Pronouns

Students can learn about how pronoun choice is used as a language power technique in the standalone module on Address Forms and Pronoun Choice, or as a module in Critical Language Awareness: Language Power Techniques and English Grammar. Both are freely available as open educational resources. In addition, a video introducing the concept, a list of key points, and additional resources are available below.

Video

Key points of the module:

What are pronouns?

  • Pronouns are a key part of English grammar that allow us not to have to repeat nouns over and over.
  • A speaker’s (or writer’s) choice of address form can show respect, rapport, disrespect, or intimacy between the speaker and addressee.
  • As address forms, the pronouns we choose to use reflect our understandings of social relationships and our own identities

How has the use of pronouns changed over time, and why?

  • Address forms and pronoun uses have shifted throughout the history of English, sometimes because of shifts in how younger generations use language differently than older generations, and sometimes intentionally as the result of social protest.
  • Unlike many other languages, English no longer has a 2P pronoun system that can indicate unequal social relationships; respect and rapport are shown in other ways.

How can ‘you’ be used strategically?

  • The pronoun ‘you’ has unique power because it can be used both specifically and generically. An ambiguous use can be interpreted either way.
  • The careful use of a ‘generic you’ can cause ‘resonance’ in a listener or reader, especially in a context focused on general advice and proclamations.
  • The deliberate use of a ‘specific you’, especially in a context like advertisement or recruitment, can make a listener or reader feel directly spoken to and that they need to respond somehow.
  • ‘You’ is the subject, but is not stated, in commands. They can also be generic, specific, or ambiguous.

How can ‘we’ be used strategically?

  • The pronoun ‘we’ (along with us and ours) can be used strategically because it has both an inclusive and exclusive meaning.
  • Because it is perceived to imply inclusivity, the use of ‘inclusive we’ can appeal to solidarity and a sense of unity. It can make a plain folks appeal.
  • However, the use of ‘exclusive we’ implies division when used in ‘us vs. them’ language
  • First person plural pronouns (we/us/ours) are especially powerful when juxtaposed with the use of 3P plural pronouns (they/them/theirs) because it sets up a potential false dichotomy between the ingroup and an absent outgroup that cannot defend itself.

What about gender-neutral third person pronouns?

  • The pronoun ‘they’ has been used for singular referents for centuries in English. This usage has been rejected by strict grammarians who restrict it to plural usage, even though the pronoun ‘you’ has broadened its usage from only plural referents to also include singular referents.
  • There have been many attempts over the past few centuries by language reformers to create new gender-neutral singular third-person pronouns for humans.

Additional Resources

for teaching and learning about pronoun choice and address forms

General Resources

Journal article: Pennycook, A. (1994). The politics of pronouns. ELT Journal, 48 (2), 173–178. https://doi.org/10.1093/ELT%2F48.2.173 

  • While this article is for ESL teachers, all language instructors will benefit from its insights into how to teach grammar critically. In the article, Pennycook reflects on and critiques two prevalent paradigms of grammar instruction in applied linguistics, prescriptivism and descriptivism and presents a third approach, a critical discourse based one that has the potential help students understand the political nature of all grammatical choices we make. The article gives several examples of how such an approach would teach pronouns to students. 

Håkansson, J. (2012). The Use of Personal Pronouns in Political Speeches A comparative study of the pronominal choices of two American presidents. Unpublished Bachelor’s Thesis. Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:531167/fulltext01.pdf

  • This well-written 26-page thesis discusses how pronoun choices differed among speeches by George W Bush and Barack Obama to index different relationships in State of the Union addresses. It can serve as a good review of the topic. 

Address Forms:

Journal article: Schleicher, A. F. (1997). Using greetings to teach cultural understanding. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 334-343. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1997.tb05493.x

  • In the article, Schleicher (1997) argues that instead of just teaching forms of address and greetings in a superficial manner, one should try to teach them in a way that helps students unpack the cultural information about social dynamics that lies hidden behind them. A case study from instruction of L2 Yoruba is provided. 

Journal article: Szarkowska, A. (2010). On Teaching Forms of Address in Translation.  Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 1(5), 743-745. https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.1.5.743-745

  • While this article is for teaching translation between two languages, it could be adapted to teach address forms to expert and advanced users of English. Translating a conversation from popular movies requires translators to consider socio-pragmatic factors like status and relationship between the speakers, so that they represent the relationship correctly in the target language. To adapt it to expert users, the status of the speakers in relationship could be changed and students could reimagine the conversations – for example, how would the same information be exchanged in different contexts, in different genres, and among different status pairings (e.g. a doctor and patient, two friends, a boss and employee, etc.)

Video: Hanlon, C. (2020). Forms of Address. UCF COM PROF. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd7fpqQ2JXc

  • In this video (8:36), Professor Christine Hanlon of the U of Central Florida talks about the history and uses of common US American titles: Mr., Mrs., Ms., and others. 

Inclusive/Exclusive We:

Website: Nordquist, T. (2020) Exclusive “We” Definition and Examples. Thought Co. https://www.thoughtco.com/exclusive-we-in-grammar-1690582

Journal article: Uzum, B., Yazan, B. & Selvi, A. F. (2017) Inclusive and exclusive use of we in for American textbooks for multicultural teacher education. Language Teaching Research, 22(5).  https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168817718. Also available here [accessed Sep 12 2022]

Us vs. Them:

Video: Lutrell, A. (2020). Social Identity Theory: The Science of ‘Us’ vs. ‘Them’. Psychology of Prejudice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGd_4En1z34

  • This video does a good job of explaining the social psychological theory called ‘social identity theory’ which explains various group behaviors like in-group and out-group divisions, inter-group conflicts, tribalism etc. 

Newsmagazine opinion piece: Albright, M. (2021). ‘Us vs. Them’ Thinking is Tearing America Apart. But Here’s Why I’m still Hopeful for the Future. Time Magazine Online. 15 Jan 2021. https://time.com/5929843/madeleine-albright-us-vs-them-thinking/

  • This article explains how tribalism in public thinking is creating immense divisions in the contemporary American social fabric. However, the article presents hope in the idea of constitutional allegiance, as something that could bring these different groups together.  

Political organization opinion piece: Axworthy, T. (2017). We and Them: The Politics of Inclusion Versus the Politics of Resentment. InterAction Council. https://www.interactioncouncil.org/publications/we-and-them-politics-inclusion-versus-politics-resentment

  • This article maps out the rise of populism across the globe in our times and shows how it is tied to ‘us’ versus ‘them’ thinking. 

Generic You:

Website: Wiesen, G. (2022). What is the generic you? Languagehumanities.org. https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-the-generic-you.htm

  • This webpage provides a clear explanation of the generic you and its formal equivalent, the indefinite pronoun ‘one’. 

Journal article: Orvell, A., Cross, E. & Gelman, S. (2018). That’s how “you” do it: Generic you expresses norms in early childhood. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 165, 183-195. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5660640/

  • In this research paper, the authors explore childrens’ acquisition of generic ‘you’ and make interesting claims about when and how they do it. This would be useful to anyone interested in understand how socio-linguistic norms condition childrens’ perceptions about life and social reality. 

Gendered Pronouns

Video: Above the Noise (2022). Why gender neutral pronouns are nothing new. Above the Noise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TE_H45zxmI

  • This video provides a good overview of what gender pronouns are and how they have evolved over history. It could be a useful multimodal aid for teachers wanting to introduce their students to the current political controversies about gender pronouns. 

Opinion piece: Mandell, H. (2018). Gender Politics and Male Dominance – In Kindergarten. WBUR Cognoscenti. Accessed 11 Sept 2022 at: https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/10/23/politics-of-pronouns-hinda-mandell 

  • In this article, Mandell (2018) reflects on how her child’s teacher was inadvertently giving male pronouns precedence over female pronouns while teaching reading and pronunciation skills to kids at a Boston kindergarten – something the author feels is representative of a systemic issue that needs larger transformation. It could be useful in teacher-training courses, especially for teachers at the K-12 levels to reflect on how their curricular decisions impact students’ understanding of pronouns as early as kindergarten. 

Journal article: Rovano, M. W. (1991). Preparing for a Firefighter’s World: How to Teach Nonsexist Language. The English Journal, 80(8), 59–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/818688

  • In this article, Roavno (1991) gives a helpful lesson plan on how to encourage students to critique grammatical choices that seem generic or gender neutral but are actually masculine and exclude other genders. 

Video: ADP (2021). Best Practices for using Pronouns in the Workplace. ADP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K23QwzM7Otw&ab_channel=ADP 

  • This human resources video sensitizes employees about the the need for using appropriate pronouns at the workplace. It could be useful for teachers teaching pronouns in an L2 English for professional purposes class.