The Analysis Of The Characteristics Of The Expressions Of Future Time Reference By CEL

The present study is designed to explore the characteristics of the expression of future time reference by Chinese English learners (CEL), based on two corpora CLEC and BROWN.The questions we attempt to answer in the present study are as follows: How do CEL express future time reference? What are the characteristics of the use of the different ways to express future time reference used by CEL? Is there any difference between CEL and ENS in the expression of future time reference? If yes, what is it? And what causes the difference? In order to answer the questions mentioned above, the concordancer AntConc is used to retrieve the relevant expression of future time reference in CLEC and BROWN. Based on the different implicational meanings, the retrieved expressions are classified into different categories. The research result shows that the frequency and the implicational meanings of different ways to express future time reference between CEL and ENS are different. Comparatively, CEL tend to overuse will, be going to, and infrequently use other ways. As to some complicated constructions to express future time reference, there are many misuses on the part of CEL. There is a significant difference on the implicational meaning in the same way to express future time reference by CEL and ENS. For the purpose of testifying the conclusion drawn from the corpora, a follow-up experiment is conducted. The findings from the experiment further support what we have found from CLEC and BROWN. The present research also attempts to give some tentative explanations for the existence of the difference.The present research provides some pedagogical implications for teachers, CEL, and textbook writers. It is suggested that English teachers be aware of the importance of the different ways to express future time reference. And they are encouraged to expose their students to the various ways of expressing future time reference. In English teaching and learning, the awareness of this aspect should be raised. Sufficient contextualized input is important because what is learned through explicit instruction needs to be integrated into the knowledge system through practice. By reading extensively the input about the different ways of expressing future time reference, the learners are expected to improve their writing. Textbook writers are suggested to use more authentic English texts to help learners increase high quality input and output.