Tense Usage Research Articles

Sports live text commentary as a hybrid register

Aim: To present and analyze features of live text commen-tary (LTC) as a recent register of the English language using examples from the coverage of UEFA Euro 2020. The paper explores the influence of spoken language and sports an-nouncer talk (SAT) on the register. It focuses on the differ-ences and similarities between LTC and SAT and presents an overview of features unique to LTC.Methods: LTC was examined as a text variety following Chovanec’s (2018) analysis and using the register perspec-tive proposed by Biber and Conrad (2009). Examples from fourteen LTCs reporting on the UEFA Euro 2020 competition held in June/July 2021 were analyzed, including their typ-ical situational and linguistic characteristics and some of their functions.Results: LTC is a hybrid register that exemplifies today’s convergence of different media. LTCs take the context of production from live blogs, while their language is main-ly reminiscent of SAT, including tense usage and adoption of certain forms. Spoken language, in general, is also an in-fluence, especially on the syntactic and grammatical levels. Distinct LTC features include the internal structure, icons, and interactiveness of the text. The analyzed commentaries feature clearly outlined sections (e.g., opening and closing posts) that serve specific discursive purposes. Icons have a particular function in LTC; their meaning is well-estab-lished, and they sometimes function as utterances. Another remarkable characteristic is the intertextuality derived from text contributions provided by various spectators of the sports event, including fans. This interaction is, at times, simulated. Conclusion: The paper confirmed LTC as a hybrid format with avenues for further hybridization. In LTC, we see an intertwining of different elements, which, taken together, produce a new whole in a process typical of the conver-gence seen in the media today. The most innovative aspects of LTC, the intertextuality, interactiveness, and co-produc-tion of a text, are limited.

AN ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT STUDENTS' ABILITY IN TOEFL READING COMPREHENSION

Abstract:
 
 The TOEFL test is globally acknowledged as the foremost assessment tool for evaluating English proficiency levels (Warfield, 2013:133). This study explores the English department students' readiness for the TOEFL examination, with a specific focus on 4th-semester students enrolled in the TOEFL preparation class at STKIP MB. An observed issue pertains to reading comprehension difficulties encountered by students in this class. This difficulty primarily stems from the complexity and length of the texts, making it challenging to grasp the core ideas. Furthermore, students have been exposed to Academic Reading and Extensive Reading prior to the advanced Reading (TOEFL reading) section. This context demands specific skills such as extracting key ideas from passages, addressing direct and indirect questions, and enhancing vocabulary (Phillips, 2001).
 This research identifies a link between reading comprehension and reading techniques. Patel and Jain (2008:80) distinguish intensive, extensive, Aloud, and Silent reading techniques, with students struggling to maintain focus and comprehend texts effectively. Inefficient strategies often lead to time-consuming responses to reading comprehension questions. Another significant hurdle is that students tend to read passages word by word, hindering their ability to retain information. Harmar (2018:25) aptly notes, "Reading is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain," emphasizing that reading serves as a medium to obtain information and understand the meaning of text. However, the reality reveals a deficit in understanding words or sentences in English among some students, indicative of inadequate reading comprehension and limited vocabulary.
 This research also highlights the challenges faced by college students preparing for TOEFL, wherein tests exhibit varied formats, making them significantly different from typical assessments. The abundance of seemingly correct answer choices often perplexes students, leading to confusion and inconsistency in selecting the right answers. Furthermore, the students frequently grapple with tense usage and vocabulary limitations in the English language. Notably, reading comprehension consistently emerges as the lowest-scoring section in the TOEFL test.
 In conclusion, this study aims to address the reading comprehension difficulties encountered by STKIP MB 4th Semester Students in the TOEFL preparation class. By examining the correlation between reading techniques, comprehension strategies, and vocabulary enhancement, the research strives to provide effective solutions to improve TOEFL reading scores and overall English proficiency among students.
 
 Keywords :Reading, Reading strategy , TOEFL.

STABILITY AND VARIABILITY OF UDMURT DREAM NARRATIVES: A CASE STUDY OF SAME OF THE SAME FOLKLORE TEXTS RECORDED AT DIFFERENT TIME

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of chronologically different narratives about dreams and examines their stability and variability. The objects of the research are five same dream stories recorded in 2018 and 2020 from the same informant in the rural locality ( selo ) of Zavialovo, the Udmurt Republic. The narratives under consideration belong to one classification group - otherworldly dreams, the plot-forming motif of which is communication with deceased close relatives. While analyzing the stability and variability of the folklore texts, I take into account their composition and suggest new terms "dream-text" ( снотекст ) to denote the part that comprises the dream itself and "dream-comments" ( снокомментарии ) to denote narrator's explanations and remarks on the reported dream. The dream-comments are divided into three groups: introductory / pre-text, in-text and final / post-text comments. It has been revealed that dream-comments undergo the greatest changes - they can either extend or reduce, contain non-repeating data and interpretations, thus playing a key role in text compression. Conversely, the dream-texts do not alter dramatically, demonstrating remarkable stability: slight variability can be found only at the structural level (internal permutations of structural elements in the dream-text) and lexical level (the use of synonymous words and expressions that do not change the content of the described dream). It can be explained by the informant’s inclination to convey the dream content as accurately as possible and preserve its significant details. The stability of the dream texts is observed at the grammatical level, namely the verb tense usage, and at the syntactical level, namely the usage of the mixture of direct and indirect speech. The prevalence of present tense verb forms in narration aims to blur time boundaries, create the illusion of the reality, so the dream is not just remembered, but presented hit et nunc to listeners. All considered dream narratives perfectly fit into the Udmurt traditional religious and mythological system, reflecting and reinforcing existing beliefs (the need to remember the dead, beliefs about posthumous existence), thereby emphasizing that retold dreams are culturally constituted and encouraged.

Writing Journal to Improve Past Tense Usage in English (As a Second Language)

This action research came to light with the primary focus to improve, particularly, the usage of past tense among grade X students of Gelephu Middle Secondary School, Bhutan. The focus was on finding out the usefulness of JW (journal writing) on understanding and learning of PT (past tense) in English Language. PT usage in both modes of communication (verbal and written) in English is crucial, and its incompetency has always been a hindrance. In total, samples of 19 students were studied from the same grade in a pre-test, followed by intervention measures, and juxtaposition with post-test samples after intervention. Intervention measures period lasted for six weeks; JW and weekly classes of 20 minutes on usage of PT (simple past, past progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive). The difference between the writings conducted before the intervention measures and after it, was standing; learners’ performance was better than expected (the usage of all types of PT improved). Along with improvement errors in usage of other constituents of PT surfaced; spelling and subject - verb agreement. Keywords: Journal writing, past tense, simple past, past progressive, past perfect, past perfect progressive, expression. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-24-08 Publication date: August 31 st 2022

Narrative Texts: an Error Analysis of Students In Past Tense Usage

Narrative Texts: an Error Analysis of Students In Past Tense Usage

Aspectual marking from a typologically uncommon origin: a quantitative account of the development of hamē(w) in Middle Persian

Abstract This article follows the early grammaticalization path of a durative adverb to an aspect marker for a range of aspectual uses including durative, focalized, and habitual. In a usage-based approach, we investigate the behavior of hamē(w) in a Middle Persian database with respect to several grammatical variables, and we check its developmental path against the model proposed for the Romance languages by Bertinetto, Ebert and de Groot, aiming to uncover the amount of similarities/differences between those Romance languages and Persian. The results show that the lexical origin of the structure investigated locates Middle Persian in stage (iii) of the model, and the development documented deviates from the rest of the model in various respects. Furthermore, the usual priority of past tense in progressive developments is not observed: the adverb is originally present-oriented, but past tense usage increases as the grammaticalization proceeds.

Aspectual marking from a typologically uncommon origin: a quantitative account of the development of hamē(w) in Middle Persian

Abstract This article follows the early grammaticalization path of a durative adverb to an aspect marker for a range of aspectual uses including durative, focalized, and habitual. In a usage-based approach, we investigate the behavior of hamē(w) in a Middle Persian database with respect to several grammatical variables, and we check its developmental path against the model proposed for the Romance languages by Bertinetto, Ebert and de Groot, aiming to uncover the amount of similarities/differences between those Romance languages and Persian. The results show that the lexical origin of the structure investigated locates Middle Persian in stage (iii) of the model, and the development documented deviates from the rest of the model in various respects. Furthermore, the usual priority of past tense in progressive developments is not observed: the adverb is originally present-oriented, but past tense usage increases as the grammaticalization proceeds.

Workshop of English Abstract Construction Scientific Writing of Diploma Students of Medical Record and Health Information of STIKes Mitra Husada Karanganyar

ABSTRACT. One of the important aspects in scientific writing is abstract. Reseach abstract is constructed in two langugaes, i.e. Indonesian and English. However, most students has not been able to construct English abstract correctly according to English rules (tenses). This community service activity was aimed at improving students’ knowledge in constructing English abstract by applying correct tenses. The implementation of this community service was conducted through online workshop via Zoom platform. The activities were carried out by applying lecturing method, application, discussion, and exercise. The implementation of community service was successful because students’ understanding and knowledge in the tense usage in the abstract context improved significantly, that could be seen from the scores of pre-test and post-test. 
 
 Keywords: technical gudance, tenses, English abstract

The Linguistic Features in Egyptian-Authored English Research Article Literature Reviews in Linguistics

The current study aims at investigating and comparing the linguistic features of lexical items, tense usage, and voice choice in a sample of ten Egyptian-authored linguistics research article (RA) literature reviews (LRs) in local and international English-medium journals between 2013 and 2019. The paper followed a combination of genre-based and corpus-driven approaches, analyzing the data qualitatively and quantitatively. It adopted the state-of-the-art #LancsBox. The analysis revealed interesting differences between both sub-corpora in the use of lexis, especially in Moves 2 and 3. It was found that lexis varied to reflect the different rhetorical functions of the LR. They also differed in the use of the past simple tense. However, both sub-corpora agreed on using the present simple tense and active voice the most. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a helpful guide for Egyptian and novice researchers to use the linguistic features more appropriately in their LRs. It has pedagogical implications for designing EAP and ESP courses. Further studies on larger corpora are needed to analyze the linguistic features and highlight variations across genres, disciplines, and languages.

DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AFFECTING COMMON ERRORS IN TENSE IN ENGLISH AMONG NINTH STANDARD STUDENTS

This descriptive study aims to find out the differential effect of gender, residential locale and medium of instruction on the errors made by the ninth grader students in the usage of English tenses. Three null hypotheses were tested by collecting data from a random sample of 291 ninth grade students from schools in Coimbatore district.The English Tense Error Analysis Test was administered to find out the common errors committed by the students in using the language. Independent sample t-test revealed significant differential effect of gender,residential locale and medium of instruction on common errors in English tense usage of ninth grade students. Boys compared to girls, rural students compared to urban students and Tamil medium students compared to English medium students make significantly high mistakes in English tense.

A Study on Teaching Speaking at English Education Department of Universitas Islam Madura

This study was purposed to describe the difficulties in linguistics faced by the students in studying Speaking and the ways taken by the lecturer in solving the students’ linguistics difficulties in studying Speaking at English Education Department of Universitas Islam Madura.The research design was descriptive and the subject of the study was fourth semester students and Speaking Lecturer of English Education Department. The data were collected by observing the Speaking lecturer and interviewing the six students and speaking lecturer. They were analyzed descriptively. The finding showed that the materials used in teaching speaking are Describing Object, Simple present and Vocabulary. Meanwhile, the strategies which are used by the lecturer are lecturing, individual task, group discussion, students’ performance and role play. The Speaking lecturer had some ways to solve the linguistic difficulties by making the class attractive, giving more detailed explanation and some exercises, giving more detailed explanation in the usage of tenses and some exercises, giving the vocabulary , and identifying the difficulties dealing with the students’ condition.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND ECONOMIC PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH ARTICLES: VERB TENSE IN CONCLUSION SECTION

Conclusions to research articles are considered an important part because they draw conclusions based on the findings, discuss pedagogical and policy implications, and make future recommendations. The paper looks at an analysis of the rhetorical structure of conclusion sections of journal articles. Despite the extensive exploration of the topic, it has not received much attention regarding the appropriate use of verb tense in conclusion sections. To achieve this end, a corpus of 50 research articles from Applied Linguistics and Economic Psychology was compiled and examined based on Yang and Alison’s (2003) model of move structure of the conclusion section. The findings of this study revealed that Move 2 (Evaluating the study) and Move 3 (Deductions from the research) are found to be obligatory moves in both sets of data. As far as the tense pattern in the moves is concerned, the frequency measure showed a slight distinction in the usage of verb tense; however, no significant difference between both disciplines was calculated. Furthermore, the results showed that simple present tense is the most frequently used tense in all the moves of two corpora. The findings of this study may prove helpful for ESL students regarding the preference of tense patterns while composing conclusion sections. Keywords: Verb Tense, Conclusion Section, Rhetorical Structure, Research Articles, Academic Writing

Psalms and Interpretation in Milton's Nativity Ode

Psalms and Interpretation in Milton's Nativity Ode

TEMPORAL COORDINATES AND THE DEICTIC CENTRE IN SULA BY TONI MORRISON

The present study deals with the role of lexical and grammatical text coherence devices in the text-constructing process and in maintaining chronological organization of the text. These devices safeguard against the disruption of the continuum in the elliptical fragmentary narrative of a Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison’s short novel “Sula” where the narration weaves forward and backward, departing from the linear chronological sequence of events. “Sula” (1973) is one of the first black feminist novels in the United States, due to the current social movements sparkling a renewed interest in the story. The author herself described it as a “cracked mirror”, the pieces of which should be assembled by the reader. Methodology of the research is based on qualitative approach, the main methods being descriptive, analytical and structural-narratological. The analysis of the whole text corpus of the novel is followed by the description of the obtained data, highlighting predominant temporal devices employed in retrospection, prospection and the deixis of the narration, the continuum of narration and the overall structuring of the plot. The paper describes in detail recurrent integrative devices related to the chronological organization of the text - deictic center, specific verb tense usage, time adverbials and the overall semantics of the situation. The study shall contribute to the development of specific aspects of chronological organization of the text in the general theory of text linguistics and could be a feasible aid in teaching practical literary analysis and creative writing by providing inventory of the temporal coordinates and by developing learners’ skills for the analysis and reconstruction of the fragmented text continuum.

GRAMMATICAL ERRORS ANALYSIS OF THE THIRD SEMESTER STUDENTS’ RECOUNT ESSAYS

Considering the importance of students’ errors in English learning process, this research was conducted to identify grammatical errors made by the third semester students of Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa. Two research questions are put forward in this error analysis research. They are (1) What are the grammatical errors types made by the students when they write a recount essay? (2) What is the most grammatical error made by the students? This research applied a descriptive qualitative method with the students’ writing as the key data. The data were collected using the writing assignments of the writing lecturer. James’ theory of grammatical error categories and Corder’s theory of error analysis procedure became the main baseline theories in the data analysis. The data used in this research were collected from 16 scripts written by the third semester students. The findings show that there were 245 errors figured out in students’ recount essays. This research further revealed that 138 (56.3%) of the whole error were related to inappropriate usage of tenses. It was the most dominant error appearing in students’ writings. This category was followed by the errors of prepositions usage with a frequency of 31 (12.6%), poor usage of articles with a frequency of 29 (11.8%), errors of singular/plural with a frequency of 21 (8.6%), improper use of irregular verbs with a frequency of 11 (4.5%), poor usage of adjectives with a frequency of 7 (2.9%), inability to apply the rules of concord with a frequency of 6 (2.5%), and possessive case with a frequency of 2 (0.8%). These errors indicated students lacked of grammatical knowledge and had not been able to write an acceptable writing especially a recount text.

The Present Tense Usage in Speaking Skill: An Analysis of Students' Short Speech Texts

The result of this paper is based on the data taken from Triskanedi (2007). The study result showed that 80% of students made mistakes in the use of simple present tense, which was the highest compared to the other two tenses, namely simple past and simple future tense. Due to these interesting findings, the writer intended to carry out further analysis by using the data of the research to find out the kinds of errors produced by the students focusing on simple present tense usage in the short speech texts. The analysis of the data uses a specific type of errors, i.e., omission, addition, missed formation and missed ordering/improper ordering in accordance to taxonomy strategy. The result shows the percentage of the omission of 'be and s/es' is 41.08%. While the addition of 'be and s/es' is 6,21%, and missed formation is 51,94%, and improper ordering is only 0,77%. The omission and addition seem related to the use of 'be' before an adjective or nominal sentence and's' in subject-verb agreement. In addition, the study also found few other errors in using of article 'the', verb inflexion 'ed', and of auxiliary in small numbers. These seems contributed to the students' errors production despite the fact that simple present tense considered as the easiest one to formulate compared to others, another thing that needs to underlie from this study is the understanding of English grammar seems necessary to avoid the same errors in the future

Grammatical accuracy of Indonesian-English translation

This study aimed at investigating the accuracy of grammatical structures made by EFL students and their perception of factors affecting them to translate Indonesian texts into English grammatically. The subjects of the study were 21 students in an Indonesian-English Translation class at Language and Literature Faculty, Universitas Sains Alqur’an Wonosobo, Indonesia. The data were collected through students’ translation result texts, questionnaires, and interviews. Since the data involve social phenomena the qualitative approach is used to interpret the data. The findings indicate that the major inaccurate grammatical structures made by students are noun phrase structure, passive voice, and usage of tenses. EFL students consider that factors that contribute to helping them translate texts grammatically are lecturers’ grammar class, watching English movies, and frequent translating exercises. With regard to Indonesian-English translation, this study is believed to ensure the teachers to design an appropriate course to serve the students to develop their grammatical performance in translation.

COMMUNICATIVE-PRAGMATIC POTENTIAL OF THE MEANS OF EXPRESSION OF FUTURAL MEANING IN PUBLICISTIC DISCOURSE OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE

AbstractBackground. The article under consideration focuses on the comprehensive research of CF,integrating stylistic, lexico-grammatical and communicative contexts of its realization in publicisticdiscourse of the French language.
 The purpose of the study is to investigate the stylistic and communicative peculiarities ofthe publicistic type of discourse, research the discourse differences between publicistic and literarytypes of discourse, define the types of futural semantics in publicistic type of discourse in theFrench language and specify their communicative potential.
 Methods of the research. The article under discussion applies comprehensive approach toCF research: interpretation procedure to differentiate modus components and separate modalmeanings of CF, method of semantic generalization to study the CF tense forms usage, thediscourse analysis operations to discover the remote structure with futural meaning, contextual andfunctional-stylistic analyses to discover CF semantics in separate microcontexts.
 Results of the investigation. The notions of strategy and tactics of language communication,overall context of utterance and speaker’s communicative aim producing, realized within a singlecommunicative act, are the foundation of the communicative-pragmatic analysis of the types ofdiscourse, implementing CF. Publicistic discourse is regarded as a certain type of discourse, as acorrelate of publicistic style. The communicative-pragmatic effect realization in a certain type ofdiscourse may involve the combination of semantic-stylistic and contextological analysis of theutterance. The analysis of the factual material proves that predictive publicism makes a significantpart of CF rate of usage.
 Discussion. It has been found out that publicistic discourse feeds into existential discoursebasic model. Its essence is in semiotization of the future reality in the long term or near-termperspective. The comparison of the tenses usage in publicistic and literary texts has demonstratedthe difference in their temporal structure – publicistic style, as opposed to literary style, ischaracteristic of preservation of frequency of the timeframe. Publicistic style, as well as literarystyle, contains futural contexts, which include integrative combinations of the verbs of movement,semantics of verbs, conveying different types of aspectual situations and grammar means.Publicistic type of discourse of the French language contains all four moods of French, able torealize two major forms of futural semantics – “future prediction” and “volitive future”. Prospectsof the future investigations lie in the study of CF expression in different types of language acts suchas: emotional-evaluative, declarative, directive, commissive, representative, in particular, wishes,permissions, demands, hints. Moreover, it seems highly potential to research CF in different typesof discourse, namely, in esoteric, culinary, advertese, intensional, etc.

A Three-dimensional, Systemic Functional Analysis of Tense Usage in Gregory of Tours’ Decem libri Historiarum

Summary:The current paper investigates the three-dimensional meaning potential of the Late Latin narrative tenses. The grammatical categories ‘tense’ and ‘aspect’ are hypothesized to express meaning on the three metafunctional levels posited by Systemic Functional Linguistics. Combinations of their ideational and textual dimensions can be used to classify the various ‘traditional labels’ proposed in the literature on the Latin tenses. Interpersonal meaning, however, gives rise to an extra possibility to account for tense usage by referring to a number of perspectives from which the author invites his audience to experience the narrated events. An author like Gregory of Tours may avail himself of these perspectives to influence his audience in taking a stance on the events. The ultimate tense selection depends on a hierarchy of metafunctional considerations the author may have. The current paper also briefly discusses some of the morphological developments reported in the literature on the Latin tense system.

The incorrect use on tenses in job advertisements

The research aimed at identifying the types of errors and the frequency of types of errors in using the simple present tense, simple past tense, and simple future tense in job advertisements. The research was qualitative research. The qualitative method used was content analysis. The data of the research were taken from the errors of simple present tense, simple past tense, simple future tense usage in the job advertisements. While the source of data was taken from job advertisements in www.jobstreet.com . There were twenty texts taken as samples.  The data analysis used the theory from Ellis that there were several steps in analyzing errors which include collecting data samples, identifying data, describing errors, explaining errors and evaluating error (Ellis, 1994). The result showed that the errors in using simple present tense were higher than in using simple future tense. In the use of simple present tense, there were two errors of auxiliary omission (66,67%), and one (33,33%) error of verb misinformation. In the use of simple past tense, there was zero (0%) error. In the use of simple future tense, there were one (50%) error of verb + ing omission and one error (50%) of verb + ing misinformation.  The result of the study can be used as input to avoid further errors.