going to + infinitive to express intentions

8/13/2019 Going to + Infinitive to express intentions

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DELTA MODULE TWO

PTA 1 PART ONE

SYSTEMS: TEACHING GOING TO AND INFINITIVE TO EXPRESSINTENTIONS

KHARA BURGESS

CANDIDATE NO:

LORD BYRON COLLEGE

CENTRE NO: IT295

DATE OF SUBMISSION:

WORD COUNT:

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KHARA BURGESS

DELTA MODULE TWO

PTA 1 PART ONE

SYSTEMS: TEACHING GOING TO WITH INFINTIVE

TO EXPRESS INTENTIONS

CONTENTS

In !"#$% &"n

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TEACHING GOING TO WITH INFINITIVE TO EXPRESSINTENTIONS

In !"#$% &"n

Amongst grammarians of the English language there are disputesover whether there is a future tense, since there are no clearlymarked change of verb forms as seen in the past tenses. On theone hand, grammarians like Comrie (1 !"# 1 assert that because$will% can make factual statements about the future, as in Italy will

play France in the finals tomorrow, it is arguably a $future tense%.On the other hand, &almer (1 !!# suggests that this use isunusual, and if anything, $going to ' infinitive% has more ground forbeing considered a tense, since it does not re uire a modalau)iliary verb. * +hether one can refer to them as tenses or not,there are undoubtedly ways to allude to the future, through the useof words that indicate future action or through an au)iliary andmain verb construction. he most fre uently used au)iliary verb toe)press futurity is $will%. -esides this $going to% is also used, as wellas the present tenses (simple and continuous#.

I have found that my students tend to overuse will when they talkabout the future, based on its neutrality and closeness to theirmother tongue. To investigate the subtle nuances in ex ressing thefuture, going to and the resent continuous are articularlyinteresting because there is often difficulty understanding theirfundamental difference. To clarify this grey area, this essay aims tocontrast these two structures, with a articular focus on the use ofgoing to for the ex ression of intentions.

overuse of will for future and It is also often confused with the futuresim le. !both structures often taught together to hel student

understand the differences"#any students refer the will future because it is closer totheir mother tongue and use this at all times, oftenina ro riately. What are you going to do this summer? I will

1 $21%, about language, scott thornbury, &ambridge universityress'1((%

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2 $21%, about language, scott thornbury, &ambridge university

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I am going to eat" arent you?

You are going to eat" arent you?

He s not going to eat" is he?

1. In everyday nglish, when the main verb is to go it tends to beabbreviated to avoid re etition, for exam le, I am going to go toSpain becomes I am going to Spain. The same often a lies toother verbs of motion, such as come, so the sentence She isgoing to come for dinner is shortened to She is coming fordinner. The form of going to is always followed by a main verb,but when this is a verb of motion !like go or come", it can beomitted to form a contracted structure that becomes the resent continuous !sub/ect + verb + ing". The e x ression, hesgoing to study cannot become Hes studying , as going to is notfollowed by a verb of motion. 0aturally, this can cause confusionamongst students, who use the two structures interchangeablyregardless of the main verb.

tudents need to be made aware that the unabbreviated form ofgoing to is also correct, but the inclusion of a verb of motion isusually done for em hasis, e.g. I am going to drive to Milan Ivetold you I cant stand flying!

2. There are two contracted forms for the negative in s okens eech, exce t in the first erson singular, for exam le "ourenot and you arent , which are ractically identical. These formscan cause confusion, articularly at elementary level, if one hasbeen taught and the teacher unintentionally uses the other. #

). The ast form of this verb structure is was$were going to %infinitive and this is used to ex ress a future in the ast whichhad not yet ha ened, e.g. &he last time I saw you you weregoing to start a new 'ob. (

-. In collo uial s eech, the form I amnt does not exist, and thenegative uestion tag ) arent I is used e.g. I am going to get theloan arent I? In formal s eech, this uestion tag becomes am Inot e.g. I am going to defend him in court am I not? 3ue to itsirregularity lower level students may roduce deviant forms for

uestion tags, such as I amnt, I arent *

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micheal swan, ractical nglish usage, 1(44

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1. 6y stressing the auxiliary to be in this verb structure, anem hatic form !to indicate insistence or contradiction " canalso be created, e.g. &hey are going to leave even though weinsisted they stay.

2. In s oken nglish the contractions of the ast and resent ofgoing to take the same, e.g. "oure going to swim couldmean you are$were going to slim . This may be misinter retedby students with little contextual clues for the statement. %

). The final 7g7 of going to tends to be dro ed, exce t to giveem hasis. The to is generally unstressed, which

roduces 7t ( 7 or 7t 7 in 6ritish nglish. In collo uial 8mericannglish, the omission of the to and the final 7g7 is so distinct

that the structure is shortened to gonna , e.g. Hes gonnama+e lunch for us. 9hen listening to native s eakers, lowerlevel students may misinter ret this contracted form of goingto as gun a7 gone a7 gonna. 8dditionally they may also hearthe contracted forms of youre as your, etc. This may causedifficulties in com rehension and in written form, withex ressions such as :our gun a fish or );is gone a eat. , Hisgoing a fish and hes gone eat. , tudents whose


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$rescri tively, there are subtle differences between going to andthe resent continuous, with the former referred for intentions ordecisions, and the latter referred for fixed arrangements. 1? In thestatement Im seeing hil tonight the structure is used so as tofocus on the arrangement, whereas, Im really going to tell himwhat I thin+ of him em hasises the intention.

The main difficulty !for teachers and students" between the resentcontinuous and going to is that descri tively they can both beused to ex ress fixed future lans. @or exam le, &hey are going toget married in /une$ &hey are marrying in /une can be usedinterchangeably. Ane could say the small difference between thetwo is that the former em hasis the action of the marriage, whereasthe latter stresses the date.

Bnlike anish, there is no direct translation to ex ress intentions in

Italian. The ex ression Im going to study ne0t year in Italian wouldbe $rossimo anno Io vado a studiare, meaning )0ext year I gostudy which is often the form used by lower to mid levels. This is asimilar error made by &hinese and Cietnamese students. ince theyuse time ex ressions, or as ect to ex ress a tense, they findauxiliary verbs in nglish tenses articularly difficult. 8s Italians,they often ex ress the going to structure like a resent sim letense, Tomorrow I go to school .

imilarly, 8rabic s eakers and some Indian languages, whosemother tongue marks future time only with markers 11 may erceive

the going to structure as a resent action, unless there is a timemarker. The sentence I am going to read it tomorrow would beinter reted as a future event, but I am going to read it would verylikely be understood as an imminent activity e.g. I am on my way toread it , much like the resent use of the resent continuous, or anaction in rogress now. 12

b" " (;3!( 3(!)0n(n 0 ( ' as seen above, the resentcontinuous and going to can both ex ress actions andevents, but only going to is used to ex ress ermanent. @orexam le, &heir house is going to loo+ over the river is

ossible, whereas their house is looking over the river, is

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1? ractical nglish usage, #ichael swan, 1(?

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not. 1)

c" to ex ress insistence on a lan, des ite disa roval, e.g. I amgoing to wear that hat. 9hereas I will wear that hat ex ressesan instant decision and has a neutral tone.

d" " 3!(#&% *$ $!( (.(n 80 (# "n %$!!(n %"n%!( ((.(n%( ' these events are often about to or have started toha en. @or exam le, the ex ression Its going to rain wouldbe a ro riate if there are black clouds in the sky. An thecontrary, Itll rain im lies that this rediction is based on

revious knowledge or belief, and has no resent evidence. Inthe ex ression, 1oo+ 2 that +ids going to fall off his bi+e , theaction is already in the rocess of ha ening and therefore

clearly evident and therefore one would not say, 1oo+! &hat+idll fall off his bi+e.

ince the resent continuous can be used to used to ex ressarranged events, it is not generally not used to ex ression

redictions about events outside of eo les control, e.g. Itsgoing to snow before long could not be ex ressed in any otherfuture form. 1-

e" C"))0n# 0n# !(*$ 0 ' can be used to insist that eo ledo things or not do things, e.g. "oure going to finish that soupif you sit there all afternoon! It is also used in em haticrefusals e.g. Im not going to sit up all night listening to your

problems! (

f" The sentence what am I going to do? is often an ex ression ofdes air, and re uest for advice. ;ence the answer is not forexam le, youre going to be late but why dont you ta+e a ta0ior Ill give you a lift. *

SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING

1) ractical nglish usage, #ichael swan, 1(?

1- ractical nglish usage, #ichael swan, 1(?

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ractical nglish usage, #ichael swan, 1>?14 osemary aitken %2

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1. It seems that older students should be introduced to thecontracted forms used with verbs of motion and going to sothat at higher levels they will be able to com rehend thedifferences found in authentic nglish. The rules could beintroduced in a straightforward way, or through a more inductiveway. This can be racticed through grou or air work such asthe organisation of a arty for teenage students, where grou shave to lan the most interesting arty for a grou of celebritiesof their choice. They brainstorm who they will invite, where it willbe held and what entertainment will be at the arty. The othergrou s then ask them about this using the going to form, e.g.Who are you going to invite? What are you going to do? 9ithadult grou s, they could be tour directors and lan a tour of theirhometown over a two=day duration, this could be a historic orentertainment tour. The other grou s then robe them about theitinerary e.g. What are you going to do on the first day? tudentsneed to take notes of the res onses made by artici ants andthen re ort back what they have said. This will checkcom rehension and the use of correct !future" tenses. Thisactivity aims to ractice constructing verbs of motion in tenses ina more intuitive way, and feedback can be used to bring studentsattention to any errors made.

2. elementary students could become familiarised with the twodifferent contracted forms for the negative i.e. "oure not and

you arent , through the use of cut=u sentences, or &uisenairerods which can be very effective for kinaesthetic and s atiallearners. 8 similar tool can be used to ractice the correct use of

uestion tags for going to. Alder students could work with aartner, writing down short=term and long=term lans they think

!or know" their artner has made for themselves. This could behel ed through boarded rom ts like food, travel, study or work.

These can be confirmed with the artner using the correct tag,e.g "ou are going to do your homewor+ this wee+ arent you?"ou are going to finish this course in /une arent you? The

artner then has to confirm or deny these uestions.). tudents can initially be assively ex osed to the ast form of

going to through reading assages which include both theresent and ast form. This could be extended through reading

activities which re uire students to indicate the going tostructure. They then need to identify whether these refer to a

ast or resent tense, de ending on context. This can bemodified for younger learners who could do a running dictationand then identify the different structures.

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1. To be made aware of the ways one could stress different

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words in a sentence, including the verb to be, students couldlisten to audio extracts with an audio scri t and underlinethose words which are being stressed. They then discuss thevarying meanings of ex ressions de ending on which wordsare em hasised.

2. In order to ractice and hear the ronunciation of the resentand ast forms of going to, students can be given mimecards which indicate different actions they are about to do,and the grou needs to guess what that is once mimed, e.g Iam going to dive. These miming cards can also be done in

airs e.g. "ou are 4both5 washing a car. To elicit and racticethe ast forms, o osing grou s need to re ort what the otherwere doing, e.g. She was going to dive or &hey were going toswim , and the contracted forms should be encouraged inres onses.

). Amission of the final 7g7 can be racticed through drilling andoral ractice of the 7t( 7 or 7t 7 sounds, which could be aidedthrough extensive listening to native s eakers using thestructure in various contexts. 8wareness of the contractedgonna can be raised by listening to 8merican nglishdialogues. To aid this and a eal to musical learners, a songwhich contains the going to structure could be layed whichstudents listen to and then com lete a cloDe ga of the lyrics.

The ga ed words should contain all roblematic forms' the

verb to be, gonna or going to and hes7its, etc. !seea endix for song lyrics"

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It is best to introduce students to going to for intention after theyhave learnt how to use will for an instant decision. The distinctionbetween the two should be made at intermediate level, because byu er intermediate level, students should be familiar with thenuances between the uses of will and going to. 1%

a" this structure should be taught, com ared and contrasted withthe resent continuous. To make students aware of theirsimilarities, the resent continuous should use go as themain verb e.g. &hey are going to the par+ this afternoonwhich can be contrasted with &hey are going to play footballthere. It should be ointed out the lack of a time marker in thelatter sentence shows that no firm lans or arrangementshave been made to lay football, as it is still an intention.

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To show that the going to structure is used to re ort a decisionconceived earlier, that is now a current intention, a timeline shouldbe boarded as follows'

! ast" I decided to do it ======!now" Im going to do it =======!future"

when I do it This structure can be introduced to elementary students by givingvarious commands to different students, then sto ing them /ustbefore they do the activity so as to elicit what they are going to do.@or exam le, e.g. E open the window please Mario6. Fust before hereaches the window, interru t and say stop then ask the otherstudents what hes going to do so as to elicit the answer E Hes goingto open the door6 , . 8 similar ty e of activity would involveinterru ting a film at various oints in order to have the studentsguess the next action, robing with the uestion E what are they

going to do ne0t?7 and checking the answers against the film. 1(

There is a useful task in ssential *rammar by aymond #ur hy,which includes images of eo le doing things with ad/oiningthought bubbles which refer to what they are intending on doingnext. The students then need to com lete the information based onthe clues in the ictures. 2? To a eal to visual learners, images of

eo le with various e ui ment or dressed in articular ways can beused to answer the uestion E what is she going to do?6 and elicit

answers such as E hes going to s+ydive6.8

8s many younger and older students en/oy miming games,es ecially kinesthetic learners, they could e ually benefit from

laying charades containing cue cards with rom ts for variousfuture actions or intentions e.g. E "ou are going to play tennis6 ,which then need to be guessed by the others.

8s there is a fine line between general lans and intentions, sogetting various levels of students to write down three sentencesabout what they are going to do today or tomorrow would be useful

to cover both these uses simultaneously. 8lso, a uestionnaire forair work can be re ared which contain the going to structurewith both action and non=action verbs e.g. E What are you going todo in the summer?6. 3uring feedback, it should be noted whetherthe student can use the resent continuous, or in other words,whether arrangements have already been made, or if it is only an

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eg. 9hat are you going to do when you get homeH Im callingmy sister !eg is this a lanH 0o then need going to"J.orto ex ress statesJeg. #oving to another city is going to be

good for you vs. it is being good for youJ. redictionor Im going to be famous one dayJ

g I will/ going to work harder this year , not am working harder thisyear / the latter only e)presses a present situation not a futureintention0you can only intend to work harder, you cant make aplan or arrangement to do it

APPENDIX

S"n, 4!&% 6


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Gonna drink less beerAnd start all over againGonna pull up my socksGonna clean my shower

Not gonna live by the clockBut get up at a decent hourGonna read more books

Gonna keep up with the newsGonna learn how to cook

And spend less money on shoesPay my bills on time

ile my mail away, everyday!nly drink the "inest wine

And call my Gran every #unday$esolutions

%ell Baby they come and go%ill & do any o" these things'

The answers probably noBut i" there(s one thing, & must do,

)espite my greatest "ears&(m gonna say to you

*ow &(ve "elt all o" these yearsNext Year, Next Year, Next Year

& gonna tell you, how & "eel%ell, resolutions

Baby they come and go%ill & do any o" these things'

The answers probably noBut i" there(s one thing, & must do,

)espite my greatest "ears&(m gonna say to you

*ow &(ve "elt all o" these yearsNext Year, Next Year, Next Year

1. http+ www-usingenglish-com "orum ask.teacher /0123.present.continuous.vs.going."uture-html

4- *i,/- 5an anybody help to clari"y the di""erence between the two'6- according to $aymond 7urphy+8- (( %e use & am doing9present continuous: when we say what

we have arranged to do. "or example, arranged to meet

1-
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somebody, arranged to go somewhere+ i am meetingAnn this evening; & am leaving tomorrow- &(ve got myplane ticket-

0-2- we use & am going to do something 9to be going to: when we

say what we have decided to do9but perhaps Notarranged to do it: + & am going to clean my shoes9i(vedecided to clean them but i have not arranged to cleanthem:; & am going to look "or somewhere else to stay9&have not arranged it:-((

i? is going to take me - ((12-1


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7ichael #wan(s Practical Cnglish Dsage - or Youruestion open it at pages 1

going to + infinitive to express intentions

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