Differences in Tense Expression between Chinese and English: Insights and Reflections on Language Teaching

Abstract

This study explores how tense is expressed differently in English and Chinese and how these differences can inform classroom instruction. English uses verb changes to show tense, while Chinese relies more on context, time words, and aspect markers. These structural differences often lead to errors when learners transfer between the two systems.
Using a contrastive analysis approach, this paper compares tense use in the two languages across three areas: form, meaning, and use in real communication. It also draws on multimodal learning theory and cognitive load principles to suggest practical teaching strategies. These include visual timelines, bilingual example sentences, scaffolded storytelling tasks, and collaborative tools like Padlet and Quizlet.
Based on classroom observations and a mock weekend lesson in Chinese, the study shows how visual and task-based scaffolds can reduce confusion and help learners better understand how tense works across languages. The framework can be adapted to different proficiency levels and classroom settings. It offers a flexible way to include focused tense instruction in both ESL and CFL lessons.
The findings offer practical insights for teachers working at the intersection of contrastive linguistics and multimodal teaching.