An error analysis of the present perfect tense : a case study of grade

AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE: A CASE
STUDY OF GRADE 11 STUDENTS AT SATRI WAT RAKANG SCHOOL IN
THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2010
KANOKWAN PETCHTAE
Adviser: Associate Professor Nitaya Yuangsrin
A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
IN
ENGLISH FOR CAREERS
LANGUAGE INSTITUTE, THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
BANGKOK, THAILAND
MARCH 2011
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted with fifty-five students of Satri Wat Rakang School
with the aim of investigating the knowledge of the present perfect tense and the
sources of the errors in this tense.
The result of the study revealed that students have the ability to use the adverb
of time in the present perfect tense, recognize the aspect of the present perfect tense
and the past participle verb both in regular and irregular cases, and the ability to use
subject and verb agreement in the present perfect tense. However, most of the errors
that occurred in this study were in the area of transforming the present participle to
the past participle.
The findings of this study can be helpful for teachers who teach the present
perfect tense in English grammar courses at every level. Furthermore, the subjects can
become more aware of the present perfect tense when they use this tense for writing
and speaking.
As a result, the subjects and educators will be able to work on improving
present perfect tense learning, which could make Thai students more successful. This
is one of the important elements that could lead to successful language learning.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am thankful to Ajarn Nitaya Yuangsrin, my independent study advisor, for
her valuable time, advice, encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the
final stages, which enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject. This study
could not have been accomplished without her kindness.
My grateful appreciation goes to the teacher, Ajarn Malee, at Satri Wat
Rakang School, for her kindness, cooperation and helpful information for my study.
Sincere thanks are also owed to all subjects, the 11th grade English-Math
major students at Satri Wat Rakang School, for their help and kind cooperation.
My special thanks are also extended to Ms. Salin Sriruangsakun, my dearest
friend, who gave suggestions, and checked and corrected my grammar. I would also
like to thank Mr. Komkrit Prasobsuth for his constant encouragement and support.
Lastly, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my family, who have
always been beside me and given me their encouragement and support in every aspect
of my life.
Thammasat University
Kanokwan Petchtae
Bangkok, Thailand
March 2011
iii
CONTENTS
PAGE
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..............................................................................iii
CONTENTS ......................................................................................................iv
CHAPTER
1.
2.
3.
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................1
1.1
Background ............................................................................1
1.2
Statement of the Problem .......................................................3
1.3
Objectives of the Study ..........................................................3
1.4
Scope of the Study .................................................................4
1.5
Definition of Terms................................................................4
1.6
Significance of the Study .......................................................5
1.7
Research Instrument...............................................................5
1.8
Research Procedures ..............................................................6
REVIEW OF LITERATURE .........................................................7
2.1
The Concept of Present Perfect Tense ...................................7
2.2
The Syntax of Present Perfect Tense .....................................9
2.3
The Research Studies on Error Analysis ...............................11
METHODOLOGY .........................................................................19
3.1
Subjects ..................................................................................19
3.2
Instruments .............................................................................19
3.3
Collecting the Data ................................................................20
3.4
Scoring of the Tests ...............................................................21
3.5
Data Analysis .........................................................................21
iv
4.
RESULTS .......................................................................................23
4.1
Comprehension of Present Perfect Time Marker...................23
4.2
The Ability to use Auxiliary Verbs (has/have) with Subject
Agreement and use the Correct Regular and Irregular Forms of
the Past Participle...................................................................28
4.3
The Comprehension of using Grammar structures in the form
of the Present Perfect Tense ...................................................33
5. CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...37
5.1
Summary of the Study ...........................................................37
5.2
Summary of the Findings .......................................................38
5.3
Discussion ..............................................................................39
5.4
Conclusions ............................................................................40
5.5
Recommendations for Further Research ................................40
REFERENCES .................................................................................................42
APPENDICES ..................................................................................................44
Research Test ..........................................................................................44
v
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACK GROUND
Nowadays, English is an international language which has achieved a
genuinely global status by developing a special role that is recognized in every
country (Crytal, 1997, p.5). It is to be used for communication worldwide and
recognized as the world language of science, business and diplomacy (Hopper, 1997)
and is widely used in the administration of international organizations, such as the
United Nations, multinational organizations, and air traffic controlling, etc. Therefore,
English plays a crucial role in world affairs. It has also become a tool to communicate
among people of different cultures.
In Thailand, both the public and private sectors are growing (Jitiporn
Muttavangkul, 2003) and the development of the country is influenced by
globalization. English has entered Thai society and there is a need for everyone to
know it. Therefore, English is unquestionably the first priority skill for workers in
many companies as it is used for international contacts. People with excellent English
skills will get better opportunities to be recruited to work in big organizations with a
high pay rate.
The fact is that English has been taught in Thailand for nearly a century, but
nowadays, according to Trairat (1991), Thai students use non-standard English. From
the research of Sumitra Unwattanakul (2003), there are four major explanations to
answer the problem why Thai students are not successful in English. First of all, the
students are not exposed to the target language community where English is used as
the first language. Second, the student transfer features of their first language to the
second language they are studying (Richard, 1990). Third, the students do not have
adequate background knowledge about the second language’s linguistic system. Last,
the teaching approaches and text books used in class are ineffective.
As mentioned above, one of the main problems for Thai students is inadequate
background knowledge about the second language’s linguistic system. Therefore, they
2
cannot develop their English skills. Junpui (2007) stated that many schools in
Thailand, both government and private institutions, focus mainly on grammar, but
students still cannot efficiently apply what they have learnt when they write, speak
and read English.
Knowledge of grammar is one area necessary for understanding another
language’s linguistic system. This includes the study of tenses, sentence structure and
parts of speech accordingly. Halliday (1994) said that if the learners of English as a
second language do not understand the concept of tenses, they cannot advance their
English to a high level. According to Fredirickson (1997), the problem is that students
get confused when they see many kinds of verbs formed and they associate them with
time. They have the idea that verb tenses are always associated with a particular time.
However, some forms of verb tenses are not related to time as learners believe. The
present simple is not always about the present, the past simple is not always about the
past and the present continuous is not always about progressive action. For example,
in the sentence, “I am going to the park this morning.”, or, “I would like to be a
doctor.”.
From the study of Upsorn Tawilpakul (2001), the use of English tense by Thai
university students, she said that a standardized proficiency of Thai learners is not
seen. In Thailand, since English is not the official language, it is taught as a foreign
language, both in schools and universities. Even though it plays a role as the
international language in international communication, the competence of English
learners in Thailand is still far below native speakers. In order to examine such
linguistic phenomena, much research has been done to evaluate the English
proficiency of Thai students. It is interesting that the results from certain research
indicate that tense is the most difficult element for Thai students to acquire.
In addition, Yuttasak Arakkitsakul (2008) found that the present perfect tense is one
of the most confusing tenses for Thai students. They use the present simple or past
simple to describe the present perfect tense because there is no tense in Thai.
For all the reasons mentioned earlier, teachers need a better understanding of
why Thai students have difficulty mastering the English language.
3
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
As mentioned above, the main problem for Thai students is inadequate
background knowledge about the second language’s linguistic system. This research
will focus on studying the acquisition of the present perfect tense of Thai students
learning English as a foreign language. It is one of this issues that Thai students have
problems with because it is not only related to time but also the result of action. Many
Thai students find it is not easy to learn.
When studying English grammar, tenses play crucial part and one cannot deny
that it is one of the most difficult parts in English. Non-native learners have to spend
much time to understand and use it properly. This is evident in much research in
second language acquisition (SLA) that has been done in Thailand, which concludes
that language transfer is a major cause of difficulties in the acquisition of English
tense by Thai students.
1.3
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This purpose of this study was to examine the acquisition of English tense,
specifically the present perfect tense, as it is one of the most problematic tenses for
Thai students.
This research surveyed how Thai students’ background knowledge about the
second language’s linguistic system to determine it adequacy. The present perfect
tense was selected because it is one of the tenses that is confusing to learners. The
main purpose of this study was to analyze students’ errors in the present perfect and
identify the sources of errors when taking multiple choice and fill in the blank tests, as
well as making sentences. This study tried to:
1.
Analyze the type of grammatical error for the present perfect tense.
2.
Analyze the problem of using adverb indication in the present perfect
3.
Analyze the problem of using the auxiliary verb “has/have” in both the
tense.
singular “has” and the plural “have” forms as to subject-verb agreement.
4
4.
Analyze the problem of organizing grammatical structure in the
present perfect tense.
1.4
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
1.4.1
This study was done with a sample chosen from 60 11th grade students
of Satri Wat Rakang School.
1.4.2
This study tried to analyze the use of tenses in the form of the present
perfect tenses in a multiple choice test, fill in the blank test and a making sentence test
with 11th grade students at Satri Wat Rakang School.
1.4.3
This study aimed to investigate the students’ level of English
proficiency in the area of form and usage of the present perfect tense.
1.4.4
Only the sources of the particular errors were discussed in order to
make a useful contribution to the teaching of grammar to Thai second language
learners because the idea of present perfect is still difficult to understand among Thai
students.
1.5
DEFINITION OF TERMS
1.5.1
11th grade students refer to the students who were studying in the 11th
grade at Satri Wat Rakang school in academic year 2010, all of them got B and C
grades from E31102 (English foundation) in the previous semester and all of them
had already learnt all 12 tenses when they were in the 10th grade.
1.5.2
Error refers to all errors in the use of present perfect tense in time
markers or the use of incorrect forms of verbs
1.5.3
The present perfect tense refers to the tense (Rabieb Na Kalasin,
Kanitta Utawanit, & Yura Iemchuen, 2006) that
1.
Indicates that recent past, usually with adverbs; just, already, recently,
2.
Indicates that the event was completed in the past but its result is
yet.
operative at the present time.
5
3.
Indicates an action or state beginning at some time (not necessarily
recent) in the past and continuing to the present, usually with “since” and “for” time
expression. And also the action may extend beyond the moment of speaking.
4.
The auxiliary verb relates to only the auxiliary “has/have” in both the
singular (has) and the plural “have” forms as to subject-verb agreement acquisition.
1.6
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research intended to analyze errors in the present perfect tense as
reflected in a multiple choices test, fill in the blank test and making the sentence test.
The research findings will help Thai English teachers develop their teaching methods
or activities for improving teaching about the present perfect tense. In addition, Thai
students will have a better understanding of the basic rules of the present perfect tense
and be able to apply them properly when they have to write, speak and read English in
their daily lives.
1.7
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
The research tools for data collection consisted of three English proficiency
tests:
1.7.1
Part one was a multiple choice test, consisting of 20 items with 4
choices
-
This part tested the ability to understand adverbs indicating the tense,
such as since, for, already, yet, just and recently.
1.7.2
Part two was a fill in the blank test, consisting of 20 items with 23
-
This part tested the ability to use the correct regular and irregular forms
blanks.
of the past participle.
1.7.3
Part three was making a sentence test, consisting of 10 items.
-
This part tested the ability to write present perfect sentence from the
words given in the form of affirmative sentences, negative sentences and questions.
6
1.8
RESEARCH PROCEDURES
An Error Analysis of the Present Perfect Tense: A Case Study of Grade 11
Students at Satri Wat Rakang School is divided into five chapters as follows:
Chapter one is the introduction of the study. It consists of (1) background (2)
statement of the problem (3) objective of the study (4) scope of the study (5)
definition of terms (6) significance of the study (7) research instrument
Chapter two is the review of literature and related theory and research about
acquisition, focusing on tenses and present perfect tense, both in foreign countries and
in Thailand
Chapter three is the methodology applied in the study, covering (1) the
subjects of the study (2) the materials or the research instrument used in this research,
(3) collection the data and (4) data analysis.
Chapter four reports the results of the study.
Chapter five is comprised of the conclusion, discussion and recommendations
of the study.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter presents the review of literature and research studies related to
this topic. There are four sections in this chapter, which include the concept of present
perfect tense, the syntax of the present perfect, language acquisition research on
comprehension and production, and related research on errors analysis, both in
foreign countries and Thailand, as shown in the following parts:
2.1
THE CONCEPT OF PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
The present perfect is one of the twelve tenses in English. Many scholars have
explained its concept which relates to time and aspect. For example, according to
Allen (1996), aspect it is a concept that it is used to talk about a special feature of verb
meaning. The idea is that verbs are not just about time (past, present, future), but also
about other kinds of meaning too. One type of aspectual meaning involves a sense of
completion or a lack of completion.
Suh (1992) wrote that verbs refer to a dimension of time in relationship to
each other. The meaning of times also involves the perfect aspect. As a result, tense is
one of the most difficult grammar concepts for teachers to explain to their students. In
addition, some scholars have explained the concept of the tense and aspect of present
perfect tense as the following:
Frederickson (1997) said that there are three basic ideas of the verb tenses, the
simple tenses (present and past) have the same underlying idea. Understanding
present time gives the idea to understand the past time. And understanding of the past
continuous gives the idea to understand the present perfect continuous and
understanding the present perfect gives the idea to understand the past perfect.
Fuchs (2000) discuss, the concept and usage of the present perfect, writing that
present perfect is formed with have or has + past participle and its usage is as below:
8
1.
Present perfect tense is used for talking about things that started in the
past, continue up to the present and may continue in the future. It is also used to talk
about things that happened at an unspecified time in the past. It can be used when
speakers do not know when something happened, when speakers do not want to be
specific, or when the specific time is not important.
2.
Present perfect tense is used for talking when speakers want to stress
their actions at some indefinite time in the past.
3.
Present perfect tense is used for talking about things that have
happened in a time period that is not finished, such as today, this morning.
4.
Present perfect tense with since or for is used for talking about
something that began in the past and continues into the present and may continue into
the future.
5.
Present perfect tense with already in affirmative sentences is used for
talking about events that happened some time before now. The event happened earlier
than expected.
6.
Present perfect tense with not yet is used for talking about events that
have not happened before now. It is possible that speakers expect the event to have
happened earlier, and it is still possible that the event will happen in the future.
7.
Present perfect tense with yet in questions is used to find out if
something has happened before now.
8.
Present perfect tense is used with ever to ask questions. It means at any
time up until the present.
9.
Present perfect tense is used with just and recently to emphasize that
something happened very recently.
Maclin (2001) explained that tense is the term used to show a relationship
between time and other conditions and the form of the verb. Not all changes in the
verb form are directly related to time. The way the action is understood to take place
also affects verb forms. In addition to showing time, different forms show conditions
such as certainly, definiteness, possibility and whether or not the action is completed.
Mood and aspect are grammatical terms that show how the verb expresses ideas that
go beyond yesterday/today/ tomorrow divisions.
9
The present perfect tense form is have (has in the third person singular) + past
participle of the main verb. Present perfect is used when:
1.
An action that began in the past and is still going on. Time markers in
this situation are: for, since, in or during the last or past hour, day, week, month, year,
decade, yet, so far, up to now.
2.
An action that began in the past and was finished at an indefinite time
but is closely related to the present or future. Time markers in this situation are:
already, not yet, early, late, just, this minute, today, this month/year, recently, and
lately.
Greenbaum and Nelson (2002), explained that Tense is a grammatical
category referring to the time of the situation; the tense is indicated by the form of the
verb. There are two tense forms: present and past, three persons: First, second and
third person and two numbers; singular and plural.
Aspect is a grammatical category referring to the way that the time of a
situation is viewed by the speaker or writer; the aspect is indicated by the
combination of an auxiliary verb and a verb form. Verbs have two aspects: The
perfect aspect and the progressive aspect. The perfect of a verb combines a form of
the auxiliary have with the –ed participle of that verb. The auxiliary has two present
tense forms (has, have)
The present perfect tense refers to a situation set in some indefinite period that
leads to the present. The situation may be a state of affairs that extends to the present.
Or it may be an event or set of events that is viewed as possibly recurring.
2.2
THE SYNTAX OF PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
To analyze errors in English structure in the present perfect tense, morphology
and syntax should be mentioned, as a morpheme is the minimal linguistic unit.
Morphemes illustrate the form of the past participle. The following are the definitions
of syntax, the English verb system and the structure of present perfect rules.
2.2.1
Syntax
10
Syntax (Noam Chomsky, 1950) is the arrangements of words to show
their relationship to one another in a sentence. Syntax rules govern proper sentence
structure.
2.2.1.1 Chomsky has proposed two sets of rules:
Phrase Structure Grammar Rules: These rules dictate the
form of the deep structure. Phrase structure rules specify both the necessary phrase for
proper sentence construction and the specific word ordering that should be followed
within these sentence phrases. Phrase structure grammar forces a hierarchical
arrangement among different parts of a sentence. However, phrase structure rules can
not help distinguish among ambiguous sentences, for example:
-
Visiting relatives can be a nuisance.
-
The shooting of the hunters was horrible.
To account for these shortcomings in phrase structure grammar,
Chomsky proposed an addition level of rules, which assist in translating deep
structure to surface structure sentences.
Transformational Rules: These rules help transform the deep
structure into the surface structure. The manipulation of verb tenses is one aspect of
transformational rules. Present tense, past tense, subjunctive, past perfect, future tense
are all derived through transformational rules. Some scholars, both Thai and
foreigners, have explained these rules as follows.
Sumon Ariyapitipun (2003) said that grammar is a cover term
embracing morphology and syntax. Morphology deals with the structure of words and
syntax deals with the relationship and distribution of words or words groups.
Fromkin (2003) said the past participle (-ed, -en), which is used
with the verb „to have‟ in the present perfect tense, is the inflectional morpheme,
which is a kind of bound morpheme. These morphemes cause English to have a
strictly grammatical function as they mark properties, such as tense, gender, case and
so forth.
11
In the early 1950‟s Noam Chomsky (Sumlinon Ariyapitipun,
2003) studied structural linguistics and sought a way to analyze the syntax of English
in a structure grammar. His theory is called transformational, generative or
transformational generative grammar.
Generative grammar is comprised four components: phrase
structure (PS) component, lexical component, transformational component, and
morphophonemic component. Each of the components consists of a set of rules
operating upon a certain “input” to yield a certain “output”.
2.2.2
The English verb system
According to Murcia and Freeman (1999), the verb system of English
has its own characteristics. It is related to tense with reference to time. English has
finite verbs which reflect along with the tense. It has only two tenses forms. They are
past and present or “past” and “non past”, where “past” includes reference to remote
events as well as past time, while “non past” includes references to present and future
time as well as cases in which timelessness is intended. Every non-imperative English
sentence must have either a modal auxiliary or a grammatical tense – past or present.
2.3
THE RESEARCH STUDIES ON ERROR ANYLYSIS
2.3.1 Error analysis studies in the use of tenses in Thailand
Firstly, Sumitra Angwatanakul (1975), studied errosr in compositions
made by first year university students at the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn
University. She found that there were two main types of errors, grammatical and
lexical errors. The results revealed the misuse of verbs occurred most, while misuse of
tense, articles, nouns and preposition occurred from time to time.
Later, Bamrung Torut (1991) studied errors in the free compositions of
first year students at Silpakorn University. The results revealed that the most frequent
errors were in the area of grammar. Among the grammatical errors, subject-verb
12
agreement in both present and past simple tenses, were the major problems of the
subjects.
Also, Upsorn Tawilapakul (2001) studied “The use of English Tense by Thai
University Students”. The subjects of this research were 75 first-year students
studying in the Southeast Asian Program of Thammasat University. They were
divided into three classes, with all of them having taken EL172 at the Language
Institute of the university. The instrument was to translate 8 sentences from Thai to
English, 4 with markers (TM) and 4 without time markers (s TM), and a short
passage, within one hour.
The results of the study were as follows:
1.
The use of time markers in Thai mostly resulted with a negative
transfer to the use of English tense by Thai students. Students who got lower scores in
TM translation (60.06%) were the largest number, compared with TM (28%) and
short passage (40%) translations which allowed students to find an appropriate tense
by considering the time of particular action.
2.
After analyzing all the errors that occurred in the translation test, it was
found that causes of these errors were: transfer, overgeneralization, ignorance of rule
restrictions, incomplete application of rules, and false concept hypothesized.
3.
Factors from personal variation, in this case, English proficiency, also
had an impact on the use of English tense by the students.
Moreover, Ravitpim Itiravivong (2002), studied errors in the area of present
and past simple tenses in closed tests made by beginning-level students. She used
closed tests to survey the errors of the students and found that ungrammatical and
unacceptable sentences were as follows, ranked from high to low frequency:
1.
The use of the present simple tense instead of the past.
2.
Omission of the auxiliary verbs in interrogative and negative
sentences.
3.
Incorrect subject-verb agreement in the present simple tense.
4.
Incorrect verb form or misspelling of the past simple tense.
13
5.
The use of the past simple tense to express habitual actions in the
present simple tense.
6.
Misuse of the auxiliary verbs in interrogative and negative sentences.
7.
Insertion of an unnecessary plural suffix in interrogative and negative
sentence.
8.
Incorrect word order in interrogative sentences
9.
Omission of the subjects
10.
Insertion of an unnecessary suffix-ed in interrogative and negative
sentences
11.
Incorrect subject-verb agreement in the past simple tense
The results revealed that the sources of these errors were
1.
Differences between Thai and English structure
2.
Interference from Thai language
3.
The method of EFL teaching
4.
Lack of practice
5.
Word of word translation
Finally, Jittiporn Muttavankul (2003), studied error analysis in the use of
tenses in English writing made by Paralegals ATDS & B Law Office staffers. She
analyzed and classified errors in the use of the present simple tense, past simple tense
and future simple tense. Twenty officers were subjects of this study. The results
showed that the two most serious errors occurred in the incorrect use of auxiliary
verbs in interrogative and negative sentences and the use of the present simple tense
instead of the past tense.
She further analyzed that the sources of the errors and found:
1.
Misunderstanding about tense in Thai people. As there is no tense in
Thai, a lot of Thai people may use the present simple tense to describe past action.
2.
No tense markers in Thai language. In interrogative and negative
sentences in the present and past tense, there is no tense maker for verbs or auxiliary
14
verbs in Thai language. Therefore, it is not surprising that errors related to these two
tenses were often found.
However; the future simple tense did not produce many errors in this study.
She concluded that the auxiliary verb “will” precedes the verb in future simple tense
both in English and Thai so there was no wrong usage of this tense.
2.3.2
Error analysis studied in the use of tenses in other countries
Tense acquisition has been widely studied in many countries,
especially in the countries where English is spoken as the mother tongue. Some
studies are as follows:
Firstly, Brown and De Villiers (1973), studied L2 acquisition. The
topic in this research was “The acquisition of grammatical morpheme in child
speech”. This study provided information about the common errors of L2 learner on
tense because sometimes they misunderstood the use of tenses when they had to study
English. They suggested that researchers should investigate morphemes as following:
-
Present progressive –ing
-
Plural-s
-
Irregular past forms
-
Possessive‟s
-
Copula
-
Articles “the” and “a”
-
Regular past –ed
-
Third person singular simple present “s”
-
Auxiliary “be”
Secondly, Heckler and Edward (1983), studied “the acquisition of the
auxiliary by ESL learners”. The auxiliaries were tense, modal, perfect and
progressive. The subjects were 36 adult learners of English as a second language at
three levels. Their first language was Arabic, Japanese or Spanish. The students were
given three tests, on oral production, written production and written reception.
Nineteen verb structures were tested. The results showed that the more advanced the
student‟s English level, the better his or her performance in this study. Productive
15
tasks were not performed as well as receptive tasks. Little difference in performance
was found between real and nonsense verbs. The overall correct response rate for
tense was 71%, slightly higher for past than present perfect tenses. The rate was 57%
for verbs following modals, 59% for perfect and 56% for progressive. The Spanish
speakers gave the fewest correct responses and Japanese speakers gave the most
correct answers.
Thirdly, Koo and Koh (1994) in Singapore studied the use of present
perfect tense. Seventeen college students were the subjects of this study. The subjects
were asked to write an essay. The researcher found that errors in the area of verbs and
tenses were the most problematic area. The results showed that the major cause of
errors was interference from the first language.
Fourthly, Hawes and Thomas (1997) studied tense choices in citations.
They examined tense, aspect and voice choices in the reporting verbs in a corpus of
research articles from the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine. The study also
investigated how much choices correlate with syntactic elements in the citations as
well as with the discourse functions of the citations of the citations in their contexts.
The finding is that the main choices for the verb in reporting sentences in the data are
the past tense (mainly in the active form with a few passives), the present tense, and
the present perfect (active and passive). The distribution of tense forms in reporting
sentences is the following:
TENSE
Past Simple
Present
PERCENT
ACTIVE
PASSIVE
41.6%
48%
9%
31%
31%
4%
20%
20%
25%
Simple
Present
Perfect
16
The study points to the following:
1.
Past tense citations with a named researcher as subject provide
particulars for a preceding generalization or basis for a claim
2.
Present tense citations communicate generalized interpretations/
conclusions and suggest writer commitment to the information report.
3.
Present tense citations highlight the direct relevance of previous
studied to the reporting writer‟s own research write up
Seventhly, Ho Mian Lian (1998), examined the acquisition of the past tense by
Chinese students from Singapore and Hong Kong. Data were extracted from a corpus
of compositions written by students from the two countries. The paper looked at L1
transfer from Chinese, how learners establish and maintain contextual temporality in
their written discourse, and difference between the two groups of learners. Although
there was a constant shifting of tense, it was found that such variation was systematic.
Factors influencing past tense making were discussed in the light of findings which
focused on semantic categories of verbs, lexical-aspectual marking and contextual
frames. There was a comparison of common features and differences found in the data
and research.
Next, Gisela (2006) studied “Acquisition of English Grammatical Morphology
by Native Mandarin-Speaking Children and Adolescents: Age-Related Differences”
The purpose was to investigate the acquisition of six English grammatical morphemes
(i.e, regular and irregular past tense, 3rd person singular, progressive aspect-ing, copula
BE, and auxiliary Do) by 10 native Mandarin-speaking children and adolescents in the
United States (arrived in the United States between 5 and16 years of age).
The goals were to chart and compare the acquisition trajectories and level of
mastery across the morphemes, identify when age- related differences emerged and
which forms they took. The method in this study is that morphological proficiency
was measured by the accuracy of these morphemes in obligatory contexts during
spontaneous speech.
17
The results indicated the morphemes were mastered by different numbers of
participants and showed different growth trajectories. Performance variance was
partially predicted by age of arrival (AoAr) in the United States, with early arrivals
achieving greater proficiency than late arrivals. However, such AoAr effects took
several years to occur and only existed or two of the six morphemes (i.e., 3rd person
singular and regular past tense). Growth curve analysis revealed that language
environment was a stronger predictor of individual differences than AoAr. The results
also indicate that the acquisition of some grammatical morphemes by school-aged
immigrants takes several years to complete. As L2 learners exhibit some error types
and difficulties similar to monolingual children with specific language impairment,
caution needs to be taken when interpreting and using morphological errors as
indicators of speech/language learning problems in this population.
Finally, Kielar (2008) studied “Priming English Past Tense Verbs: Rules or
Statistics?”. He said that there was a key question in language processing concerning
the rule-like nature of many aspects of grammar. A lot of research on this topic has
focused on English past tense morphology, which comprises a regular, rule like
pattern (e.g., bake/baked) and a set of irregular forms that defy a rule – based
description (e.g., take/took). Previous studies have used past tense priming to support
the theory that the two forms are processed using different cognitive mechanisms. In
this study, they investigated this distinction more closely, focusing specifically on
whether the regular or irregular distinction is categorical or graded. Priming for
regular and irregular forms was compared, as well as for forms that are irregular but
display a partial regularity (suffixed irregular verbs, e.g. sleep/slept). Participants
performed a lexical decision task with either a masked visual (Experiment 1) or an
auditory prime (Experiment 2). They also manipulated prime-target ISI (0 vs. 500ms),
given that previous studies indicated that this factor might also influence the
magnitude and quality of effects. They observed priming effects for both regular and
irregular verbs; however, the degree of priming of both was influenced by prime
modality and processing time. The prime was masked and presented for 66ms
regulars and suffixed irregulars patterned together, and were different from vowel
18
change irregular forms. As the processing time increased (using longer ISI or cross
modal presentation), all morphologically related words showed facilitation. The
results suggest that priming arises as a convergence of orthographic, phonological and
semantic overlap that is especially strong for morphologically related words.
After considering the research findings from both Thai and other country‟s
scholars, it is shown that mostly they studied the second language acquisition on
auxiliaries of tenses, regular and irregular verb forms, tense concept understanding,
tense usage, tense markers and subject verb agreement analysis.
The present perfect understanding among Thai students is not clear, as little
research has been done about it. Therefore, the problem of present perfect learning
should be studied as it will help English teachers discover how teaching material and
methods should be developed.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes the design and procedure used to conduct this study. It
contains information about subjects, the instrument of study, as well as the data
collection process and data analysis process.
3.1
SUBJECTS
The population of this study was 55 11th grade students in academic year 2010
at Satri Wat Rakang School, located in Bangkok, Thailand. The subjects were 11th
grade students who were studying in the major of English – Math, which focuses on
developing the ability to use English to communicate effectively. The subjects had
attained B and C grades from E31102 (English foundation) in the previous semester.
3.2
INSTRUMENTS
3.2.1 The Types of Research Tests
The instrument used in this study consisted of three types of
proficiency tests. They were as follows:
3.2.1.1 Multiple choice test consisting of 20 items with 4
choices
- This part was to test the ability to understand adverbs
indicating tense, such as since, for, already, yet, ever, just and never.
3.2.1.2 Fill in the blank test consisting of 23 blanks
- This part was to test the ability to use auxiliary verbs
(have/has) with subject agreement, the ability to use the present perfect in proper
situations and use the correct form of regular and irregular forms of the past
participle.
3.2.1.3 Making a present perfect sentence consisting of 10
items
20
- This part was to test the knowledge of grammar structure in
the form of the present perfect tense. There were three types of the sentences,
affirmative sentences, negative sentences and questions.
3.2.2
Test Construction
In constructing the tests, the researcher went through the
following steps:
3.2.2.1 Choose the test types.
The instruments chosen were multiple choice test, fill
in the blank test and making the sentence test because multiple choice test has an
apparent advantage in terms of objectivity and ease of administration and scoring. Fill
in the blank tests and making the sentence tests have been shown to be a highly valid
and reliable method of measuring the level of ability of present perfect tense usage.
(Oller, 1979). The multiple choice of this research test consisted of 20 multiple choice
items, each with 4 choices. The fill in the blank test consisted of 20 items with 23
blanks. The making the sentence test consisted of 10 items.
All tests were developed from the following books:
1.
English
Grammars
in
Use,
Cambridge
University Press by Raymond Murphy, 2002.
2.
Focus on Grammar: Teacher’s Manual, Addison
–Wesley Publishing Company, by Margaret Bonner 1994.
3.
Advanced English Grammar for High Learners
by Samran Khumying
3.2.3
The Main Study
Population and Subjects
The subjects were 55 11th grade students studying in the major
of English and Mathematics at Satri Wat Rakang School, who had a B or C grade
from E31102 English foundation when they were 10th grade students.
3.3
COLLECTING THE DATA
21
The multiple choice test, fill in the blank test and making the sentence test
were distributed in English class by hand to 55 subjects who were in 11 th grade at
Satri Wat Rakang School. They were given 30 minutes to complete the tests and
return them at the end of the class.
The reason for selecting this grammar point was that the present perfect is one
of the problematic grammar points for Thai students. This research will help teachers
to find better techniques for teaching the present perfect tense.
3.4
SCORING OF THE TESTS
The answer sheets of the multiple choice test were scored by computer.
A correct answer was worth 1 point and there was no penalty for guessing. The
answer sheet of the fill in the blank test and making the sentence test were checked
manually. A correct answer was worth 1 point.
3.5
DATA ANALYSIS
Percentage was used for data analysis to organize and categorize the
data. The multiple choice, fill in the blank test and making the sentence test were
collected. The result of these test are presented as follows:
1)
Multiple choices test
1.1
Summary of number of correct and incorrect answers found in multiple
choice test
1.2
Summary score that student got
1.3
Summary of the answers (each chosen multiple choice A,B,C,D)
2)
Fill in the blank test
2.1
Summary of total correct answers found in fill in the blanks test
2.2
Summary of total score from each student in percentage
2.3 Summary of total students that could answer each question correctly (fill
in the blank test)
3)
Making the sentence test
3.1
Summary of total correct answers found in making the sentence test
22
3.2
Summary of total score from each student in percentage
3.3
Summary of total students that could answer each question correctly
(Making sentences in order)
To analyze the data obtained from all completed questionnaires, SPSS
program version 15 was used. To process the data and analyze answers from the
respondents, descriptive statistical analysis (percentage, mean and statistic deviation)
was applied. The percentage, mean and standard deviation (SD) were used to analyze
all variables for each section of questionnaire.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
This chapter will present the findings and the summary tables of findings
(numbers) for each topic derived from results of descriptive data analysis. The proof
of reliability (figures that prove the degree of consistency or reliability of this
research), validity of findings and the completed details of results (all figures) can be
seen from the tables and frequency tables of all variables measured in appendix C
(results of descriptive data analysis).
The results were obtained from the completed answers of 55 respondents in
the multiple choice test, fill in the blank test, and making sentence test done by 11th
grade students of Satri Wat Rakang School.
1.
Comprehension of present perfect time marker
There were twenty questions in the test. The subjects of the sentences in the
multiple choices were time markers: since, for, yet, already, ever, ago, never, ago.
Table 1.1: Summary of Number of Correct Answers Found in the Multiple Choices Tests
QUESTION NO.
TOTAL CORRECT
PERCENTAGE
ANSWERs
1
54
98.20
2
54
98.20
3
48
87.30
4
48
87.30
5
55
100.00
24
QUESTION NO.
TOTAL CORRECT
PERCENTAGE
ANSWERs
6
55
100.00
7
54
98.20
8
55
100.00
9
25
45.50
10
26
47.30
11
54
98.20
12
16
29.10
13
54
98.20
14
51
92.70
15
46
83.60
16
31
56.40
17
46
83.60
18
41
74.50
19
54
98.20
20
55
100.00
From the findings above, the highest percentage (100%) of students
answered 4 questions correctly.
1) Question no. 5,
The film started 30 minutes _............
25
The aim of this question was to test the ability to recognize a situation
that already happened and the right word had to be “Ago”
at the end
of sentence. “Ago” would be the only choice that could be fit in the
sentence.
2) Question no. 6,
Suda : What are you going to do?
Sudjai : I don’t know. I haven’t decided…………_.
The purpose of this question was to test how to use negative
sentence of the present perfect. “Yet”
is the correct answer.
Fred and Sue have lived in Miami………1990.
3) Question no. 8,
This question tested a use of
“since
”
when year is provided in the
sentence.
4) Question no. 20,
…… to one of these seminars?
The question was designed to test comprehension of using an
appropriate word to make a question sentence by using
“Have you ever….”
at the beginning of the sentence.
The second highest percentage (74.5% - 98.20%) that student could
answer question correctly were questions no. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 and
19. For example :
A: Do your math homework first, ok?
Question no. 15,
B: I’ve …….. done my math. I’m doing my spelling now.
The students were tested on how to use
“already”
in the sentence to explain
the mission.
The third highest percentage of students that could choose the correct choice
ranged from 45.50% – 56.40% which were questions no. 9, 10, and 26. For example:
-
Question no. 10,
Fred is a construction worker. He’s worked in the
construction business ……………. He graduated from high
school.
26
The respondents were tested for the comprehension in using for +
total period of time.
The lowest percentage of students that could choose the correct answer on
question no. 12 was 29.10%. The question was not the most difficult question to test
present perfect (has/have + V.3).
However, only 16 students from 55 students chose the correct answer.
-
Question no. 12;
When …….. they ……married? Five years ago.
In conclusion, from the multiple choice section, students who had the highest
score to the lowest score from 20 questions are broken down as below in table 1.2:
Table 1.2: Summary of total scores from each student by percentage
TOTAL CORRECT
TOTAL STUDENTS
PERCENTAGE
14
2
3.60
15
6
10.90
16
11
20.00
17
23
41.80
18
11
20.00
19
1
1.80
20
1
1.80
รวม
55
100.00
ANSWERS
Mean = 16.76, S.D.= 1.17
27
Only one student could answer all 20 questions and 19 questions correctly,
which accounted for 1.80%. There were 11 (20%) students who could answer 18
questions correctly. Most students (23 students / 41.80%) got 17 right. 11 students
(20%) could answer 16 questions and 6 students (10.90%) could answer 15 questions
correctly. The lowest score on this multiple choice test was 14, which was 3.60% and
there were 2 students at this rank.
The following section present an in-depth analysis of students’ knowledge
about the present perfect tense in using for, since, never, yet, already, ago, has/have
+V3, and ever that. The results will show the breakdown of each type of wording that
students could make a correct judgment on.
Table 1.3: Summary of the answers (each chosen multiple choice A,B,C,D)
Question no.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
For* X
For
Already
Done
Already
Just
Ever *X
For
Just
Just
For *X
was/got
just
for *x
for
98.20
1.80
9.10
1.90
98.20
50.90
98.20
1.80
92.70
16
17
for
for
18.50
18
for
19
20
wait
During
Never
Before
For
Been
Long
Gone
Since *X
Ever
Ever
Already
did/got
yet
already
already
*x
since
already
*X
already
*X
waited
1.80
1.80
7.50
1.80
100.00
54.50
69.10
5.50
83.60
Since
Since *X
For
Just
For
Since
Just
Yet
Since
Since *X
Since
have/got *X
Since* X
since
since
98.20
1.80
47.30
1.80
29.10
98.20
1.80
24.10
83.60
yet *X
since
57.40
74.50
since
3.60
1.80
has waited
yet
yet
Since* X
Yet* X
Ago* X
Yet* X
Yet
ever
For*X
for
Never
has/got
never
never
never
87.30
90.60
100.00
100.00
45.50
1.80
1.80
16.40
never
never
16.40
never
21.80
have waited*X
98.20
100.00
*X = correct answer
According to table 1.3, firstly, comprehension of using “since” in the present
perfect sentence, most of the students had the ability to use “since” in the present
simple tense correctly. For instance, for question no. 8, all students could do this
28
question correctly, which accounted for 100%. The second highest percentage was
98.20% for questions no. 2 and 13, and the third highest percentage was 87.30% for
question no. 3. On the other hand, question no. 10 was the most difficult as only a few
of them (lowest percentage, 47.30%) chose the correct answer.
Secondly, for the use of “already” in the present perfect in the proper situation,
it can be seen for questions no. 15 and 17 that most of the students could answer
correctly, which accounted for 83.60%; meanwhile, question no. 18 had the lowest
percentage (74.50%) of correct answers.
Thirdly, for the use of “yet” in the present perfect on question no. 6, all
respondents could answer it correctly, and for question no. 4, only 57.40% could
answer it correctly.
Fourthly, it appears that none of the respondents could provide the right
answer for all the questions which required the use of “for”. However; 98.22% of
students were able to use “for” correctly in the test.
Lastly, most of the students were able to use has/have + V3, which accounted
for 98.30%. In contrast, only 29.10% could answer question no. 12 correctly.
2.
The ability to use auxiliary verbs (have/has) with subject agreement and use
the correct regular and irregular forms of the past participle
There were 20 questions that required students to fill in the words in blanks. The
purpose of this test was to test the ability to use modal verbs (has/have) with subject
agreement, the ability to use the present perfect in proper situations and use the
correct regular and irregular forms of the past participle.
Table 2.1: Summary of total correct answers found in the fill in the blanks test
QUESTION NO.
TOTAL STUDENTS
PERCENTAGE
1
54
98.20
29
QUESTION NO.
TOTAL STUDENTS
PERCENTAGE
2
29
52.70
3
48
87.30
4
42
76.40
5
53
96.40
6
54
98.20
7
26
47.30
8
52
94.50
9
41
74.50
10
55
100.00
11
50
90.90
12
53
96.40
13
38
69.10
14
55
100.00
15
55
100.00
16
54
98.20
17.1
55
100.00
17.2
55
100.00
17.3
51
94.40
18
55
100.00
30
QUESTION NO.
TOTAL STUDENTS
PERCENTAGE
19
51
92.70
20.1
53
96.40
20.2
52
94.50
According to table 2.1, there were 6 questions, no. 10, 14, 15, 17.1, 17.2, and
18, that all students (100%) could answer correctly. For example:
1) Question no. 17.1,
“A: …Have…..you…seen…(see) Suda lately?”
The purpose of this question was to test the ability to use the present
perfect in a question form (Has/Have + Subject + V3 + Object + Adverb of
time?) and the correct form of regular and irregular verbs.
2) Question no. 17.2,
“B: Yes, ……I have…… I saw her yesterday.”
The participants were tested on how to answer when they were asked a
present perfect question.
The second highest percentage (87.3% - 98.20%) that students could
answer correctly were questions no. 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 16, 17.3, 19, 20.1 and
20.2. For example:
-
Question no. 3,
“I…have lost……. (lose) my purse. I can’t find it anywhere.
The aim of this question was to test the knowledge of using
modal verbs (has/have) with subject agreement and using regular of
past participles (add –ed at the end of verb).
The third highest percentage of students that chose the correct choice (range
from 52.70% – 76.40%) were for questions no. 2, 4, 9, and 13. For example:
Question no. 9,
“The hen …has laid……. (lay) its eggs almost 10.”
31
The purpose of this question was to test the ability to use modal verb
(has/have) with subject agreement and using irregular forms of the past
participle.
The lowest percentage of students who could choose the correct answer
was question no. 7 at 47.30%. This question tested the knowledge of using irregular
forms of the past participle as the others questions, but only 26 students could answer
it correctly.
Table 2.2: Summary of total scores from each student by percentage
TOTAL CORRECT
ANSWERS
13
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
total
TOTAL STUDENTS
PERCENTAGE
1
3
3
5
9
11
17
5
54
Mean = 20.61, S.D.= 1.92, missing = 1
1.90
5.60
5.60
9.30
16.70
20.40
31.50
9.30
100.00
According to table 2.2, there were 5 students who could answer all the questions
correctly, which accounted for 9.30%. Most of the students (17 students, 31.50%)
could answer 22 question correctly. 9 students (16.70%) got 20 right and 5 students
(9.30%) could answer 19 questions. There were 3 students who got 18 correct
answers, which accounted for 5.60% and 17 correct answers. There was only one
student who got the lowest score on this fill in the blank test, and it accounted for
1.90%. However, one student did not finish the test
32
Table 2.3: Summary of total students that could answer each question correctly
(fill in the blank test)
QUESTION NO.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17.1
17.2
17.3
18
19
20.1
20.2
PERCENTAGE
98.20
52.70
87.30
76.40
96.40
98.20
47.30
94.50
74.50
100.00
90.90
96.40
69.10
100.00
100.00
98.20
100.00
100.00
94.40
100.00
92.70
96.40
94.50
As can be seen from the above table, most of students understood how to use
modal verb (have/has), with subject agreement and using the correct regular and
33
irregular forms of the past participle. All of the students could answer questions no.
10, 14, 15, 17.1, 17.2 and 18, which accounted for 100%. On the contrary, only
47.30% of the students could answer question no. 7 correctly.
3.
The comprehension of using grammar structure in the form of the present
perfect tense.
There were three types of the sentences, affirmative sentences, negative
sentences and questions in the making the sentence test. The students were given
words to write sentences in the present perfect form as follows:
1) Affirmative sentence (Subject + has/have + V3 + object)
2) Negative sentence (Subject + has/have + not + V3 + Object)
3) Question sentence (Has/Have + Subject + V3 + Object?)
Table 3.1 Summary of total correct answers found in the making the sentence
test
QUESTION NO.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL STUDENTS
49
55
36
20
43
45
34
51
37
52
PERCENTAGE
89.10
100.00
65.50
36.40
78.20
81.80
61.80
92.70
67.30
94.50
According to table 3.1, there was only one question which all students could
write correctly (55 students/100%). The question is “She/be/in
myroom”
room” (the answer
“She/be/in my
beenininmy
my room.).
room.
is She She
hashas
been
The aim of this question is to test the comprehension
in making affirmative sentences in the form of present perfect tense.
34
The second highest percentage (81.80% - 94.50%) that students could
answer correctly were questions no. 1, 6, 8 and 10. For example:
Question no. 6; The students were tested for the ability to write question
sentences in the present Q6. “Marilyn/pay/the
(que
“Marilyn/pay/the billbill
(question)”
(The answer is
HMarilyn
paid
)
Has Marilyn
paidthe
the bill?)
bill?
The third highest percentage (61.80% - 78.20%) that students could answer
correctly were questions no. 3, 5, 7, and 9. For example:
Question no. 9: The respondents were tested the knowledge in writing
negative sentence by using has/have + not + V3 + Object and the comprehension of
regular and irregular verb forms for the past participle. Q9. ran
“Aran
andand
Jack/
Jack/not/
not/ feed
feed their
t hamster”
(The answer is an and
Jack
not not
fedfed
their
hamster.)
Aran
and have
Jack have
their
hamster.
)
The lowest percentage (36.40%) that students (20 students) could answer
“I/live/Paris/when/I/be/a child”
correctly is question no.4. The question is I/live/Paris/when/I/be/a
child” and the
answer is have“Ilived
in Paris
when
I was
have lived
in Paris
when
I wasa achild”.
child”.
Table 3.2: Summary of total scores from each student by percentage
TOTAL CORRECT
ANSWERS
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
total
TOTAL STUDENTS
PERCENTAGE
1
4
8
8
18
10
6
55
Mean = 7.67, S.D.= 1.49
1.80
7.30
14.50
14.50
32.70
18.20
10.90
100.00
35
According to table 3.2, there were 6 students who answered all the questions
correctly, accounting for 10.90%; 10 students (18.20%) answered 9 questions
correctly. Most of the students (18 students, 32.70%) could answer 8 questions
correctly. There were 8 students (14.50%) who got 7 and 6 scores. Four students
(7.30%) could answer 5 questions. Only one student got the lowest score (4 scores),
which accounted for 1.80%.
Table 3.3: Summary of total students that could answer each question correctly
( Making sentence in order)
QUESTION NO.
Affirmative Sentence
1
2
8
Negative Sentence
3
9
10
Question Sentence
5
6
7
Complex Sentence
4
TOTAL STUDENTS
PERCENTAGE
49
55
51
89.10
100.00
92.70
36
37
52
65.50
67.30
94.50
43
45
34
78.20
81.80
61.80
20
36.40
According to table 6, students understood how to use modal verb (has/have)
with subject agreement, but they could not use regular and irregular verbs
appropriately. When students wrote question sentences in the present perfect, many of
them did not change the form of the main verb to the past participle. For example, for
question no. 7, only 61.80% could answer correctly.
36
Moreover, most of the students used correct grammatical structure in writing
affirmative sentences. The percentage of the students shown in the part of making
affirmative sentence was 100%.
In addition, students had good knowledge of using modal verbs (has/have) in
the present perfect when they wanted to write negative sentences. However, some of
the students did not understand how to change the verb form in the present perfect
tense. For instance, for question no. 9, only 67.30% could make a correct answer.
Lastly, only 36.40% of the students had the ability to write a complex sentence
which combines the present perfect and past simple tense (Subject + has/have + V3 +
object + when + subject + V2 + Object). Most of them used present perfect with the
present perfect for complex sentences, which is not correct.
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION, AND RECOMMENDATION
In this chapter
5.1 Summary of the study
5.2 Summary of the findings
5.3 Discussion
5.4 Conclusion
5.5 Recommendations for further research
5.1
SUMMARY OF THE STUDY
5.1.1
This study aimed to analyze and classify errors in the area of present
perfect.
This study was conducted to find out how much the subjects
understand about present perfect tense including:
1) Adverb of time in present perfect tense namely; since, for, already,
yet, ever, never, and ago.
2) Regular and irregular forms of past participle verbs used in the
present perfect tense
3) Modal “has/have” with subject agreement
4) Grammatical structure
5.1.2
Three types of research tests
1)
The multiple choice test consisted of 20 questions, comprised
of time markers used in the present perfect, including: since, for, already, yet, ever,
never, and ago. This test was to study how much students understood adverbs of time
in the present perfect tense.
2)
Fill in the blanks test consisted of 20 questions. The purpose
was to find out how much the subjects understood the aspect of the present perfect
tense “has/have + verb of past participle.” Regular and irregular verbs in this study
38
were “come, bake, lose, run, turned, out, teach, work, lay, see, studied, write, be, live
and go”.
3)
Making the sentence test consisted of 10 questions. The
purpose was to test the knowledge of grammatical structure in the form of the present
perfect tense. There were three types of present perfect sentences, which were
affirmative sentences, negative sentences and questions.
5.2
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The results of the three types of tests for errors in the area of the present
perfect were as follows:
1.
From the study, most of subjects were able to use adverb indication in
the present perfect. The highest percentage of the students who could answer the
multiple choice test correctly was 100% and the lowest percentage was 29.10%.
2.
From the study, most of subjects had the ability to use auxiliary verbs
(have/has) with subject agreement and use the correct regular and irregular forms of
the past participle. The highest percentage of the students who could answer the fill in
the blanks tests correctly was 100% and the lowest percentage was 47.30%.
3.
From the study, most of the subjects were able to use grammatical
structure in the form of the present perfect tense. The highest percentage of the
students who could answer the making the sentence test was 100% and the lowest
percentage was 36.40%.
4.
From the study, most of the subjects were able to use auxiliary verb
(has/have) with the past participle. On the other hand, some of them could not use the
past participle correctly, for example, taught (V3 of teach).
5.
From the study, the subjects had the ability to write question sentences
and negative sentences in the form of the present perfect, although some of them
could not use the regular and irregular verb forms in the present perfect tense
correctly. The most frequent errors were not changing the present participle to the past
participle.
6.
From the study, the subjects did not understand how to use the present
perfect tense with past simple tense in compound sentences. Many of them used the
39
present simple tense with the present simple tense or the present perfect tense with the
present simple tense instead.
5.3
DISCUSSION
According to the results of the study in chapter four, the errors of present
perfect tense usage by the subject can be summarized as follows:
Referring to the summary of table 1.3, the errors in using adverb indication in
the present perfect tense from multiple choice tests suggest that although Thai
language does not have tense and auxiliary verbs in interrogative and negative
sentences in the present and past tense, most of the students (80%) had a good
understanding about the present perfect time markers (since, for, already, yet, ever,
never, and ago). This finding is similar to the previous research conducted by
Muttavankul (2003), which revealed that there is no tense marker in Thai; in addition,
Pensri Rungsriyakul (1993) wrote that in Thai, adverbs of time are used to express the
change of time both in present and past actions or events while English speakers
express time through verb inflections (as in the past “was/were”, the present is/am/are,
the future “will” and the perfect “has/have”). She further stated that English has a
large number of verb inflections, whereas Thai does not have this language aspect. In
English, the form of verb is changed when the tense and time are changed.
On the contrary, looking in depth at the wrong answers that were chosen in the
fill in the blanks and making the sentence test show that students had difficulty in
transforming the present participle to the past participle. For example, on question no.
7 from the fill in the blanks test, there were only 27 students who could answer this
question correctly. The most common error was misusing the past participle. Students
did not change “teach” in the present participle to “taught” in the past participle
appropriately. This error may have been caused by EFL teachers at the beginner level
not putting enough emphasis on regular and irregular verbs in the past participle.
Thus, this gradually resulted in Thai students forgetting the rule of verb 3. Richards
and Platt (1997) claimed that when learners repeatedly make errors without being
corrected, those errors became permanent (fossilization) and are difficult to correct.
40
In addition, based on the study of Yuttasak Arakkitsakul (2008), some sources
of error that occurred in this study refer to infrequent practice with using grammar
rules in both writing and speaking. In real situations, Thai students study long lists of
the present perfect tense, but their knowledge of grammar does not help when they
attempt to write a word. Harmer (1998) explained that the students acquire language
through practice. Even though children are better at studying language than adults,
they might easily forget the rules if they do use them. It is very important for students
to have a solid knowledge of V3 since secondary school so that they can apply V3
when they use present perfect tense in writing and speaking.
5.4
CONCLUSION
The results of this study provide interesting information about the difficulties
in the use of the present perfect tense which occurred in the multiple choice test, fill in
the blanks test, and making the sentence test.
From the findings, it can be concluded that most of students were able to use
the present perfect tense and had the ability to use adverb indications in the present
perfect. The grand total of the students that could answer the multiple choice test (part
1) correctly was 83.82%. This shows that the students had a good knowledge of how
to use all types of time markers in the present perfect tense.
In part 2 (fill in the blanks test), 89.61% of the students could provide a
correct answer. It can be seen that most of subjects had the ability to use auxiliary
verbs (have/has) with subject agreement.
In part 3, 76.73% answered the questions in the making the sentences test. The
results show that one in four were weak in using grammatical structure in order to
organize sentences in the form of the present perfect tense. It is thus likely that
students will have difficulty creating a correct present perfect tense sentence in
everyday life.
5.5
RECOMMENDATIONS
On the basis of this study, the following is recommended for further research:
41
5.5.1
Because there were many errors found in the tests, especially tense
usage, it would be beneficial to conduct more research in these areas to find out more
about English speaking.
5.5.2
Further study is required on analyzing errors made at other levels, such
as primary, secondary and adults who work in offices. The research findings at
various levels and with different subjects will give a clearer picture of present perfect
tense understanding among Thai people.
5.5.3
The problem of present perfect tense learning in adverbs of time, past
tense and present perfect tense and irregular verb forms of verb 3 also needs further
study. In this study, the chosen irregular verbs were very limited. Thus, other words
need to be studied to find out how much Thai students understand about transforming
the present participle to the past participle in the present perfect tense.
5.5.4
There should be a comparison of the subject’s understanding of the
present perfect tense between learning the present perfect tense through context and
the traditional Thai style of teaching a particular point. The purpose of the research
would be to develop the teaching methods of the present perfect tense for Thai
students.
REFERENCES
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Chomsky, N. (1977). Formal syntax. New York: New York Academic Press.
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Haznedar, B. (2006). The acquisition of tense-aspect in child second language
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Kanokarn Junpui. (2007). English in Thai society. Nation Junior, Nation Publishing.
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application to Thai-English machine translation. Unpublished doctoral
Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, Austin.
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2
Koo, S.L., & Koh, L. (1994). The use of present simple tense and present perfect tense
of Singapore college students. http:ericae.net/ericdb/ej27246.html
Littlewood, P. (1995). Foreign and second language learning. Cambridge:
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Charuporn Pongsiriwet. (2001). Relationships among grammatical accuracy,
discourse, features, and the quality of second language writing: The case of
Thai EFL learners. West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Ravipim Itiravivong (2002). An error analysis of present and past simple tense:
Case study of employees at Procter and Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand).
Unpublished master’s research paper, Thammasat University, Language
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Pornsiri Singhapreecha. (2000). The acquisition of case, tense, and agreement
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APPENDIX A
Research Test
Multiple Choice Test
Choose the best answer
1. She arrived in London three days ago. She has been there _______ three days
a. for
b. during
c. since
d. yet
a. He´s worked for that company _______ last June. ever
a. for
b. never
c. since
d. yet
3. I haven’t seen my parents ……………….last Christmas.
a. already
b. before
c. for
d. since
4. I’d like to borrow this book. Has Anna read it ………..?
a. done
b. for
c. just
d. yet
5. The film started 30 minutes _______.
a. already
b. been
c. for
d. ago
6. Suda : What are you going to do?
Sudjai : I don’t know. I haven’t decided ……………………..
a. just
b. long
c. since
d. yet
45
4
7. Have you ………..done any skiing?
a. ever
b. gone
c. just
d. yet
8. Fred and Sue have lived in Miami ……………………… 1990.
a. For
b. since
c. yet
d. ever
9. Sue works at the University of Miami. She’s worked there………………years.
a. just
b. ever
c. never
d. for
10. Fred is a construction worker. He’s worked in the construction business
………………he graduated from high school.
a. just
b. ever
c. since
d. for
11. Sue’s on vacation now. She hasn’t been to work…….a week.
a. for
b. already
c. since
d. never
12. When _______ they _______ married? Five years ago.
a. was / got
b. did / got
c. have / got
d. has/ got
13. They have been arguing about this ………………..last Monday.
a. just
b. yet
c. since
d. never
14. We’ve been listening to them talk about this problem…………………..days now.
46
5
a. for
b. already
c. since
d. never
15. A : Do your math homework first, ok?
B : I’ve …………….done my math. I’m doing my spelling now.
a. for
b. already
c. since
d. never
16. A : Is Laura home?
B : No, she’s not. Her plane hasn’t arrived ……………………. We’re expected
her in about two hours.
a. for
b. since
c. yet
d. never
17. A : Is Tom feeling better?
B : Yes, in fact, he has ………………….. recovered from his cold.
a. for
b. already
c. since
d. never
18. It’s only 12.30. Has he …………………gone back to work?
a. for
b. already
c. since
d. never
19. We __________ for this seminar since last year.
a. wait
c. has waited
b. waited
d. have waited
20. __________ to one of these seminars?
a. Do you ever come ever
b. Did you ever came
c. Did you ever come
d. Have you ever come
47
6
Cloze Test
Complete sentence by using the verb in parentheses with present perfect form.
1. The president ………………..… (came) out of the building and is going to
make a speech
2. …………………..….. (bake) your own bread? No but I might try it sometime.
3. I…………………..…… (lose) my purse. I can’t find it anywhere.
4. Joanne………………………….. (run) away from home. But she came back
two days later.
5. Someone…………………... (turn) on the hi-fi. I can hear it.
6. My mother………………….……. (put) a carrot in her soup.
7. Kru Somsri …………………… (teach) English at Saint Gabriel School for 25
years.
8. I……………………..…….(work) at Bank of Ayudhya since 1992
9. The hen…………………..……. (lay) its eggs almost 10.
10. My students………………………….what I taught them yesterday.
11. A: “Transformer” is a great movie.
B: I know, I…………..…….. (see) it five times and I still enjoy it.
12. A: Shawn and Teresa are good students.
B: It’s true. They…………..……. (study) very hard this semester.
13. A: I…………………. (write) to my family since March.
B: Why don’t you write to them right now.
14. A: Let’s go to the art museum this Saturday.
B: Good idea. I…………….……… (be) there for a long time.
15. A: What kind of work do you do?
B: I……………………. (be) a teacher for fifteen years.
16. A: How long has Sharon lived in San Francisco?
B: She………….……… (live) there for six months.
17. A: ………….………you…………….…… (see) Suda lately?
B: Yes,……………….. I saw her yesterday.
18. It………….……….. (be) my favorite neighborhood restaurant since a long
time.
48
7
19. Bob…………..(be) in Montreal since last Tuesday.
20. ……………..Jane……………camping? (ever go)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Making the sentence test
Write sentences in present perfect simple.
1. They / ask / a question.
_______________________________________________________________
2. She / be / in my room.
_______________________________________________________________
3. Annie / not / forget / her homework
_______________________________________________________________
4. they / finish / their homework (question)
_______________________________________________________________
5. Marilyn / pay / the bill (question)
_______________________________________________________________
6. we / not / wash / the car
_______________________________________________________________
7. You / ever / live / Paris (question)
_______________________________________________________________
8. I / never / visit / Louvre.
_______________________________________________________________
9. I / live /in Paris / when / I / be / a child
_______________________________________________________________
10. Aran and Jack / not / feed their hamster