The Prototype Theory and the Simple Present Tense Teaching

袁昌玲 杨唐峰

【Abstract】The prototype theory has been widely applied to the language teaching. In this paper， the author analyzes the relations between different uses of the simple present tense from the perspective of the prototype theory， hoping to help students understand this tense better and promote the application of this theory to English tense teaching.

【Key words】the prototype theory； simple present tense； English tense teaching

Traditionally， tense is considered as a grammatical feature of verbs to express a temporal relationship. However， tense in English in many cases does not correspond with the time concept. The present tense can indicate the past and the future. Thus， most students in China have difficulties in mastering English tense and aspect. Actually， cognitive linguistics， especially the prototype theory， can be applied to the discussion of English tense and aspects， thus helping students learn the English tense better.

Part 1 Theoretical Framework： Prototype Theory

Basically， the notion of prototype can be understood in two aspects. On the one hand， it can be regarded as the typical number of a defined category； on the other hand， it can also be interpreted as the characteristics all the typical members hold in common. According to the present study， in a category， all members are not in an equal status. Some members mentioned frequently are the prototypical members of this category， which sharing all or most features of the category. Other members are named as peripheral， marginal or fuzzy members， which share fewer features of the category （cf. Ungerer and Schmid， 2006）.

Part 2 The Simple Present Tense from the View of Prototype Theory

Traditionally， the uses of present tense are basically associated with the event happening at the moment of speaking， and thats the basic use. However， the present tense may also be used to refer to an event happened in the past and will happen in the future， and thats the specific use.

1. The Basic Use of the Simple Present Tense

There are three kinds of situations in using present tense to refer to the present.

A.State Present e.g.： John is a translator in an international company.

B.Habitual Present e.g.： My father doesnt smoke. In most cases， adverbials of frequency can be added to the habitual present.

C.Instantaneous Present e.g.： Harper passes the ball to Jennings； Jennings shoots and the goalkeeper leaps for it but—yes， its a goal.

As we can see， the present tense used in above sentences signifies events which are simultaneous with the present moment. Besides above three present uses of the simple present tense， the present tense can also be used to refer to the past time and the future time.

2. The Specific Use of the Simple Present Tense

2.1 Simple Present Referring to the Past

This use is traditionally known as the “historic present”. In some cases， the present tense can be used to refer to the past time for the function of vividness. This use can be commonly found in the headlines of the newspaper， book reviews， chapter titles of novels， notes on papers， photographic captions， etc. For example：

（1）Michael tells me that you are going to get married next year.

（2）The radio says there is heavy rain in the afternoon.

2.2 Simple Present Referring to the Future

When the simple present is used to refer to the future， there are two kinds of situations：

A.Grammatical factor is related to the future use of the present tense. Present tense referring to the future generally occurs when a sentence is accompanied by a time adverbial or in a conditional or temporal adverbial clause to refer to the future， or in a sentence which convey a desire for the future.e.g.：

（1）I will call you as soon as I get there.

（2）I hope you can have a good time there.

B.This usage can also be used to express the actions which has scheduled or planned previously and will be executed certainly in the future time. In this case， the corresponding verbs are usually as follows： go， come， leave， start， return， arrive， etc. For example：

（1）The train from Beijing arrives at 5 p.m.

（2）He leaves on business the day after tomorrow.

According to the prototype theory， the members of a category expands based on the family resemblance. As to the simple present tense， the family resemblance can be considered as all the actions or states are related to the “present” time. In three basic usages of simple present， this relation is objective： the time the speaker says something is almost the same with that the actions are performed. When the simple present is used to refer to the past or the future， the relation is subjective： the speaker relates the time of speaking with that of actions so as to stress the vividness or the certainty of some events. The basic use can be thought of as the “prototype” of the tense category and the special use as the “non-prototypical or marginal” member of the category. Owing to the fact that both the basic use and the special use of simple present are related to the “present” time， they can be integrated into this category.

Part 3 Other Applications of the Prototype Theory

The prototype theory can also be used in the analysis of different versions of the present tense： the simple present tense， the present progressive tense， the present perfect tense and the present perfect progressive tense. The simple present tense and the present progressive tense can be listed as the “prototype” of this category， as the actions or events taking place just at the time of speaking them. While the present perfect tense and the present perfect progressive tense have less direct relation with the present time： the former means that the actions in the past have some influence on the present； the latter means that this influence may continue to the future time. These two tense can be seen as the “non-prototypical” member of this tense category.

Part 4 Conclusion

Based on the consideration of the difficulties students often encounter in the process of grasping the simple present tense， this paper tries to illustrate the inherent relations between different usages of the present tense. In addition， this paper also apply prototype theory to other present tense analysis. However， this paper still lacks evidence in the explanation of different versions of the present tense. In addition， further research can be done to give more explanations about other English tense and problems in other fields.

Reference：

[1]周璇.原型范畴理论与英语时态教学——以一般现在时态为例[J].济宁学院学报，2010，31（003）： 82-86.

[2]朱亚珠.一般现在时多义性的原型研究[J].文学界：下旬，2010 （010）：140-140.

作者简介：

第一作者：袁昌玲（1991.6-），女，山东泰安人，硕士在读，研究方向：认知语言学。

第二作者：杨唐峰，男，博士，副教授，研究方向：认知语言学，语义学。