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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.7, No.8
Publication Date: August 25, 2020
DOI:10.14738/assrj.77.8795.
Hsu, C., Lu, Y., & Hsueh, C. (2020). Teaching and Learning the Awareness of Existence in English Existential Sentences. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(8) 326-342.
Teaching and Learning the Awareness of Existence in English
Existential Sentences
Chung-hsien Hsu
Language Center, Chao Yang University of Technology
Jifeng E. Rd., Wufeng District, Taichung, Taiwan.
Yung-Pin Lu
School of International and Public Affairs,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Dongchuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, China
Chen-hua Hsueh
The Office of Extension Education, Feng Chia University,
Wenhua Road, Xitun District, Taichung City, Taiwan.
ABSTRACT
This present study investigates the reasons that cause Chinese students’
difficulties, in learning English existential sentence, there-be structure.
A set of questions are designed to examine their awareness of ‘existence’
in both languages. 609 participants attain this study. After data analysis,
two findings indicate: (1) Students are used to selecting location as a
subject starting an existential sentence which is similar to Chinese
syntax, and there-be might be considered of using only when location is
not given. (2) With the influence of Chinese syntax, the awareness
between the place and the main noun forms because that a thing/object
as a subject keeps have / has as its verb could change sentence
construction and cannot effectively express the original existence in
English. Therefore, this grammatical error stems not only from
differences in awareness of existence between languages, but also from
different grammar expressions about existence. In addition, in Chinese,
existence there-be and possession have/ has, are expressed and
translated by the only one Chinese character ‘9’. Most teachers
normally adopt “have” idea to help interlingual translation to learn EES.
However, this teaching might lead to a potential difficulty for students
to be aware of existential difference between English and Chinese.
Keywords: English existential sentence, linguistics, intercultural learning,
language education, English grammar teaching, ESL
INTRODUCTION
English existential structure is not new for Chinese students in Taiwan, but the awareness of
existence in English is still confusing to them. This grammar structure, there-be, has been taught
early from the seventh grade in public school in Taiwan. After teaching English in college for years,
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Hsu, C., Lu, Y., & Hsueh, C. (2020). Teaching and Learning the Awareness of Existence in English Existential Sentences. Advances in Social Sciences Research
Journal, 7(8) 326-342.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.78.8795 327
the authors still hear students’ expressing “I have five people in my family.” or “My family has five
members.” in their English self-introduction on the first day of school. Although the authors can
understand the L1 [mother tongue] has affected students’ learning of L2 [foreign language], the
authors would like to learn about why there-be structure is not the first option for the students to
describe a situation of existence.
A research design is created to examine how different or complicated learning English awareness
of existence can be for Chinese students. 609 college students from two universities attend this
study, including 58 percent of higher intermediate levels and 42 percent of intermediate levels. The
instrument, a ten-question quiz is designed to test if students are clear about there-be sentences.
The outcomes indicate that the awareness of ownership from have/has sentences in Chinese usually
replaces or blends with the awareness of existential sentence in English, particularly in spoken
English. The result also implies whether instruction of existential structure is specific enough in
current English language education in Taiwan.
LITERATURE REVIEW
English existential sentences [EES] might be both the easiest and the most difficult grammar for ESL
teachers and learners whose first language is Chinese. Although several of previous studies,
including in linguistics, literature and English grammar teaching fields, have broadly discussed
English existential structures, function, and features the awareness of ‘existence’ demonstrates
various cognition and ways of expression rooted from different language systems [3], [5], [6], [9],
[10], [12-14].
This present study focuses on exploring and understanding the reasons why teaching and learning
English existential structures, ‘there-be’ [EES] is still a difficulty for Chinese ESL students and
teachers in Taiwan. However, in this study, no other pattern of existential sentences is focused
except there-be structure. One reason is that participants are confused about how to use it, and the
other is that the sentences without accusative verbs, such as come, exist, remain, and live; contain
more existential meaning [10].
To improve current learning and teaching in EES, there-be, the awareness of existence should be
clarified in the definition and structures, including both in English and Chinese. Chomsky mentioned
in his lecture that ‘there’ is an expletive word which serves as a place for the subject and according
to the extended Projection Principle, all sentences to have a subject of the predicate at logical form
[LF] [3]. In general, There + be + NP [+locative phrase] [9] is the basic existential sentence structure
required to be taught in junior high school in Taiwan. But, it is not sure that the awareness of
existence for native English speakers has been exactly aware of or understood by ESL teachers and
students. Therefore, the semantic meaning of EES needs to be explained specifically. Fillmore and
Lyons suggest that in the structure, There + be + NP [+locative phrase], “there” is transformed by
copying the locative phrase into subject position, and then replaces it by the preform there [5], [12].
Lyons proposes that existential sentences contain, in effect, a locative ‘dummy’. This dummy
element is equivalent to ‘in the universe’ [12]. For example:
There are ghosts.
There are ghosts in the universe [9].
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In other words, the source of there in existential sentences is not the locative phrase, despite
appearances. However, Allen also discusses the contrast of there-be structure and have sentence [9].
In the former structure, the objective element is thematised, whereas the locative element is
thematised in the later. He accounts furthermore, there is a correlation between the sentences with
a thematised objective case element and the sentences with the locative element thematised with
the concomitant replacement of the verb be by the verb have. For example:
Africa has lions in it.
The box has many toys in it.
The library has books in it.
Compare to the two groups of sentences (1) and (2), we can find that if existential sentences contain
no realized locative phrase, they will not submit to the have-transformation. This finding implies
that in English have sentence always keeps a subject which in meaning owns or possesses an
object/some objects but is not related to something existing or not [9].
Interestingly, in Chinese [Mandarin], both there-be structure and have sentence, in meaning,
correspond to the verb ‘9’, which sounds like you and means ‘have’ in Chinese. The you- sentence
construction in Chinese is the closest counterpart to English there insertion [8]. This Chinese
construction starts with the existential marker you (literally ‘have’) at the beginning of a regular
sentence [14]. The examples from White’s study are as follows:
you yiben shu zai zhuozi shang
have one book at table top
9 : 8 >
‘There is a book on the table.’
In terms of the contrast of the two languages from the examples, the awareness of existence in
Chinese can directly transfers into ‘9’ which means ‘have’ in English. However, in English grammar
teaching, it is not difficult for students to distinguish the awareness of existence from the feeling of
possession because there is no specific subject [owner] can be found in this type of sentence. In
general, the Chinese existential sentence above can usually be spoken in the other way:
> 9 : 8
On the table has a book
If existential sentences in English are a sentence pattern of denoting somebody or something exists,
appears or disappears somewhere, a localizer at the beginning of the sentence and an object of the
sentence indicates the one there exists, appears or disappears in Chinese [7]. In Chan’s study, the
survey result from 710 Hong Kong Chinese ESL learners shows they are not able to use the there- be structure for expressing the existential or present function in English because many of them in
Hong Kong tend to think in Chinese first before they wrote in English [2]. Chan notices that the
corresponding existential meaning is ‘have’ in Chinese, with the locative expression function as the
subject of the sentence and the resultant structure resembling a possessive sentence. Chinese
learners of English often misuse the verb ‘have’ to express the existential or present function. Some
of these translated versions used structures of Chinese:
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Hsu, C., Lu, Y., & Hsueh, C. (2020). Teaching and Learning the Awareness of Existence in English Existential Sentences. Advances in Social Sciences Research
Journal, 7(8) 326-342.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.78.8795 329
There have/has many Japanese tourists on the ship / in the vessel.
The ship has many Japanese tourists.
On the vessel, I / here have many Japanese tourists.
The sentence structure is very similar to a word-for-word translation of the corresponding Chinese
sentence [2]. That is, Chinese students’ English existential sentence learning is highly influenced by
their first language [L1].
Zhang concludes two main factors influenced Chinese leaners’ there-be sentences over generations
[16]. One is the influence from L1. Zhang thinks “Chinese is topic-prominent language while English
is a subject-prominent language. This phenomenon is caused by transfer from learner’s first
language.” [p. 713] The other is a developmental factor. Zhang found the L2 learners with the
development of English proficiency, gradual perception and understanding of L2 rules employ other
structures and use fewer there be-sentences. Furthermore, the errors that the L2 learners created
in learning there be-sentences have developed into a fossilized language format which is even
accepted in L2 acquisition.
In addition, Zhang also analyzes why Chinese students produce “there + have” sentences instead of
“there + be” ones. It’s because they confuse both of sentence patterns which can express the same
meaning of the Chinese word “you” [have], and it is translated into the English verb “have.”
Particularly, Chinese students also express “have” which means “own.” The transfer of the
vocabulary expands the usage of “have” as well as decrease the appliance of “there be.” These errors
are assumed to be affected by the typical Chinese construction.
METHODOLOGY
Research questions
This design of study attempts to explore and clarify possible factors that might cause Chinese
students’ confusion and misuse in using English existential structures, there-be. In accordance with
the previous research about how Chinese language has influenced the students in learning EES, and
the authors’ observation of using EES in English class, there are four research questions proposed
for this study:
1. How much are L2 college students aware of existence in both Chinese and English?
2. How do they distinguish the awareness between existence and possession in both
languages?
Qualitative research questions:
1. How has Chinese language affected ESL college students’ expression of EES?
2. How do ESL college teachers connect their EES grammar knowledge with Chinese students’
learning?
Participants
The participants are from two universities in central Taiwan, whose first language is Chinese (or
Mandarin). There are totally 609 college students attending this research, including freshmen and
sophomores. These subjects have learned English for more than six years and are sorted into two
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English levels, higher intermediates [58 percent; n = 355] and intermediates [42 percent; n = 254]
since they entered college. A few of the students major in English language and literature.
Additionally, several English teachers, whose students participate in this study, attain the interview
by providing their teaching experience about how they teach EES in.
Instruments
There is a set of ten-question quiz designed to test the subjects [Appendix I]. Eight of them are
multiple-choice grammar questions to test students whether they have clear or basic concepts
about how to make English existential sentences. According to Allen’s study, if EES [there-be
structure] contains no realized locative phrase, the sentence pattern will not transform into the
structure with have/has as verb [9]. Both there-be structure and have/has sentence, in meaning,
correspond to the verb ‘9’, which sounds like you and means ‘have’ in Chinese [2], [8], [16]. Both of
sentence structures accord with the similar basic grammar construction: subject + verb + object /
complement [2], [7], [14], [16]. Under the influence of first language, how difficult for students to
distinguish the awareness of existence from the established feeling of possession is the major
expectation and purpose of creating the set of questions.
In each of the eight questions, it provides a Chinese sentence with “9” [ “you” in Chinese means
“have/has” in English] and three English answers, including a sentence translation starting with
there-be [A1], a sentence translation with have/has as verb [A2], and the third is both of the two
translations are correct [A3].
In addition, to realize why Chinese students make “there + have” sentences instead of “there + be”
ones [2], [16], and how they compose an EES through their previous English grammar learning, two
sentence-making questions, Question Nine and Question Ten are added to the quiz. Question Nine
and Ten are English sentence translation and the participants have to translate the Chinese
sentences into English ones. The last two questions are to elicit quiz takers to employ there-be
structure to answer. It took the quiz takers about eight to ten minutes to finish.
Three questions for the interviewed instructors are as follows:
1. Have you ever heard “English Existential Sentence?” If not, do you know there-be structure?
2. Under what conditions would you use there-be structure to make a sentence?
3. How do you teach there-be structure to college students?
Data Collection
This study started in February, 2018. Data collection for quiz took around one month. 609 college
students and 8 English teachers in the college language center were interviewed to provide their
experience in learning and teaching English existential sentences.
Data Analysis
Most of the answers with there-be structures [A1] are selected [See the study questions on Appendix
I]. The answers with have/has as verb [A2] are less selected. High percentage of subjects also selects
the third answer [A3] which is designed as “both A1 and A2 are correct.” As to Question Nine and
Question Ten, whether there-be structure is considered in doing translation by the participants is