University/Organization
Shinshu-University Graduate School

Title
The “Habitat Segregation” of Expressions Denoting Futurity, and its Application to TESL

Synopsis
Futurity can be expressed using will, be going to and shall, but even advanced English learners can hardly tell the difference among “The ice will / *is going to melt if the sun comes out.” (Ando 2005: 104)

This presentation consists of three parts; first, we will try to explain the differences, i.e., “habitat segregation”, of the two expressions denoting futurity, i.e., will and be-toinfinitives; secondly, we will argue for a better explanation for will and be-to; and thirdly, we will apply our explanation to TESL and see if the students understand the subtle differences of the expressions denoting futurity better.

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