ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
INCONSISTENT USAGE OF PRIMARY AUXILIARY VERBS AMONG ESL STUDENTS AND
SOLUTION: A CASE STUDY
M. David Raju,
Senior Lecturer in English,
Government Polytechnic, Addanki,
(Dept. of Technical Education, Govt. of A.P.)
& Research Scholar, Ph.D (Part-Time),
Acharya Nagarjuna University, GUNTUR, A.P.
ABSTRACT

Teaching grammar to the ESL students has been a big challenge to the English Language teachers over many
years. In many of the learning styles like Grammar translation, Direct, Audio lingual, Natural,
Suggestopedia, grammar was taught as a separate entity with much emphasis on rules and continuous
drilling. Later, the much sought Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) mostly aimed at communicative
competency, slightly ignoring grammatical competency. Most of the ESL students of Diploma in Polytechnics
in Andhra Pradesh are not competent on either end. They are scared and apprehensive about learning and
using correct forms of the Primary Helping Verbs i.e. ‘Be, Do. Have’ forms. Lack of grammatical
competency slow down their fluency and they remain as wrong users of these verbs. This paper focuses on the
erroneous usage of Primary Helping Verbs among the Diploma students along with general and specific
reasons behind it. It also suggests that an ‘Eclectic combination of Structural Approach and CLT’ would
serve the purpose. These ESL students who vary much in their individual learning ability look for the simple,
straight, easy to remember and fool proof techniques to learn anything new. The solutions, tips suggested in
this paper help the ESL students whose grammatical competency is abysmally low. To establish a basic
foundation, sometimes the judicious use of mother tongue is required to evade their fears and misconception.
On the whole grammar is not a packet of contents to give away, but is a skill to be acquired, practiced and
attained perfection by its user.
Key words: Primary Helping Verbs, Be, Do, Have, CLT, Structure, ESL.
Instructing Grammar to the ESL
Suggestopedia, grammar was taught as a
students has been a big challenge to the
separate entity with much emphasis on
English Language teachers over many
rote learning of the rules and continuous
years. The pedagogy in the early days
drilling. But after 1970s, with the advent
insisted that learning a new language starts
of a new learner centered approach i.e.
with learning of governing rules of
‘Communicative
framing sentences. In many of the previous
(CLT),
learning
Grammar
Communicative Competency is considered
translation method, Direct method, Audio
to be the highest priority. CLT has also
lingual
paved the way for the motto ‘fluency
styles
method,
such
as
Natural
method,
the
Language
objective
of
Teaching’
achieving
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
should be acquired at the cost of
communicative skill, it can’t be ignored
accuracy’. It is also apprehended that
that a grammatically accurate usage of
much sought CLT neglects grammatical
English boosts up the confidence and
competency. But in the actual ESL class
fluency of an ESL student.
room, even after bringing CLT techniques
like Eliciting, Activities of Pair work,
Group work into the class room, teachers
can never avoid a special emphasis on
learning grammar to maintain its accuracy.
The teachers may adapt all good and
feasible techniques to teach grammar, still
the ESL students commit errors while
using the basic Primary Helping Verbs i.e.
Jack
C
Richards
of
SEAMEO Regional Language Centre,
Singapore in his article
TEFL/TESL:
A
Personal
“30 Years of
Reflection”,
writes about the difference between the
methods of teaching grammar before 1970
and after the adaption of Communicative
Language Teaching as follows:
‘be, do, have ‘ forms. Though the class
room and real life situations aim at
Then
Now
Sentence-grammar the focus of teaching
Accuracy and fluency of equal status
Grammar taught in meaningful context
Focus on grammar in discourse and texts
Communicative competence the goal
learning
Fluency-based methodology
Grammar taught through tasks
Linguistic competence the goal of learning
Grammar often taught divorced from context
Accuracy-based methodology
The teachers of English
English grammar starting with ‘Parts of
have many a technique to teach the
Speech’ followed by Verbs and Tenses.
functioning rules of Auxiliary verbs in
After some years the students are to some
English.
The
students’
background
extent able to make sentences on their
knowledge, interest, bent of mind to learn
own. If their accuracy in using primary
and correct themselves and also a good
helping verbs i.e, ‘Be’, ‘Do’, ‘Have’ forms
comprehension skill come into priority
is tested, it is alarming. They are unable to
while a teacher instructs grammar in the
grasp the simple governing rules about
class. Students of ESL usually learn their
Primary
Helping
Verbs
and
their
of
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
corresponding Main verbs. Most of the
understanding of the Primary Helping
50% of the students are just
ignorant of the correct usage of
these Primary Helping Verbs and
habituated using them erroneously
or inconsistently.
Some examples:
verbs and usage is appalling. This paper
‘I was studied in Z.P. H. School.’
analyzes why the Telugu medium students,
‘I am passed in first class.’
after studying English for many years in
‘We are attend the classes regularly.
students who join Diploma courses in
Polytechnics of Andhra Pradesh are from
Telugu medium background and their
schools and at plus two level could not
grasp the simple governing rules between
Main verb forms and Primary Auxiliaries
i.e.
 What could be the general reasons
for these errors?
‘Be’ forms, ‘Do’ forms & ‘Have’
A) Students who hail from Telugu
forms. After taking up a case study among
medium have lot of influence of
the students of Polytechnics in A.P, it is
mother tongue . They apply same
suggested to follow an easy method of
grammatical rules and usage of
learning these Primary helping Verbs
native language to English too.
which is not new but that resembles an
B) They are scantily exposed to
‘Structural
listening and speaking English
Approach’ and ‘CLT’. It helps the ESL
environment, so they fail to grasp
students understand how and when to
the unique features of English
collocate or combine a Primary Auxiliary
language.
Eclectic
combination
of
Verb and a suitable form of main verb.
C) Usually a baby learns a language in
Judicious use of mother tongue is required
the community as he grows, by
for the benefit of the students in this
spending certain period of time
context
a
involuntarily and by putting effort
particular Primary helping verb occur
as in the following pyramid, where
independently and ‘what’ form of main
Listening as the base and takes
verb collocates with it.
lion’s share of the time and effort

to
explain
‘where’
does
The following errors are observed
among the students of Diploma in
Engineering who had studied
English as Second language up to
their tenth standard. More than
followed by Speaking skill.
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
L
Writing
S
Reading
R
Speaking
W
Listenin
g
In fact the students in the ESL context
limit themselves to learning literacy skills
of reading and writing, ignoring listening
and speaking in the target language. Even
these two skills(R,W) many a time are
learnt by rote learning aiming at Exams
but not naturally for practical purpose. So
it is evident that they start learning English
language skills in the reverse order. The
Though the student listens and reads
English in the future, the wrong beginning
never helps him to use the target language
at ease and error free. The basic non
literacy language skills of Listening and
Speaking miss their emphasis in the ESL
context. So even after attending many
classes of English, students fail to grasp
the governing rules in making a sentence.
ESL student straight away takes a book,
The following specific reasons are
starts Literacy skills of Reading and
observed for their wrong usage of these
Writing in the school and very scantily
Primary helping verbs:
exposed to Listening and Speaking skills.
So learning order of language skills is
upside down in the ESL context like trying
to make a pyramid stand on its cone. So
the students fail to use these Helping verbs
(i) There is no concept of Helping Verbs
and Past participle in Telugu language.
When they try to compare them to their
mother tongue, they utterly fail to grasp
about how to use them.
or any other grammatical aspect in an
(ii) In Indian languages there is no clear
erroneous way in their oral or written
distinction of the four aspects of a Tense
expression.
as in English: simple, continuous, perfect
and perfect continuous.
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
(iii) No idea about weak verbs that do not
What comes next to them? What is the
have difference between V2 and V3.
form of main verb that follows?
(Mostly ‘ed’ forms)
(iv) Some students with English medium
back ground focus
intelligible
on
fluency and
usage of the language rather
than its grammatical accuracy.
(v) Moreover, some of them depend only
Can’t we use ‘be ‘forms and ‘do’ forms for
same purpose? Are they really different?
How can we use ‘have ‘forms?
Can’t we use ‘is / was’ in all present and
‘was / were’ in all past tenses?
on set rules as they do with mathematical
Students with these doubts tend to
principles. They need exact mathematical
use the Primary Helping verbs wrongly.
formula like 2+2 = 4, instead of ‘usage’
Some times they accidentally use them
and ‘meaning’. They wish that any thing
correctly, if checked further, they use
new they are learning must be a well
wrongly and twist the meaning, voice,
framed structure so that they can easily
even after thorough practice on Tenses.
learn without taking pains. But learning
They either think that any helping verb
language is other way different and we
goes with any main form of the verb and
mostly depend on ‘usage’. For such
apprehend
students
reinforce
negligible. So it is required to reinforce the
grammatical accuracy regarding the use of
accurate usage of these simple but very
Primary
useful auxiliaries among the students.
it’s
required
helping
verbs
to
and
their
corresponding main verbs with a new
perspective.
that
their
mistakes
are
 How can the teacher help these
students?
The teacher must go beyond the
 What do these students look for if
accuracy is insisted?
conventional or any established methods
of teaching grammar and adapt the
Where / in what kind of situations can we
creative techniques based on the students’
use these Primary Helping Verbs?
level of understanding. Some case studies
may be taken up and observed and find
(They ask the teacher in Telugu, “Ee
helping verbs ekkada ekkada vasthayi”?)
reason for their committing mistakes. The
teacher needs to stoop down to students’
In how many places / contexts do they
level and if need be, may adapt some crude
(helping verbs) occur?
methods at the early stage of teaching
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
these Primary helping Verbs. In Structural
An idea about main verb: Before
approach the focus is on the correct
we teach the ESL students these
arrangement and the combination of right
Primary Helping Verbs, it is very
words at right places. In CLT, we follow
important to enlighten them about
PPU technique i.e. Present, Practice and
the five forms of Main verbs i.e.
Use. The teacher at the beginning presents
V1, V2,
the form of a particular grammar point.
take, took, taken, takes, taking).
Then he makes the student practice the
form and finally students are asked to use
I.
‘Be’ forms: Let’s observe the
usage of Primary ‘be’ forms.
the form in their own sentences or by
providing a situation.
Lynn Savage.K et al. in their book
‘Grammar Matters’ felt that “These
days, however, more and more
practitioners realize that the two
orientations – grammar-based and
communicative – have elements that
complement each other and that, when
combined, can result in an eclectic
approach that is effective in teaching
grammar to adult students.”(Savage
KL)
V3, S-form, ing-form. (
Number
Singular
Plural
Present
am , is
are
Past
was
were
Tense
What are the common situations to use
‘be’ forms ?
(a) ‘be’ + No Main verb ( Independent
Here I would like to propose an approach
use )
that resembles the Eclectic combination of
Here ‘be’ form is used itself as main
CLT and Structural approach to teach
verb without a Main Verb.
these Primary Helping Verbs to the ESL
Ex: I am a student.
students whose grammatical competency
She is my friend.
is abysmally low. In this approach the
There are 40 students in the class.
students learn two aspects of these Primary
He was in school last year.
Helping verbs.
Those were the days of happiness.
i) Independent use (as main verbs) ii)
After through practice, tell them that
‘be’ form has no
Combination with a particular
independent use of
form of main verb.
apparent action. It is a Static verb, used to
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
indicate state, existence, number, quality,
The teacher can give such tips to serve the
position of something.
purpose. Once the students are thorough
‘be’ + ing form ( Collocation with
(b)
‘ing’ form of a main verb)
with the structure and, they can easily
understand its usage. After thorough
Use ‘be’ form before ‘ing’ form of the
practice of these Primary ‘be’ forms
Main Verb. It gives continuous action. A
,Teacher can further proceed to secondary
primary
set ‘be, been, being’ in the same structure
‘be’ form allows a present participle(
ing ) immediately after it.
based
learning
method
followed
by
exemptions from the rules if any.
Ex: I am studying well.
II.
She was watching T.V when the
understand clearly how these ‘have’ forms
phone rang.
‘Have’
are
They are shouting in the class.
used
forms:
Students
independently
and
must
with
collocation with main verbs.
We were preparing for a test last
Number
week.
( c) ‘be’ + V3 ( Collocation with V3
form to make a Passive Voice)
Use ‘be’ form before ‘V3’ ( Past
Singular
Plural
Present
has
have
Past
had
had
Tense
participle) to get Passive Voice.
Ex: I am called Bunty by my friends.
(i) Use
The book was published.
‘have’ form independently as
main verb which is similar in meaning ‘ to
The learner must understand the use of
possess, to eat , to drink, to get’, ‘to
Passive voice structure and its purpose.
experience’ ..etc.
Here the focus is on the object and it tells
Verb)
what happened to object and what the
I/
(Have + No main
We/You/They
action was.
He/she has a new cycle.
Hence , we can say Primary ‘be’ forms
she had…..
occur in three situations .i.e.;
(ii) Have + V3
i) Use independently,
before ‘ing’ form
Use before V3.
ii) Use
and
iii)
have
a
car..
I / we/ he/
( Collocation with V3
form)
They have attended the class.
We had finished our exam before they
gave bell.
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
difference
III. ‘Do’ forms: Students can easily learn
between V2 and V3 forms of the Main
‘do’ forms, but they wink at them. ‘Do’
Verb ,
forms appear as familiar and can be used
Let
students

understand
Tip to recognize V2 and V3 forms
with ease. They are too simple to pay
when both are same ( in weak or
attention
regular verbs).
mistakes.
I played the game. ( independent use of
and
vulnerable
to
commit
Singular
Plural
Number
V2 , it never takes any helping verb)
I have played the game ( with a helping
Tense
verb, hence V3, because V3 is incomplete
Present
does
do
form and takes the help of a have form.)
Past
did
did
The book was published, ( with a helping
verb, hence
V3, In passive voice V3
comes immediately after a ‘be’ form)
‘Have’ + been + ing / V3
(iii)
students drill the use of ‘do’ forms
(
Collocating with been + ing / V3)
I have been learning English since
my childhood. (Collocating with been +
ing form)
thoroughly. Because they can understand
‘do’ forms easily but fail in using them.
 Do
forms
for the last four years.
have
indicate
only
Simple
present and Simple Past tenses.
 Any ‘do’
She has been working in this office
They
The teacher must be patient to make the
form
takes
only V1
immediately after it but not any other
forms of a main verb.
been
instructed.
 Use ‘do’ forms to frame ‘negatives’
(Collocating with been + V3 …in passive
and ‘questions’ where there is no
voice)
Helping
Let students practice these structures until
sentences.
they develop their own understanding.
Observe the ‘do’ forms table:
Verb
in
the
positive
Once they are perfect in the form, they are
at ease to use them in their expression.
Positive
Negative
Question
Simple Present
I eat early in the morning
I do not eat….
Do I eat ……..?
Simple Present
He eats early in the morning
He does not …..
Does he eat ……?
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
Simple Past
We ate early in the morning
We did not eat …..
Did we eat….?
work as helpful techniques for the students

Tip:
Do / Does =
Simple
to use error free sentences. The teacher can
bring in CLT methods of PPU ( Present
Present Tense
the form& meaning , Practice, Use in own
Did = Simple Past Tense
Any ‘do’ form accepts only V1 form
sentences ) and can design Pair, Group
of the Main Verb. There are hidden ‘do’
works, Exchanging the examples to make
forms in V1, V2, S forms of the main verb,
the
which we use in negative sentences and
interesting. For example a small group of 3
questions.
or 4 students can be allotted the task of
V1 = do+ V1……
( Take = do+ take)
grammar
learning
lively
and
writing own sentences using ‘was+ ing
‘S’ form = does + V1……(Takes = does
form’. Another group may be asked to
+ take)
write sentences using ‘was+V3 form’.
V2 = did+ V1……
(Took = did+ take)
Later they can exchange and check the
After thorough practice of the above
accuracy. As speaking activity, a certain
usage, exceptional cases like ‘do’ form +
situation and a particular Auxiliary verb
V1 and
may be written on the board and students
‘do’ as a main verb can be
introduced.
are asked to speak as many sentences as
Ex: I did write well. (To ascertain) ;
they can. We can show some visuals like
Please do attend the party (immense
‘routine activities’ of a school boy and ask
request)
them use a particular structure. Once they
What can I do for you? Will you do
are thorough with the technique of
‘independent use’ and ‘matching them
it now? ( ‘do’ as a main verb)
( Done is not a Helping verb. It acts
with appropriate forms of main verb’, their
confidence level rises and they can look at
only like the V3 form of a main verb)
grammar learning in a positive way. After
ESL students look for
getting familiarity with basic form and
simple, easy and straight techniques that
usage, the teacher can further proceed to
appear like rules of thumb to learn
explain other rules and any exceptional
grammar.
cases and rare examples. If the students
Conclusion:
The
simple
method
of
‘independent use and collocation use’ of
understand
these Primary Helping Verbs would really
structures these Primary Auxiliary Verbs
in
how
many
different
ELK Asia Pacific Journals – Special Issue
ISBN: 978-81-930411-1-6
are used, it becomes easy for them to know
Approaches and Methods in
how to use them accurately in their own
Language
expression.
edition).
Teaching
New
Lynn Savage K.et al. in their
Cambridge
work ‘Grammar Matters’ quote Richards
Press.2001
and Rodgers, “Having reviewed the
advantages and limitations of various
language-teaching
methods, what can we conclude about how
we should approach grammar instruction
in adult ESL courses? The most sensible
approach appears to be an eclectic one that
(2nd
York:
University
[2] Richards, J.C, & Renandya,
W.A (eds). Methodology in
Language Teaching: An
Anthology of Current
Practice). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
2002
[3] Savage,
K.
Lynn
et
al,
combines the most effective aspects of a
“Grammar Matters: Teaching
variety
Grammar
of
language-teaching
in
Adult
ESL
methodologies. (Richards and Rodgers,
Programs”
2001, for their discussion of the “post-
Cambridge University Press.
methods era.”). Such an approach would
2010
include
a
focus
on
form
with
TEFL/TESL:
the target structure”
Reflection”
a single type cast to acquire grammatical
proficiency in a similar way. The teacher
NY,
[4] Richards.K.C, “30 Years of
contextualized, communicative practice of
Thus all the ESL students are not
2010
A
Personal
http://community.eflclassroom
.com/main/
[5] Material
produced
at
should be resourceful, experimental based
Retraining programme to the
on the students level of understanding and
English
adapt
(CLT
a
suitable
Eclectic
method
Lecturers
course
in
A.P.
designed
by
combining different approaches of English
George Bishop Jr. & others –
Language teaching to attain grammatical
Training
competency among the students.
MoU of U.S State Department
References :
of English & Govt. of A.P.)&
[1] Richards,
Theodore
Jack
C
and
Rodgers.
programme
under