An Empirical Base for Teaching the Past Tense in German as a Foreign Language
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8938767 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Johanna Watzinger‐tharp (0000-0001-6300-1754, University of Utah, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1994 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 391-404 |
| Publication date | 1994-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Foreign Language Annals (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0015-718X • E-ISSN: 1944-9720 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1944-9720.1994.tb01216.x |
| OpenAlex | W2125960039 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
The selection and sequence of grammar remains an unresolved issue for foreign language teachers. A survey of three leading German textbooks revealed little coherence and lack of authenticity in the presentation of the different German past tense forms. The present study offers an empirical analysis of native speech data as a base for teaching the past tense in German as a foreign language. Interviews with 75 native speakers showed that: 1) the present perfect serves as the dominant past tense form for main verbs in the German colloquial standard; 2) modal verbs, the copula sein ‘be,’ haben ‘have,’ and certain formulaic expression occur in the preterite; and 3) the use of the past tense forms is linked to contextual and social factors. A German syllabus, then, must include a discussion of verb type when presenting the everyday use of the German preterite and present perfect. The study points to the situational and social contexts influencing the use of grammatical structures rather than merely presenting con‐textless rules governing their use
Foreign language · German · Grammar · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Modal verb · Past tense · Present tense · Syllabus · Typology · Verb · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · History · Linguistic Education and Pedagogy · Linguistic research and analysis · Philosophy · Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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