A Cross-sectional Study of the Present Perfect Tense in Arabic and Indonesian EFL Settings

Abstract

This document-based paper investigates EFL learners’ uses of the present perfect tense when using English as their second or foreign language. A sample of 216 sentences written by 38 Indonesian and Arab undergraduate students was analyzed to detect erroneous uses of the present perfect tense (PPT) in their English writing. Twelve erroneous structures in the Arab corpus and 17 in the Indonesian dataset were underlined. The incorrect sentences were singled out and discussed. Pairing these grammar-related errors to SLA research and existing literature, the findings demonstrate that the majority of errors were grounded in either Arabic or Bahasa Indonesian language interference with English. The Arab learners seem to have more difficulties in using the PPT than the past simple tense. In contrast, the Indonesian EFL learners seem to have difficulties in both past and present perfect tenses altogether due to the absence of the past tense in the Indonesian tongue. It is concluded that learners’ mother tongues in both contexts affect their uses of English grammatical structures. This yields important implications with reference to the effects of the mother tongue in EFL settings.