The Acquisition of Present Perfect by English Language Learners: A Comparative Study

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Korean learners often confuse the meanings of the present perfect and past tenses, frequently using the past tense instead of the present perfect. This paper analyzes the main causes of these errors and, based on the views and theories of English grammar scholars, examines the significance of grasping the tense and aspect related to the present perfect, as well as its usage and meaning, to clarify the differences between the present perfect and the past tense. The study’s results highlight the need for structured teaching approaches in English education to better differentiate between the present perfect and past tenses. Various instructional strategies, such as timeline creation, role-playing, and situational practice are presented to help learners understand and correctly use these tenses. Furthermore, continuous and proactive research and effort are necessary to ensure that learners become as familiar with the present perfect as they are with the past tense for more advanced English education. This paper is structured into four chapters. Chapter 2 reviews the differences between tense and aspect, as well as the distinctions between the present perfect and past tenses, based on definitions provided by various scholars. Chapter 3 presents instructional strategies to help Korean learners of English become more familiar and comfortable with the present perfect tense. Finally, Chapter 4 concludes the paper with a summary of its findings.