The different verbal paradigms dealt with in this study are so relevant to the learning of a foreign language since differences between the vocabulary of the learner's native language (L1) and that of the foreign language (L2) may lead to several problems, such as the incorrect use of verbal tenses, especially because of the syntactic, morphological, and semantic processes implied in these categories.
This study has looked at the expression of the main verb phrase semantics: time, tense, aspect and mood, and also to another verbal feature which complements the previous ones, voice, within lexical semantics, morphology, phonology and syntax in order to help Spanish-speaking students establish a relative similarity between the two languages that would find it useful for learning English.
According to Thomson & Martinet (1986), a European student may find especially troublesome the use of verbal tenses when communicating in English since, first, he has to know whether in any construction a verb is required or not (i.e. I saw him two days ago – I have seen him recently) and,
5
This structure with ‘do’ cannot contain a modal auxiliary nor an auxiliary of the perfective aspect, the progressive aspect or the passive voice. However, negative imperatives are an exception (i.e. Don’t be taken in).
second, whic h verbal form to use when certain time adverbs are nearby (i.e. He hasn’t arrived/has
been arriving yet).
This choice becomes problematic for our Spanish students when they deal with the wide range of verbal forms which verb phrase semantics offer. For instance, the most common mistake for Spanish students, both at ESO and Bachillerato level, is to construct a certain verbal form in English (i.e. She was studying when I arrived) with serious grammatical mistakes (i.e. Does she be studying
when I arrived?) or sometimes by omitting certain elements (i.e. She working at the office). Often,
they do not correspond literally to the translation the students make.
It has been suggested that a methodology grounded in part in the application of explicit linguistic knowledge enhances the second language learning process. In the Spanish curriculum (B.O.E. 2002), the expression of time by means of verbal forms is envisaged from earlier stages of ESO in the use of simple tenses (simple present, present continuous, past simple, past continuous) to talk about their everyday life or any specific topic, up to higher stages of Bachillerato, towards more complex verbal forms, such as present perfect progressive, the three types of conditional, modal verbs and nonfinite constructions (infinitive, -ing forms), and above all, idiomatic expressions in certain verbal forms (If I were you, I wish I was..., It is said that..., etc).
So, the importance of how to handle these verbal forms cannot be understated since you can communicate but not successfully, for instance, the intonation in imperative forms may sound rude if not well toned. Current communicative methods foster the ‘teaching’ of this kind of specific linguistic information to help students recognize the main differences with the L2 words. Learners cannot do it all on their own. Language learners, even 2nd year Bachillerato students, do not automatically recognize similiarities which seem obvious to teachers; learners need to have these associations brought to their attention.
So far, we have attempted in this discussion to provide a broad account of the expression of time by means of verbal forms within verb phrase semantics in order to set it up within the linguistic theory, going through the localization of verbal forms in syntactic structures, to a broad presentation of the main grammatical categories involved in it. We hope students are able to understand the relevance of handling correctly the expression of verbal time, tense, aspect, mood and voice successfully in everyday life communication.
9. CONCLUSION .
All in all, although the question ‘What is a verbal form?’ may appear simple and straightforward, it implies a broad description of the verb phrase in terms of semantics so as to get to the paradigms of time, tense, aspect, mood and voice which, combined, give way to the whole set of verbal forms we
know. The appropriate answer suitable for students and teachers, may be so simple if we are dealing with ESO students, using simple grammatical verb structures or so complex if we are dealing with Bachillerato students, who must be able to handle more complex verb structures.
So far, in this study we have attempted to take a fairly broad view of verb phrase semantics since we are also assuming that there is an intrinsic connexion between its learning and successful communication. Yet, we have provided a descriptive account of Unit 19 dealing with The verb
phrase semantics, whose main aim was to introduce the student to the different paradigms that
shape the whole set of verbal forms in English.
In doing so, the study provided a broad account these notions, starting by a theoretical framework in order to get some key terminology on the issue, and further developed within a grammar linguistic theory, described in morphological, syntactic and semantic terms. Once presented, we discussed each paradigm individually but always in relation to each other not to lose track of it.
In fact, the correct expression of verbal forms, is currently considered to be a central element in communicative competence and in the acquisition of a second language since students must be able to use these forms in their everyday life in many different situations. As stated before, the teaching of them comprises four major components in our educational curriculum: phonology, grammar, lexicon, and semantics, out of which we get five major levels: phonological, morphological and syntactic, lexical, and semantic.
In fact, for our students to use the verbal forms properly, they must have a good know ledge at all those five levels. First, on phonology which describes the sound level. Secondly, since the two most basic units of grammar are the word and the sentence, they must have good grammatical knowledge, which involves the morphological level (i.e. the third person singular –s/-es,,
inflectional morphemes of past forms –ed or progressive aspect -ing, etc) and the syntactic level
(i.e. where time adverbs are placed at sentence level). Third, the lexicon, or lexical level, lists vocabulary items, that is, different verbs (static, dynamic). Finally, another dimension between the study of linguistic form and the study of meaning is semantics, or the semantic level, in which students must be able to distinguish the differences in use of the different verbal forms.
Therefore, it is a fact that students must be able to handle the four levels in communicative competence in order to be effectively and highly communicative in the classroom and in real life situations. The expression of these verbal paradigms in form and function, proves highly frequent in our everyday speech, and consequently, we must encourage our students to have a good managing of it.
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
- Aarts, F., and J. Aarts. 1988. English Syntactic Structures. Functions & Categories in Sentence
Analysis. Prentice Hall Europe.
- B.O.E. RD Nº 112/2002, de 13 de septiembre por el que se establece el currículo de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria/Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia.
- Bolton, D. And N. Goodey. 1997. Grammar Practice in Context. Richmond Publishing.
- Council of Europe (1998) Modern Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. A Common
European Framework of reference.
- Downing, A. and P. Locke. 2002. A University Course in English Grammar. London: Routledge. - Eastwood, J. 1999. Oxford Practice in Grammar. Oxford University Press.
- Greenbaum, S. and R. Quirk. 1990. A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman Group UK Limited.
- Greenbaum, S. 2000. The Oxford Reference Grammar. Edited by Edmund Weiner. Oxford University Press.
- Hymes, D. 1972. On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride and J. Holmes (eds.), Sociolinguistics, pp. 269-93. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
- Huddleston, R. 1988. English Grammar, An Outline. Cambridge University Press.
- Huddleston, R. and G.K. Pullum. 2002. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press.
- Nelson, G. 2001. English: An Essential Grammar. London. Routledge.
- Palmer, Frank R. 1981. Semantics: A New Outline, 2nd edn. New York: Cambridge University Press. (1st edn, 1976).
- Quirk, R & S. Greenbaum. 1973. A University Grammar of English. Longman. - Sánchez Benedito, F. 1975. Gramática Inglesa. Editorial Alhambra.
12.APPENDIX
Appendix 1. Major verb classes: lexical vs. auxiliary verbs.
LEXICAL VERBS Those verbs which constitute the principal part of the verb phrase: read, think, consider, play, jump, sleep, hear, etc
Modal Auxiliaries CAN, MAY, MUST, SHALL, WILL DARE, NEED, OUGHT (TO), USED
(TO) DO auxiliary of periphrasis and auxiliary of emphasis HAVE auxiliary of the perfective aspect AUXILIARY VERBS Primary Auxiliaries BE Auxiliary of the progressive aspect and auxiliary of the passive voice