Finding the semantics of the english present tenses ambiguous

Abstract EN

The fourth level students of the Department of English Language, Thamar University, who will be teachers in preparatory and secondary schools are confused in the use of the English present verb forms and their meanings.

In other words, the subjects show competence in the use of the English present verb forms whereas they get confused in the use of the semantics of the English present tenses.

Weinreich (1972) emphasizes the fact that "English tense creates vague meanings." The present experimental study conducted in 2001-2002 endeavors to investigate the subjects' confusion in the use of the semantics of the English present tenses through two tests; the first test centers on the English present verb forms and the second on the semantics of the English present tenses.

These two tests were administered to the fourth level students of the Department of English, Thamar University.

The results obtained state that the significance test is p>0.001 indicating that the subjects reveal a semantic problem With the English present tenses (simple present, present continuous and present perfect) which exhibit various aspects.