The man_i said she_i would return: English pronominal gender in native Mandarin speaking learners, examined within a comprehensive theory of language acquisition

Author

Rachelle Felzien, Eastern Michigan University

Date Approved

2011

Degree Type

Open Access Senior Honors Thesis

Department or School

English Language and Literature

Abstract

The project that led to this honors thesis was begun in the Fall semester of 2010, in a graduate-level psycholinguistics course taught by Dr. T. Daniel Seely. At that time, I was intensively studying Mandarin and had been living with a native speaker who was also in the process of learning English. The types of speech errors in her English, particularly the ones that appeared to have resulted from influence from her native Mandarin, interested me greatly. One of the most striking errors that she tended to make, however, was mis-matching English gender-marked pronouns with the gender of the referent. That is, she would frequently say things like The man driving the bus said she could bring me to Ann Arbor, or I love Lady Gaga, his style is so interesting.

Recommended Citation

Felzien, Rachelle, "The man_i said she_i would return: English pronominal gender in native Mandarin speaking learners, examined within a comprehensive theory of language acquisition" (2011). Senior Honors Theses and Projects. 275.
https://commons.emich.edu/honors/275