Past Tense Acquisition by L1 Arab Learners of L2 English:

A description of the tense and aspect systems in English and Arabic

By

ABSTRACT

This report is discusses Past Tense Acquisition by L1 Arab Learners of L2 English: A description of tense and aspect systems in Arabic and English. The purpose of this report is to provide clear description of the tense and aspect systems in English and Arabic. Furthermore, it highlights various arguments referring to the literature along with the Contrastive Analysis Approach. The report then highlights aspect hypothesis and provides examples of inherent and grammatical aspect in English and Arabic.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to avail this opportunity to whole-heartedly thank my research supervisor, friends and family for their utmost guidance and support as in the absence of it this research proposal would have been impossible.

DECLARATION

I [Full Name], declare that this proposal represents my own work, and that this proposal hasn't been submitted previously for any academic examination for any qualification. Moreover, it is a representation of my own ideas and opinions and it is not of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

Table of contents



Abstract3

Acknowledgement3

Declaration4

Introduction6

Problems Encountered7

English Tense & Aspect7

Impact of Mother Tongue8

Tense and Aspect in Arabic9

Similarities and Differences between Tense and Aspect in English and Arabic12

Aspect Hypothesis15

Contrastive Analysis Approach (CAA)20

Inherent and Grammatical Aspect in English and Arabic23

Work Cited26

Past Tense Acquisition by L1 Arab Learners of L2 English:

A description of the tense and aspect systems in English and Arabic

Introduction

World has its own outlook for the languages we speak, like Mandarin, English and French etcetera, But English has its own class and is considered to be lingua franca and a means of conversation for most of the world's population. The language has its own grammar structures which have to be followed in order to understand how it is spoken and written fully. The problem arises when someone migrates or come to understand and learn English without having basics been taught before, or translating his own language into English, to start a conversation (Pollock, pp. 365-424).

Verbs have different form when it comes to the completeness, continuousness and time in English. Tenses, in general are used to portray the time of presence, being in past or in the forthcoming 'future'. It tells us to give information about how we make our sentence so that the listener may understand what we are trying to say, for instance, the sentence which has a wrong tense usage may result in obfuscation in the sentence delivery and hence, may result in serious confusion. Continuousness is often expressed by the use of progressive aspect of a verb. Completeness is often expressed using the perfective aspect of the verb (Alzaidi ii). Conversion of languages has been playing a significant role for centuries in developing and spreading language cultures. It attempts to narrow or bridge the gap between languages particularly linguistic and cultural ones. The process of learning English for Arabic adult speakers is often compounded due to interference (Bell 20).

Problems Encountered

When learning English, Arabic speakers encounter grammatical problems which arise when interpreting tenses ...