is used to consider the discourse pragmatic and

interactional features as well as the formal and

semantic features.

Present Perfect – Simple Past

Be going to – Will
Used to – Would

The patterns may have potential to serve as templates

or discourse “scripts” regarding certain discourse
functions of these forms.
The uses of Present Perfect:
 is used to interrupt past tense /activities (the
speaker is checking the interlocutor’s
knowledge before proceeding further. For
example : I have finished having dinner when you
came to my house.

 in order to display the knowledge of someone

else (shifting from Simple Past Tense to Present
Perfect Tense). For example : I have known the
place because I stayed there a few years ago.
Differences:

- Be going to
a. is used to express greater personal involvement on the part
of the speaker. For example : I am going to teach Math in the
university.
b. is used to express a future planned action; the subsequent
clause often begins with so and is elaborated with can or will
to express the justification, purpose or expected outcome of
the planned action. For example : He is going to come to school
earlier so he can get front seat.

- Will
is used in common situation which is more neutral, detached
and formal For example : I will teach Math in the university
next semester.
The uses :
 To mark an event occurring prior to some other
time or event in the past. For example : I had slept
earlier when she came to my house.

 To state a purpose for relating a prior series of

actions and events narrated in the Simple Past/ to
terminate a narrative episode given in the Simple
Past rather than to initiate the narrative episode
(result/ resolution). For example : They gave me the
prize because I had won the competition.
The uses :
 To express generalizations. For example : We
know that the tool also functions as a cleanser and it
can help us make our work run well.

 To state fact condition. For example : The boy is

fat because he likes to have more food.
1. Ask the students to bring postcards of scenic
places in their region/ country and ask them to
give a short narrative about travel plan.
(collaboration of be going to and will)

2. For high-intermediate students, ask them to use

Past Perfect and Future Perfect to show the
semantic relationships and adverbial markers
that the two tenses share in the past axis and
future axis.
3. Ask students to make a list of 10 things they did
when they were 10 years old whether they still
do them or not. For things they don’t do
anymore, they may use “used to” to mark the
past habitual action but they must use Simple
Present Tense or Present Perfect for expressing the
present contrast.

4. Ask students to make a brief story of their

experiences in the past. In this case, they can use
Simple Past Tense.
5. Ask the students to work in pairs or small
groups in order to figure out the function of used
to and would/ ‘d in the narratives.