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5проелемы современного осрпзоопнип
D. Safina
DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING CONNECTIVES OF TIME
Keywords: temporal connectives, synonymy, polysemy, ambiguity.
Abstract: The objectives of the report include identifying and analyzing such phenomena like synonymy, polysemy and ambiguity among temporal connectives which might become the reasons for the difficulties in teaching connectives of time. The most important aspect of teaching polysemy for learners is to foster independence so that learners will be able to deal with new words and continue to expand their vocabulary after graduating. Learning the meanings of words in Russian and English can help in developing practical translation skills, like determining the more efficient method of translation.
Ключевые слова: темпоральные союзы, синонимия, полисемия, омонимия.
Аннотация: В данной статье определяются и анализируются такие явления как синонимия, полисемия и омонимия среди темпоральных союзов, которые могут вызывать проблемы в обучении союзов времени. Важным аспектом обучения полисемии является поощрение независимости у обучаемых, чтобы после окончания университета они продолжили самообучаться и могли самостоятельно определять нужное значение полисемических слов. Данные навыки позволять обучающимся развивать профессиональные переводческие навыки, например, выбор наиболее эффективного способа перевода.
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the semantic properties of temporal connectives like when, while, as, since, before, after, until, till and others that can cause the difficulties in teaching the said connectives.
Temporal connectives are often interpreted in various dictionaries via similar synonyms or descriptions and can be regarded as synonyms of each other in thesauri. For example, the conjunctions when, while and as. In Merriam-Webster Dictionary the conjunction as is simply interpreted as when or while. While the interpretation of the conjunctions when and while is almost identical: during the time that is for while and at or during the time that is used as one of the when meanings. The similar tendencies are present in other English-English Dictionaries which you can see in the table below:
as while when
Merriam-Webster while or when during the time that a: at or during the time that b: just after the time that c: at any or every time that
Cambridge Dictionaries Online during the time that during the time that, or at the same time as at what time; at the time at which
Oxford Dictionaries used to indicate that something happens during the time when something else is taking place during the time that; at the same time as at or during the time that
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language at the same time that; while as long as; during the time that at the time that; as soon as; during the time at which; while; at or during the time that
The differences between these connectives are unclear and thereafter the differences between the denotative situations which require the usage of the connectives. It may be assumed that each connective has their own denotation aspects which are absent in dictionary articles.
Teaching the connectives it is important to remember that though using the synonyms can make the learning process easier the students may not distinguish the semantic features of the words that determine the use of them in correct denotative situation unlike native speakers.
For example, the case of the connective when is used to introduce a single completed event that takes place in the middle of a longer activity or event that is described in the main clause: (1) I was asleep in my chair when Dora rang to say she wasn t coming home. The action of sleeping started and continued while the action of ringing was one-time and relatively
short.
The connective when is also used to talk about one event that happens immediately after another:
179
(2) When you open the Hie, check the second page.
The action expressed in the main clause can take place only after the action in the subordinate clause is completed.
The connective when can be used to talk about periods of time in the past:
(3) When I was a iittie boy, power cuts were very frequent, but that was just after the war.
Here the actions of the main clause took place at a certain period of time line (the period of time when the author was a iittie boy).
The connective whiie is preferably used to describe the longer action of two events or to talk about two longer actions that go on simultaneously:
(3) Dora left a message on the voice mail while I was asleep in the chair.
The action ieft a message is one-time perfective that happened while the subject was in a state asleep for a prolonged period.
(4) While I was writing my Christmas cards, the children were decorating the tree.
Here two progressive actions was writing and were decorating happened simultaneously.
(5) I cooked the supper while Jenny did the ironing.
The relatively prolonged action cooked took place simultaneously with the prolonged action did the ironing.
The connective as is used to introduce two events happening at the same time. After as, it is possible to use a simple or continuous form of the verb. The continuous form emphasizes an action that interrupts or occurs during the progress of another action:
(6) As she walked to the door, she thanked them for a lovely dinner.
The action thanked occurred during the progress of another action walked.
(7) As they were signing the contract, they noticed that a page was missing.
The action noticed interrupted the progress of another action were signing.
Though in most times the difference is obvious there are cases when the connectives while, when and as allow simultaneous reading which may lead to a confusion of denotative situations in which these connectives should be used. For example, the connectives as, when and while might be used to connect two events happening at the same time:
(8) Another coach-load of people arrived as we were leaving.
The action arrived occurred during the other progressive action were leaving. The connective when can be used in the sentence 8.
(9) When the men were out working in the field, I helped with milking the cows, feeding the calves and the pigs.
A sequence of events helped milking, helped feeding appended during the action in progress were out working. The connective while can be possibly used in the sentence 9.
(10) While he was working, he often listened to music.
Two parallel actions was working and listened took place at the same period of time. The action working is in progress and the action listened may or may not occur or can be interrupted while the process working continues. The connective as might be used in the sentence (10) as well.
The connectives when and while can be used to indicate that something is or was happening when something else occurred:
For example:
(11) a. When the prison warders were eating their lunch, the prisoners escaped. b. While the prison warders were eating their lunch, the prisoners escaped.
Both connectives introduce the simultaneity of eating and escaping. The interpretation might be slightly different and might be explained only with the intent of the speaker. Either the speaker tells about the time of the escape or about the reason that allowed the escape.
(12) a. We went fishing when we were on vacation. b. We went fishing while we were on vacation.
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Both connectives show that the action of fishing was in process during the state of being on vacation. Either the speaker states that the action went fishing took place among other actions during the time of the vacation or emphasizes the fact that the fishing managed to take place while the vacation was in progress.
The connectives while or as can be used to talk about two longer events or activities happening at the same time. Here either simple or continuous verb forms can be used:
(13) a. We spent long evenings talking in my sitting-room while he played the music he had chosen and explained his ideas.
b. We were lying on the beach sunbathing as they were playing volleyball.
In both sentences (13a, 13b) two simultaneous actions are introduced and the difference might be that the second sentence has additional meaning of contrast between two progressive actions were lying and were playing.
The other example of the synonymic connectives of time: until and before. They are quite similar in meaning, for example:
(14) a. I will be there until you leave.
b. I will be there before you leave.
In both sentences the event expressed in the main clause takes place prior to the event in the subordinate clause. Though in sentence 14a the event in the main clause continues up to the time when the event expressed in the subordinate clause begins. In other words the subject I will stop being there at the moment the subject you leaves. In the example 14b the event of the main clause occurs prior to the time when the event of the subordinate clause begins. But unlike the example A the subject I can interrupt the action of the main clause at any moment not necessarily at the moment of the subordinate clause you leave occurs.
In teaching those connectives we may use these as examples of synonymy to make the process of memorizing easier but there are cases when using the incorrect connective in certain denotative situations leads to distortion of the meaning of the utterance.
Each synonymic group of the connectives has the one that is used more frequently than others. Those are stylistically neutral connectives that express their meaning in most general and undifferentiated way. The most neutral element of the temporal connectives is considered to be the connective when. Other connective can be considered formal or informal. Teaching to use the context for differentiating the use of synonymic connectives it is important to take into consideration the formality of the text. For example, the connectives until and till. These two words mean exactly the same: the action of the main clause happens up to the event mentioned in the subordinate clause. The current position is that until is the more common of the two words and is generally considered to be more formal. It is rather more likely to appear at the beginning of a sentence than is till. But till is perfectly good English and the choice of whether to use it or until is often decided by the rhythm of the sentence.
(15) You are unlikely to earn decent money until you start working hard.
(16) I won't start the project till I hear that ail the plans have been approved.
(17)She resigned in March but continued to draw her salary till the end of May.
(18) Please wait in the waiting room until they call your name.
The connectives as and whilst might be considered synonymic to the connectives while and when although they sometimes sound more formal or literary to native speakers:
(19) a. As the sun went down, I sipped a rum and coke on the balcony.
b. I sipped a rum and coke on the balcony whilst the sun went slowly down on the horizon.
One of the most significant problems in processing natural language is the problem of ambiguity. Ambiguity is the presence of two or more meanings in an utterance due to different possibilities of lexical, grammatical or pragmatic interpretation. Generally, two types of ambiguity are distinguished, lexical and structural ambiguity. Lexical ambiguity indicates that the word itself has more than one meaning, in other words it is called polysemy. Structural ambiguity, on the other hand, occurs when a phrase or a sentence has more than one underlying structure [1 ]. Sometimes it is not easy for the native speakers to account for
all the possible readings of certain sentences, and the situation can be more complicated for the non-native speakers.
It would be wrong to assume that only polysemantic notional words can realize their actual meanings at the level of word-combinations and sentences. Some meanings of functional words can also be identified only at the level of sentences or external word-groups.
Some of the connectives or conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses are polysemantic and can introduce different types of adverbial clauses. For instance, the conjunction as may introduce adverbial clauses of time, cause, manner, and comparison.
For example:
(20) Her voice shook as she tried to speak.
The connective as in the sentence 20 introduces an adverbial clause of time indicating that the action of shaking was in progress when the action of trying to speak occurred.
(21) ^s the morning was fine, and he had an hour on his hands, he crossed the river by the ferry, and strolled along a footpath through some meadows.
The sentence 21 shows the case of an adverbial clause of cause as the connective as introduces the reason for the action that is expressed in the main clause he crossed the river... and strolled along.
(22) He finished the work as she requested.
The subordinate clause in example 22 as she requested specifies how he finished the work. So, this subordinate clause is an adverbial clause of manner. Its subject-verb combination is she requested and its subordinator is as. The adverbial clause follows the main clause and concludes the sentence.
(23) She is not so stupid as you think.
This example shows the case of an adverbial clause of comparison. The state of the noun in the main clause is compared with the state expressed by the verb in the subordinate clause which is introduced with the connective as.
Thus it is important to remember while teaching the connective as to mention its polysemantic nature to the learners, otherwise they may misinterpret its use.
Consider the examples with the connective since. It might introduce adverbial clauses of time and cause.
(24) It was something Id dreamed of since I was a boy humping golf-bags nearly as big as me.
(25) Since we live on the crust, it is important to us in more ways than one, but we are only going to consider it in its relationship to events in the mantle, since these explain how Plate Tectonics works.
The sentence 24 is an example of an adverbial clauses of time, while the sentence 25 is the example of an adverbial clauses of cause. They show the polysemantic nature of the connective since.
In most cases it is quite clear what kind of clause is introduced and thus the interpretation of the utterance does not cause any confusion. Though look at the following sentences:
(26) We've been patronizing this pub since we've been living in this village.(cause)
We've been patronizing this pub since we moved to this village. (time)
(27) They're a lot happier since they separated. (time)
They're a lot happier since they've been living apart. (cause)
If an adverbial clause introduces by the connective since implies time, it must contain a verb in a past tense. When the main verb in a sentence with the adverbial clause introduced by the connective since refers to a period of time including the present, a present perfect tense is necessary. If an adverbial clause introduced by the connective since contains a present tense, since must imply cause, not time.
The great amount of specific information is required for recognizing the correct kind of clause which can confuse and even discourage the language learner.
Some of the concessive conjunctions like when and while are polysemantic as they may represent different types of temporal relations.
When clauses permit either a simultaneous or a non simultaneous reading. For example:
(28) John left the room when Mary came in.
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The sentence 28 can have a reading where the leaving occurs at the same time as the coming in or a reading where the leaving and coming take place at different times.
When clauses can indicate the beginning or ending of the action expressed in the subordinate clause which is required in order to the action expressed in the main clause to take place.
(29) If you would care to leave your name and the address of a planet where you can be contacted, kindly speak when you hear the tone.
The subordinate clause when you hear the tone in the example 29 points out the condition necessary for the action expressed in the main clause kindly speak to happen.
(30) Beautiful, charming, devastatingly intelligent, at last I'd got her to myself for a bit and was plying her with a bit of talk when this friend of yours barges up and says Hey doll, is this guy boring you?
The adverbial clause when this friend of yours barges up and says in the sentence 30 indicates the beginning of the action which is necessary in order the action expressed in the main clause took place.
The connective while can identity either simultaneous actions or the continuity of the action during which the event in the main clause took place. For example:
(31) I stay inside while it is raining.
The example 31 can be interpreted as staying inside at the same time as it is raining or staying inside all the time it is raining.
The connective while might be used to link or balance ideas that contrast each other:
(32) Beyond the Old Testament, in the second century BCE Book of Jubilees, (A)Jacob is turned into a blameless, upright figure, and, dare we say it, an utter prig of a man, (B) while Esau is a villain through and through.
In the example 32 the connective while introduces the idea expressed in the clause B that contrasts the idea of the clause A.
There are examples, mostly in official or academic literature when the connective while plays a co-ordinative role in the sentence:
(33) (A) A lower setting gives slight orbital movement for harder materials, (B) while the third setting allows the orbital action to be switched off for a straight reciprocating movement for filing or rasping, or fine cutting in hard materials.
The clauses A and B have equal semantic value in the sentence so the connective while in this case is an example of a coordinating conjunction.
Not in all cases it is possible to determine the type of the adverbial clause introduced by the connective while, for instance:
(34) I'm staying in while you are going out.
The sentence 34 can have a reading where the action of staying in is contrasted with the action of going out or a reading where the staying in and going out are regarded as simultaneous actions.
(35) Bob is in South Yorkshire, while Bill is in West Yorkshire.
The example 35 can have a reading that the state of being in South Yorkshire is contrasted to the idea of being in West Yorkshire or the reading where being in South Yorkshire happens at the same time as being in West Yorkshire.
The connective before might introduce the clause of time:
(36) Two questions must be answered before we can logically determine how we are going to handle any of our assets.
In example 36 the main clause expresses the action must be answered that takes place in advance of the time when the action introduced by the connective before took place.
(37) They lived rough for four days before they were arrested.
In the sentence 37 the main clause introduces the action that took place during the period preceding the event introduced in the subordinate clause with the connective before.
(38) It was an hour before the police arrived.
In the example 38 the main clause took place until the event of the subordinate clause was mentioned.
The connective before can indicate that alternative events expressed in the subordinate clause are less preferred:
(39) They would die before they would cooperate with each other.
In the sentence 39 the action would die is preferred to the action would cooperate.
It can be said that the connective before has polysemantic nature which can lead to misinterpretation among the learners of English.
The usage of adverbial clauses (including temporal clauses) in complex sentences could cause structural ambiguity. The adverbial clause could be attached to the verb in the main clause or the verb of the embedded clause. For instance,
(40) I told him to leave before you came.
The adverbial clause before you came can be attached to the main verb told to have the meaning that the time of telling was before you came or it can be attached to the embedded verb leave to have the meaning that leaving should be before you came.
Or another example:
(41) I saw Mary in New York before she claimed that she would arrive.
The event of seeing may be interpreted as taking place either before the time of claiming, or before the time of arriving.
Ambiguity analysis involves syntactic and non-syntactic factors, such as lexical, semantic plausibility and even non linguistic factors. So the students face difficulty in interpreting ambiguous structure and generally take the general meaning which can be understood from the sequence of words. [3]
It is necessary for the future interpreter to be aware of such phenomena as ambiguity, polysemy or synonymy and be able to identify and differentiate them. The most important aspect of teaching polysemy for learners is to foster independence so that learners will be able to deal with new words and continue to expand their vocabulary after graduating. Learning the meanings of words in Russian and English can help in developing of practical skills of translating, like determining the more efficient method of translation. Since it is always the concrete context that predetermines the real meaning of a polysemantic word, the translator has to study first of all the original utterance thoroughly and only then suggest an equivalent which would fit in for the translation. The phenomena like synonymy, polysemy and ambiguity become the reasons for the difficulties in choosing the method of word memorizing or understanding the meaning of the utterance. Overly abstract and complicated explanations of the differences in using the synonymic and polysemic connectives may complicate the teaching of the connectives of time. This in turn can lead to complications in language teaching and translating. Confusion may lead to partial or total misrepresentations and as a result to a communication failure.
References
1. Cecilia Quiroga-Clare. Language Ambiguity: A Curse and a Blessing. URL: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/trans/articles/Language%20Ambiguity.htm (accessed August 30, 2014).
2. Martin Trautwein. The time window of language: the interactions between linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge in the temporal interpretations of German and English texts./ M. Trautwein. Gottingen: Hubert & Co., 2005. 356p.
3. Mohammad I. Khawalda, Emad M. Al-Saidat. Structural Ambiguity interpretation: a case study of Arab learners of English. URL: https://globaljournals.org/GJHSS_Volume12/1-Structural-Ambiguity-Interpretation.pdf (accessed August 30, 2014).
4. British National Corpus URL: http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/.
