L1 differences and L2 similarities

L1 differences and L2 similarities: teaching verb tenses in English by Laura Collins (2007)

Main point and My Idea
-Verbs can be categorized into four semantic types; statives, activity, accomplishment and achievement. Teachers don’t have to tell the category to the students, but the knowledge may be useful to teaching.
-French has a component past which is similar to the English present perfect. That’s why Francaphone learners tend to overuse present perfect instead of simple past. Therefore, teachers should know students language background. It’ll be easier to understand where the errors come from.
-Japanese learners were successful only in achievement category compared to Francaphone learners. I think further research will be needed to clarify.
-Dictogloss and interpreting contexts seem to be useful as activities for verb tenses in a Japanese classroom. In Japanese language, we don’t have a concept of present perfect and past perfect. It’s difficult to distinguish between past simple and present perfect. So the activities could help students understanding of the differences of the contexts.