English Pronouns
Intermediate Activity: Sentence Strip Passage
1.Personal pronouns → used as the subject of a sentence; object pronouns are used as objects of verbs or prepositions: I you he/she/it we you they me you him/her/it us you them
Hu is he?
2. Reflexive pronouns →Non-emphatic RPs are used as part of the reflexive verb or refer to a preceding noun phrase. Emphatic RPs see reflexive pronouns inserted with a noun or pronoun instead of occurring in its place, giving them extra emphasis: myself
yourself
himself/herself/itself
ourselves
yourselves
themselves
Chinese ELL problems with pronouns
卓然 Josiah Murphy
3. Reciprocal pronouns → used to establish a reciprocal action among the subjects in the sentence: each other
Kent State University
one another
付妤纯 Clara Fodera Kent State University
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Teresa was born Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910 into a Kosovar Albanian family in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (now the capital of the Republic of Macedonia). [1] Teresa left home in 1928 at age 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland, to learn English with the view of becoming a missionary. [4] During Teresa’s early years, Teresa was fascinated by stories of missionaries and the missionaries’ service in Bengal. [3]
Teresa was the youngest child of Nikolle and Dranafile Bojaxhiu (Bernai). [2]
Teresa arrived in India in 1929 and began Teresa’s novitiate in Darjeeling, in the lower Himalayas. [5]
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4. Possessive pronouns → used to replace the noun phrases that indicate possession: mine
yours
his/hers/its
ours
yours
theirs
5. Indefinite pronouns → refer to unspecified entities. Positive IPs are used in affirmative sentences and negative indefinite IPs are used where sentences have a negative nuance: someone no one
somebody nobody
something nothing
anyone
anybody
anything
everyone
everybody
everything
6. Demonstrative pronouns → used to identify or point to things which are either nearby or far away in time or space: this
that
these
those
Advanced Activity
Abstract Chinese L1 English language learners (ELL) struggle with the anaphora of English syntax because subject and object pronouns are omitted once a topic chain is established in context. Third person singular pronouns are a particular problem because Chinese does not semantically encode gender in feature constraints. When the gender of a pronoun does not follow expectations predicted by the original noun, the mismatch effect results in confusion and delayed processing time while attempting to access the initial referent and determine whether a different topic noun phrase is being referred to instead. To complicate matters, native speakers often use referring expressions in non-prescriptive ways. Even advanced learners struggle with appropriate use of pronouns, so it is beneficial to increase the saliency of a referent’s gender and provide extensive, repeated use of pronomial expressions until the semantic features are proceduralized. Recommended classroom lesson plans for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students have been included to assist teachers in presenting pronouns and correcting persistent errors. Keywords: anaphora; bilingualism; Chinese first language (L1); discourse functions; English language learner (ELL); gender errors; mismatch effect; noun phrases; pronouns; referent tracking; referring expressions; second language acquisition (SLA)
Students:
Error: Chinese L1 can cause confusion in 3rd person singular pronouns until the English form is proceduralized. Students may write academic papers in the wrong register or borrow jargon from other genres. Instruction: Use particular jargon, register, and syntax to create a style suitable for a specific purpose and audience. To be well-received, academic writing must follow certain style conventions. Warm-Up: Students peer review papers they wrote for this (or another) class. Look for over-explicit noun phrases, under-explicit topic chains, missing anaphora, and incorrect pronoun types. I expect that…. —> It is hypothesized that….
Chinese Pronouns
Omission of personal/object pronoun [it]
1.Personal pronouns → the same personal pronouns can be used for both the subject or the object of a sentence: Personal PN
Object PN
我 wǒ I 我 wǒ me
你 nǐ you 你 nǐ you
您 nǐn you (formal) 您 nǐn you formal
他/她/它 tā he/she/it 他/她/它 tā him/her/it
我们 wǒmen we
你们 nǐmen you (plural)
我们 wǒmen us
你们 nǐmen you (plural)
他/她/它 tāmen they
我自己 你自己 您自己 wǒzìjǐ nǐzìjǐ nǐnzìjǐ myself yourself yourself (formal)
他/她/它自己 tāzìjǐ him/her/itself
我们自己 wǒmenzìjǐ ourselves
我
种
了
一些
花，
(它)
长
得
很
好
wǒ
zhòng
le
yīxiē
huā,
(tā)
zhǎng
de
hěn
hǎo
I
to plant
(particle)
some
flower,
(it)
to grow
I
have
planted
some
flowers.
They
grow
他/她/它 们 tāmen them
2. Reflexive pronouns → are formed by adding the two characters 自己 (zìjǐ) after each personal pronoun: 你们自己 nǐmenzìjǐ yourselves
他/她/它 们自己 tāmenzìjǐ themselves
4. Possessive pronouns → formed by adding the particle 的 (de) to the personal pronoun to indicate the relationship between the subject and the possessed object: 我的 wǒ-de mine
你的 nǐ-de yours
您的 nǐn-de yours (formal)
他/她/它的 tā-de his/hers/its
我们的 wǒmen-de ours
你们的 nǐmen-de yours
他/她/它 们的 tāmen-de theirs
5. Indefinite pronouns → don’t divide into positive and negative pronouns. The function is to leave a person or object’s identity unknown:. 莫个 mòge someone
有个 yǒuge something
有人 yǒurén somebody
没有人 měiyǒurén nobody
6. Demonstrative pronouns → The two types, 这 (zhè) and 那 (nà), indicate spatial distance but temporal, and does not differ for plurality. The character 时候 (shíhòu) is added to express temporal meaning: 这 zhè this
那 nà that
这个时候 zhègeshíhòu this time
那个时候 nàgeshíhòu that time
(particle)
very
good
very
well.
Same personal/object pronoun & same pronunciation
她 tā she
跟 gēn with
She
她 tā she
went
去 qù to go
with
了 le (particle)
her
买 mǎi to buy
to
东西 dōngxī thing
buy
things.
Demonstrative pronoun [this/that] shows no variation in number
3. Reciprocal pronouns → the two characters 相 互(xiānghù) designate the reciprocal action, and are inserted before the verb: 相互 xiānghù reciprocal
Beginner Activity
这 zhè this These
是 shì to be are
我们 wǒmén we our
新 xīn new new
的 de (particle)
产品 chǎnpǐn product products.
Reflexive pronouns precede the verb 这 zhè
两 liǎng
个 ge
事情 shìqíng
相互 xiānghù
关系 guānxì
this
two
(classifier)
situation
reciprocal
to have
connection
These
two
situations
are
related
to
each other.
Indefinite pronouns 有 yǒu
人 rén
找 zhǎo
你 nǐ
to have
person
to look for
you
Someone
is
looking for
you.
ELL Level 1-2 Grammar and Speaking Class
Error: Chinese L1 influence of gender-free 3rd person singular pronoun [ta] causes confusion about when to use English personal pronoun [he], [she], or [it].
Instruction: English speakers automatically encode lexical information with the gender of referents, and convey this in pronouns. If you say [she], a native speaker will imagine a girl, woman, or female pet; [he] - a boy, man, or male pet; [it] - a thing or inanimate object. Mismatched pronouns will cause delayed processing and confusion. Warm-Up: Paired students play (customized) version of “Guess Who?” board game. Students will use personal, possessive, and interrogative pronouns to figure out their partner’s target character.
Rationale: Raise awareness of topic noun phrase deletion, and correct 3rd person singular pronoun errors (Cowan, 2012). Model demonstrative and relative pronouns for academic writing (Lou, 2012).
Advanced Activity: Rewrite Article
Assessment: Do students ask and answer questions with appropriate pronouns? Rationale:
Assessment: Do the students rewrite the passages following appropriate prescriptive style conventions?
.
“Is your character a woman? Is she wearing a hat? Is her hair brown?” Application: Paired students role play a detective questioning a witness at a crime scene. The detective draws a caricature while the witness talks. Does the picture resemble the suspect? Justice is at stake, so describe the suspect clearly!
Students:
Increase gender saliency of referent, and practice a lot to proceduralize gender encoding (Dong et al, 2014).
Nowadays, we have Lonely Planet, Frommer’s, and Fodor’s to tell us where to ravel and what marvelous sights to see in the world, but 2,000 years ago there was no travel guide to the wonders of the ancient world—that is, until Antipater of Sidon, a Greek poet, put together a list of “must-see” places in about 140 B.C. For kids curious about his list of the Seven Wonders of the World, this issue is their ticket to a tour of these marvels of Mediterranean construction…. Contemporary travelers may draw upon multiple print and digital resources for information on the touristy sites most worth visiting. However, the ancient world had no such compendium until one was enumerated by the Greek poet Antipater of Sidon. For those interested in learning more about the aforementioned atlas and its Seven Wonders of the World, this issue will provide a gate into that vaunted realm of awe-inspiring architecture which encircled the Mediterranean Basin….
Further Ideas
ELL Level 3-5 Grammar and Speaking Class
Error: Chinese L1 permits omitting subject & object pronouns once the referent is established, leading to under-explicitness in English. Instruction: English requires an explicit topic chain which includes pronomial expressions in place of referent(s). Warm-Up: Teacher presents a biographical introductory paragraph and photo of a celebrity. Students share what they already know about the person. Students take turns reading sentences aloud. Students predict what information will be in the next paragraph(s). Application: Teacher provides the next paragraph(s) cut up into out-of-order sentences for students to organize. Students replace explicit nouns with personal, possessive, reflexive, and indefinite pronouns where appropriate. Students take turns reading successive sentences. Assessment: Do students put sentences into comprehensible order? Are pronouns inserted appropriately? Rational: Accessibility of the referent determines the type of noun phrase from zero anaphora to pronouns to long, definite noun phrases (Ryan, 2015).
We found…. —> Results show….
Application: Students rewrite a children’s scientific article for adults. When appropriate, use academic jargon, convert verb phrases from active to passive constructions, and exchange personal and possessive pronouns for relative and demonstrative pronouns.
Intermediate Activity
有 yǒu
Students:
ELL Level 9-10 Grammar and Speaking Class
Explicitly point out gender of referent (Dong et al, 2014) Drill & kill to automatize gender of animate referents (Dong et al, 2014) Balance clarity with economy of communication (Levinson, 2000) Provide opportunities for longer stretches of speech to practice planning how to express the message and varying the explicitness of noun phrase types (Ryan, 2015) Show how pronouns can increase efficiency and reduce frustration when substituted for explicit, redundant noun phrases (Levinson, 2000) Model how to use pronouns other than [we] in ordinary vs. academic writing vs. speaking (Lou, 2012) After learning prescriptive rules, teach native speakers’ common descriptive uses (Cowan, 2012) [they] for singular and plural generic or unknown referents [himself/herself/itself] reflexive pronoun after comparison words [her] vs. [she] object instead of subject pronoun non-traditional uses of gender-neutral or alternative pronouns for people
