English tense teaching in junior high school based on prototype theory—taking the simple present tense as an example

Abstract

Simple present tense, an indispensable part of grammar, is the first tense that junior high school students need to grasp in China. In fact, the time things happen does not always correspond with the speech time. Therefore, in the process of teaching, there are some difficulties which would exert great negative influence on students’ understanding of tense. There are five usages of simple present tense: state, habitual, instantaneous, past and future usage. On the basis of the prototype theory of categorization, these five usages in simple present tense are all members of this category. Moreover, the present-connectiveness, as the family resemblance, combines these five usages into the present tense category. It is necessary and meaningful for teachers to integrate prototype theory with tense-teaching. In other words, teachers can help students establish a network system which holds all usages of this tense. It can greatly ease students’ burdens in comprehension and memory with the forms and usages of the simple present tense. Eventually, the teaching efficiency can be improved to some extent.