ASPECT IN ENGLISH

The key to understanding TENSES…
… and much more

Course code: TENSES

What is this course about?

This course is about aspect, which is a grammatical category similar to, but different from, tense. Aspect has traditionally been mixed up with tense. In contemporary lin-guistic studies, the two categories are separated, as have always been the other two categories of the verb, voice and mood.

To give an example, the so called Present Progressive is really Present Tense, Pro-gressive Aspect, and the Past Perfect is Past Tense, Perfective Aspect. Tense is the expression of time. Aspect describes the structure of the event. It tells us whether the situation described in a sentence is a state, a process, an action, an activity, etc. and whether it is in progress or completed.

The study of aspect relates closely to the semantic classification of verbs and various kinds of phrases (prepositional, adverbial, adjectival, etc.) It gives us information about subtle distinctions in form and structure, e.g.:

He has run two miles.
He has been running for two hours.

The study of aspect gives us, teachers and translators, very useful insights into the meaning of the form of verbs. It enables us to describe and explain semantic nuances which are not easily accessible in books. This course is up to date. It incorporates re-cent contributions to this field of study and presents them pedagogically.

What are the course objectives?

• Assessing the benefits of implementing appropriate ICT resources in ELT.
• Identifying opportunities for the use of ICT towards satisfying specific needs.
• Making informed decisions on the selection of appropriate ICT resources, within a wide range of applications (data and text processing, computer mediated communications, web publishing)
• Designing learning activities which use ICT, developing units and projects which use ICT as their unique source or as a support for existing material.

Who is this course for?

The course is addressed to teachers, and translators, and students of English who may be teaching or translating, or preparing for these professions. As the objective of the course is to understand better the meanings and uses of tenses and aspects in English, our approach is one of enquiry into these matters. We assume that English teachers and translators are eager to know more about the semantics and pragmatics of tense and aspect and would like to regard the two grammatical categories as enquirers into their forms and meanings.

How long is the course?

Five weeks

Contents:

Module 1: Traditional approaches to aspect
Aspect as a stage in a process
Aspectual verbs
Grammatical and lexical manifestation of aspect
Tense and aspect

Module 2: Zeno Vendler's classification
States, activities, accomplishments and achievements

Module 3: Carlota Smith's work
The difference between aspect and point of view
Semelfactives (punctual events)

Module 4: Recent contributions
Events as grammatical objects
Aspect as semantic features
Verkuyl (1993), Tobin (1993), Tenny & Pustejovsky (eds) (2000)

Methodology

• This course will be taught on the Internet through the Net-Learning system -completely on-line.
• There will be weekly discussions. The materials will be downloaded every week. They can be studied even when the participant is not connected to the Internet.
• The bibliography will not be obligatory, but it is highly advisable to consult a few sources.
• The materials presented will be of direct application to the fours linguistic skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• Through a thorough understanding of the meanings of the forms of verbs and phrases in a sentence, the practical application and use of these forms will be much more clear than they have been in the past.

Evaluation

There will be exercises in every module and a final paper on all four modules for those who are willing to do them. Certificates of attainment will be issued at the end of the course. Certificates will be issued by Net-Learning

Instruction and Tutorials

The instruction and checking of the activities performed by the participants will be delivered from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Reception and delivery of the materials and the discussion forum will be through the Internet.

Tutor

Aldo Omar Blanco
English teacher, 'Dr Joaquín V González' College of Education, Buenos Aires (1958), MA in English, University of Buffalo, USA (1961), Diploma in General Linguistics, University of Edinburgh (1965), Certificate of Specialization in Linguistics, Montevi-deo (1966). Has taught English language, grammar and linguistics in various colleges and universities in Argentina.