Simple & Progressive Aspects of Grammar and their Usage in Literature

Abstract

As English teachers, we are constantly worried about the poor performance of our students in the subject. We also notice that most of them are more interested in reading novels than their grammar texts because such texts are 'very dry, and abstract'. A number of students also argue that they cannot see the relevance of what we teach to their chosen careers. How do we encourage them to learn more about the grammar of English and to use it for their communicative needs? How do we make our students enjoy reading texts on tenses so as to understand the differences between the simple and the progressive? An attempt is made in this study to integrate language into literature using excerpts from literature texts (precisely Things Fall Apart) as materials for the teaching of the simple and the progressive aspect. This is based on our conviction that if the essence of teaching grammar is to apply the knowledge to actual life situations, then Literature, which is said to be from life, could be a viable option in making our students to realize the usefulness of English Studies & National Development.

Keywords: Communication, Lexis and structure, simple aspect, progressive aspect.