Teaching the English Tense System through Systemic Theoretical Instruction and Cognitive Grammar: Investigating Students’ Perceptions

Year 2023, Issue: 40, 61 - 88, 29.12.2023

Chi Wui Ng

https://doi.org/10.26650/jol.2023.1315502

Abstract

The English tense system poses substantial challenges to second and foreign language learners in both morphological and semantic respects, and traditional grammar pedagogy conceptualizing grammar as rules of thumb fails to provide learners with comprehensive, accurate, or systematic knowledge about the English tense system. The present classroom-based study aims at investigating the application of an alternative pedagogical grammar method that integrates the pedagogical framework of systemic theoretical instruction grounded upon sociocultural theory with the linguistic framework of cognitive grammar, which is a hyponym of cognitive linguistics, for teaching the English tense system. Four instructional sessions were conducted in an English language classroom in a Hong Kong secondary school, and students’ perceptions of the learning experience were examined by means of questionnaires and focus group interviews. While the students appreciated the novelty of the learning experience, they expressed concerns about complexity of the concepts taught, as well as the linkage between these concepts and examinations. The students felt mostly positive toward the learning experience and found it disparate from their previous experience of learning tenses, yet some held a negative attitude toward the learning experience and expressed their discontent over an inappropriate level of difficulty. Several factors ought to be taken into consideration when applying this pedagogy to second language grammar instruction.

Keywords

Systemic theoretical instruction, cognitive grammar, English tenses

Thanks

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Eunice Tang from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Professor Michelle Gu from the Education University of Hong Kong for their supervision of this research project.

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