Rethinking the teaching of the Past Perfect tense in an ESL classroom in Vietnam: An observation

The teaching of the Past Perfect tense in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms in Vietnam remains a challenge, with many learners struggling to grasp its function and application. Drawing on personal experience and classroom observation, this article examines the limitations of traditional instructional approaches, particularly the tendency to define the Past Perfect tense solely as an indicator of an earlier past action. This narrow explanation neglects its key function in expressing events out of chronological order, leading to persistent confusion with the Simple Past tense and diminishing learners’ perception of its relevance. This article situates the issue within the broader literature on second language acquisition, highlighting the role of noticing in grammatical development. It critiques the widespread reliance on deductive instruction, which prioritises explicit rule presentation and controlled practice but often fails to foster deeper understanding or engagement, particularly among younger learners. While inductive approaches—where students infer rules from contextualised examples—have been shown to enhance engagement, they can be impractical within the constraints of typical Vietnamese classroom settings.To address these challenges, the article proposes a blended instructional approach that integrates elements of both inductive and deductive teaching. By first exposing learners to the Past Perfect tense in meaningful discourse and subsequently reinforcing its structure through comparative analysis, this method provides multiple opportunities for noticing and conceptual clarity. In doing so, it seeks to improve students’ ability to distinguish between tenses while maintaining motivation and participation.