Humanising Language Teaching
Year 4; Issue 5; September 02

Exploring Pronouns

Time: 30- 45 minutes

Purpose: to deepen student awareness of this very rich area of language

Lesson Outline:

1. Tell the students you have two different questionnaires to offer them in the area of pronouns. The first one deals with their in-depth, psychological relationship to pronouns in English and in their mother tongue. The second deals with the way native speakers use pronouns socio-linguistically.
   Ask them to choose which questionnaire they wish to work on.

   Gather the Questionnaire 1 people into one part of the room facing away from the Questionnaire 2 people.

2. Ask for a volunteer from each group to sit in front of their group and very quietly dictate the questionnaire to the group.

3. Within each group, ask the students to work in group of three or four and give their answers to the questions

4. Ask the students to now work with a person from the other group and share their impression of both questionnaires.

5. Allow time for the students to ask you about any language doubts they still have.

Questionnaire 1

• How much attention do I pay to pronouns and what do they mean to me?
• Do the differences in sound between the pronouns in English and those is my mother tongue affect me, and if so, how?
• English pronouns are very short words. Would I prefer more syllables for these very important words?
• Which of these words wo (Mandarin Chinese) ben(Turkish) watashi (Japanese) would best express my sense of myself ?
• In English , which of these words most adequately expresses central me-ness myself, I , me? And which of the corresponding words in my mother tongue do this best?
• When I say he, what images and feelings does this conjure up? Does the word for he in my mother tongue provoke the same images and feelings as the English word does?
• And what about she, both in my mother tongue and in English?
• Some one once said that we is the most civilised of pronouns? Do I agree?
• In English they say you to everyone, old and young, high and low, one or many. How do I feel about this?
• What do you see and feel when you hear the word they?

Questionnaire 2

• What general thoughts have you had about pronouns as one area of the language?
• Does English have the same range of pronouns as you have in your mother tongue?
• Does English use pronouns more or less than your mother tongue?
• What differences are you aware of between
  Jane and me,
  Jane and I,
  me and Jane?
• What kind of speaker, do you reckon, will say: If you have any trouble ring John or myself.
• English speakers use you and one to indicate people in general. What differences do you sense between these two terms?
• How do you feel about they being used to refer to a singular noun as in " the male dancer swings to the right; they then take two steps back with their arms out to the sides. ?
• In what sort of situation might you hear "Now we will do all we can to get better, won't we?
• Do you know anybody who typically says " Yes, and we need to get all this lot sorted" really meaning that the person she is speaking to should do the work?
• In your experience, how long does it take people who leave a job to stop saying we about their old company, school etc… -
• How do you feel about the UK habit of referring to a very small baby as it?