Abstract
The purpose of this study is to present an unified and systematic account for the multiple uses of English past tense based on a cognitive-semantic approach. In this study, it is suggested that the non-temporal meanings of past tense in English are extended from its temporal senses through conceptual metaphorization in a cognitively oriented way. This study also claims that a relationship between the non-temporal uses of English past tense and its temporal function is licensed by virtue of a conceptual correlation between the speaker`s conceptual dimension and the proximal-distal distinction, presenting cognitive-semantic factors such as possibiliy, cognitive salience, cognitive commitment to actuality, indirectness, and so on. In a pedagogical context this kind of approach may be useful to draw EFL learners` attention to those cognitive-semantic aspects of English past tense that are especailly relevant for its pragmatically motivated uses. Following an analysis of the non-temporal meanings of the past tense on the basis of a cognitive-semantic approach, pedagogical implications are offered for teaching the non-temporal uses of English past tense.
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