Problems with Grammar in ESL Curricula & Materials

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A Fast Tour of the Verb Phrase Possibilities in English

Grammarians show us that the English verb system involves a combination of two simple forms (the simple present tense and the simple past tense) along with 3 complex verb phrases. This system involves the following 2-part subsystem:

Present Tense Set	Examples	Past Tense Set	Examples
simple present tense	She walks* to class.*	simple past tense	She walked* to class.*
present perfect	She has walked* to class.*	past perfect	She had walked* to class....*
present progressive	She is walking* to class.*	past progressive	She was walking* to class....*
present perfect progressive	She has been walking* to class.*	past perfect progressive	She had been walking* to class....*

If modals are added to the picture, then we need another table to show that modal auxiliaries can combine with all possible forms:

Modal		Examples
modal + verb		will study, might learn, can read
modal + perfect		will have studied, might have learned, can have read
modal + progressive		will be studying, might be learning, can be reading
modal + perfect + progressive		will have been studying, might have been learning, can have been reading

Moreover, a parallel set of passive forms exists. The English passive can have all the kinds of forms and meanings found in active versions of the verb phrase.

Present Tense Set	Examples	Past Tense Set	Examples
simple present tense	The course is taught* each semester.*	simple past tense	The course was taught* last year.*
present perfect	The course has been taught* for many years.*	past perfect	The course had been taught* in the spring but is now taught in the fall.*
present progressive	The course is being taught* online.*	past progressive	The course was being taught* at the same time as the introduction to psychology.*
present perfect progressive	The course has been being taught* by the same person for many years.*	past perfect progressive	The course had been being taught* by the same person until she retired.*

And there are modal possibilities with the passives!

Modal		Examples
modal + be verbed		might be taught
modal + have been verbed		could have been taught
modal + be being verbed		must be being taught
modal + have been being verbed		will have been being taught

What are we to do with this information in our language courses, curricula, and materials?

Reorganizing the Presentation of Verbs: Moving from Form to Context

First, we need to be very clear about what we have in these tables. Grammarians have looked over the entire system of English--looking for patterns in how words are formed, how sets of words are combined together into phrases, and how words and phrases are combined into larger units. These tables present a classification system to show all the syntactic possibilities. Like a chart that a botanist might make to show the types of trees or flowers.

What the tables do not tell us....is how these words are used in communication. The tables are a highly abstract tallying up of the possible forms without any consideration of context or of use. It's all about form and a very little bit about meaning and not at all about how the forms are used.

Unfortunately, these tables have been used as the underlying system in the creation of program curricula and of materials that are widely used in ESL/EFL courses. Such programs (and textbooks) create levels based on a seemingly rational subdivision such as the following:

Level 1: students study present tense and past tense and a few modals

Level 2: students study the progressives and a few more modals

Level 3: students study the perfectives and a few more modals and maybe the passive

See the problem? or problems? As soon as we start thinking about how grammar clusters in registers, this system falls apart.

Solving this problem of how to organize the grammar in the curriculum is central to what we are trying to achieve in this course. Here's the basic topic: how is the grammar part of a curriculum best organized so that our students can be both accurate and fluent n their communication?

Please send your questions and comments to me at patbyrd@comcast.net. Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you.