What might an ESOL student find confusing about the sentence " I've been cleaning the house".?

Answer 1

They might be confused about whether the cleaning is interior or exterior.

Answer 2

Possibly as many as five features of the sentence may be confusing to an ESOL student.

Firstly, if the student's native language does not contain perfective aspects to the present tense, the idea of an action completed in the past with a result in the present may be confusing. In other words, for some students, the difference between the simple past tense and the present perfect tense/aspect is difficult.

The second difficulty is in the 'continuous' aspect. This is the difference between 'I have done' and 'I have been doing'. This difference is not simply a difference between a completed action and an incompleted one - it has subtleties which can be difficult to grasp.

Thirdly, verbs in some languages are formed with, mainly, one word which is conjugated in different forms [e.g. the Slavic languages]. For such students the notion of a verb being composed of several elements may be difficult; viz. 'have' [to have] + 'been' [to be] + 'cleaning' [to clean].

Fourthly, the verb 'to have' is a multipurpose verb in English. Some of the uses can be quite different in meaning: I have a brother, I am having lunch, I have to go now, and - of course - the use of 'have' as an auxiliary verb in the perfective aspects: have done, have been doing.

Finally, there is an idiomatic aspect to the expression 'cleaning the house'. We do not actually clean the house; rather, we clean all the rooms in the house. Most students would not have a great deal of difficulty with the grammar here; no prepositions would be necessary in most other languages [e.g. NOT cleaning TO the house, cleaning IN the house] as the verb 'to clean' is almost certainly a transitive verb in most other languages.

Answer 3

The fact that 'Cleaning the house' is a cultural parlence. when someone says that they aren't actually cleaning the house - ie, cleaning bricks and mortar. they are inside cleaning objects within the house. an ESOl student would want to write 'i've been cleaning (things) in the house'

further examples of cultural parlence:
"going up/down town" - should be 'going into the town center'

Answer 4

I am a Turkish Cypriot and an English teacher. Indeed many of my students find it rather difficult to understand this, since we do not have the perfect tenses in Turkish. The sentence in question may mean "I started cleaning the house some time ago and I am still doing it", or it may mean "I have worked for a long time cleaning the house, and I have just finished it" (namely I am very tired at the moment). The teacher has to explain all this in context. It is very difficult to explain isolated sentences like this one.

Answer 5

This poem is the most ideal aspect i have study all day. thoroughly pleasing and readable - if that is what you've been aiming for, that is finished a fulfillment. i grow to be left questioning on the top - with the ... What occurs next?! It grow to be extraordinarily interesting. it is a impressive narrative, with you talking to your self in communicate, that is almost like an inner duologue, searching in a reflect. Confessional with a first individual narrative, impressive. that is projected on the third individual to make certain now-and-then from the attitude and attitude of now. :) It also has almost mag/diary get admission to characteristics with the question identify you've coated. a very solid theory of yours grow to be to describe the identities of both important characters in the identify. It avoids confusion yet shall we the narrative bypass evidently without divisive interruptions to describe that 'you're her and she is you', imagine that? it may well be confusing and poor to study. properly done. As a reader; you've shown me a majority of those piece of assistance, lots of which deliver about questions. It created intrigue and engrossed me in the poem. The bandaids of the wrists are one get mutually - i'm so satisfied you probably did not tell me you'll slit your wrists. I felt a useless ringer for the different characters who, through social constraint, were incapable of asking questions. it is highlighted in figuring out on up the bill. It has intensity and which means yet also drama!

Answer 6

I am assuming they are reading the sentence: their native language might not have compound verbs or progressive tenses, so such mark of length of time in the verb tense might be confusing. Or they might not have been introduced to both/either the perfect tenses or the progressive verb forms, and so the whole expression would seem odd.

If the sentence was spoken, in addition to the factors above, the the sound -een and -ing might not be distinguishable to their ears.

Moreover, the sentence could have simply been out of context.

Answer 7

I teach English in a foriegn country.

I would venture to guess that the student would find the concept of " have been cleaning" confusing. This is the present perfecet progressive case. For a student who is new to english it may be difficult to distuingish between. "I have done something" or "i will do something" not to mention "i have been doing something" This may be further limited by the age of the child who may not have the cognitive abilities to grasp PPP tense.

Good luck

Answer 8

The student might think you've been washing the outside of the house, as opposed to hoovering and dusting the interior rooms.

Answer 9

Possibly the contraction I've or maybe they don't know about cleaning a "house". They might know "cleaning a floor, table, etc... They many only understand specifics not generalizations.

Answer 10

the fact that the word cleaning can be used in conjunctionwith the verb 'to be' both in the past and present tenses.
i.e
I am cleaning the house (present)
I was cleaning the house (past)
I have been cleaning the house (past imperfect - I think) i.e. i have recently cleaned the house