
L1 influence
Learners whose native languages do not have an equivalent to the present perfect simple
either in form or in meaning, such as Russian and Polish, may find the concept of such a
tense confusing and will often opt for the present simple or the past simple as an alternative
(Swan and Smith, 1987).
Although some learners mother tongues have a similar compound form to the present perfect
simple, they may have difficulties with the differences in meaning and use. Speakers of
French and Japanese, for example, have a tendency to overuse the present perfect simple
(Collins, 2007). In French, it would be quite normal to use the equivalent of the present
perfect simple when speaking about finished past time periods.
A side-effect of this overuse is the use of time-specific adjuncts such as last week, yesterday
and four months ago with the present perfect. These may be perfectly acceptable company
for the present perfect form equivalents in some languages, such as French and Spanish.
Coursebooks
2
from research by Bardovi-Harlig (2000) and Collins (2002)
Personalisation
Penny Urs Find someone who... is a good example of personalising practice of the present
perfect through a mingle in which the phrase Have you ever + past participle? is asked until
the learner receives a positive answer from another person (1988, p.237). This works as a
kind of drill, in that the same structure is used repeatedly, with just the past participle
changing. This helps to reinforce the form. However, I would encourage learners to continue
their questioning of their partner (as above) to find out more about the experience. In this
way, the contrast between when to use the present perfect simple and the past simple is made
clear and practised in a meaningful context.
3
Total English Pre-Intermediate Students Book (2005), English Pre-Intermediate Students Book (2005)
(2005), face2face Pre-Intermediate Students Book , 3rd Edition New Headway Pre Intermediate Students Book
(2007)
Based on Community Language Learning, the idea of working from fluency to accuracy and
on reformulation of language can work well for present perfect simple + for/since. The
teacher could prompt the learners with the question How long....? on the board and some
key pictures (a house; this school; English; this country) and ask students to question each
other. The teacher could then reformulate their language for them, which they repeat and
which is recorded onto an MP3 player or similar. This is then played back to the learners and
transcribed onto the board, after which the teacher and learners can focus on the language, its
form, use and meaning (Thornbury, 1999). In my experience, learners like to try to transcribe
the listening themselves, as a form of Dictogloss (see below), making them more involved in
the process. However, this may depend on the lesson length, the students writing abilities
and how long the text is.
Dictogloss (Wajnryb, 1990) is a form of reconstruction which includes both top-down and
bottom-up processing. A short text of interest to the students including present perfect simple
structures can be prepared and read at normal speed so that learners can make notes. They
then have to try to reconstruct the text, recalling the lexis and the grammar used. Very often,
the idea of the text comes through, but the grammar is not the same as the original. Learners
are then given the opportunity to compare their text with the original and notice the
differences.
Both reconstruction and reformulation are types of activities which raise awareness and
stretch the learners linguistic systems because they push learners to use full grammatical
resources. According to Skehan (1998), these are crucial in reducing gaps in interlanguage.
This type of task clearly helps learners in understanding how and when to use the present
perfect simple, but I would be keen to follow it up with oral production activities, so as to
put the newly-acquired rules into communicative practice.
Correction
In the reformulation and reconstruction activities above, there is focus on getting the form
and the use of the present perfect right through conscious noticing. As Schmidt comments,
such noticing is a precondition for input and therefore intake (Schmidt and Frota, 1986).
However, as learners practise the present perfect simple, they will be at a stage of
interlanguage which will probably mean that they do not get it right all the time, especially in
fluency tasks. Correction at this stage is important, but learners need to know that they are
being corrected (Schmidt and Frota, 1986). I have sometimes noticed (in my own teaching
and others) that I am so concerned about not making a student lose face, that some
correction techniques (such as repeating the sentence back to the student) do not succeed in
correcting at all, but simply lead to confusion. I feel that correcting meaning of the present
perfect simple clearly is essential. This could be done through delayed oral correction at the
end of a fluency activity, perhaps by picking out errors but not identifying who made the
Conclusion
Having analysed the meanings of the present perfect which are usually dealt with at pre-
intermediate level, I believe that it is essential to provide learners with sufficient varied
practice of the language in order to provide a solid foundation for further development at
higher levels. I feel that this can be achieved through supplementing or adapting the
coursebook material so as to make contexts for presentation and practice personal to the
learners. In addition, the use of reconstruction and reformulation activities can be used to
engage learners and allow them and their teachers to become more aware of the areas which
they need to improve. If these areas are then followed up, learners should have a better
understanding of the meaning and use of the present perfect simple.
Collins, L. (2002) The roles of L1 influence and lexical aspect in the acquisition of temporal
morphology in Language Learning, 52, 43-94
Comrie, B. (1976) Aspect. An Introduction to the Study of Verbal Aspect and Related
Problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gairns, R. and Redman, S. (2005) (1) Natural English Pre-Intermediate Students Book
Oxford: OUP
Gairns, R. and Redman, S. (2005) (2) Natural English Pre-Intermediate Teachers Book
Oxford: OUP
Schmidt, R., & Frota, S. (1986) Developing basic conversational ability in a second
language. A case study of an adult learner of Portuguese in Day, R. (Ed.) Talking to
learn: Conversation in second language acquisition Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Soars, J. and Soars, L.(2007) 3rd Edition New Headway Pre Intermediate Students Book
Oxford: OUP