TESOL Fuzhou

In unit 6, we are introduced to the past tense form. This includes past simple, past continuous, past perfect, and past perfect continuous. I think the hardest part of this unit was how to see the difference between past continuous and past perfect continuous. But what made me realize the different between past continuous and past perfect continuous is that past continuous has a higher probability of being an action that might continue after the time we think of. But when it comes to past perfect continuous we aren't certain nor concerned whether the action continued. For an example, the unit test had two sentences that got me thinking: By the time I arrived John had been cooking for 30 minutes. and When I arrived John was cooking. The first sentence points at John who had been cooking for 30 minutes prior to my arrival. When I arrived, we know that John had been cooking but he might have stopped cooking when I arrived, or he might have continued. The sentences doesn't state whether he continued or not so we can only guess. But the second sentence is clear, when I arrived John was in fact STILL cooking and had been cooking prior to my arrival. Of course the auxiliary verb helps us to understand which one is which and we could say to our students that \"this is past continuous and this is past perfect continuous\", but that wouldn't explain why they are past continuous and past perfect continuous. Thus, giving clear examples such as this unit and the unit test does is very important.