Pronouns and Inclusiveness in Learner Language : Epicene Pronouns in the Writings of Finnish Upper Secondary School Students
Heinonen, Benjamin (2024-04-24)
Pronouns and Inclusiveness in Learner Language : Epicene Pronouns in the Writings of Finnish Upper Secondary School Students
Heinonen, Benjamin
(24.04.2024)
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
suljettu
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024042622442
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024042622442
Tiivistelmä
In my study, I examine the English epicene pronoun use of Finnish upper secondary school students as part of inclusive language practices. The materials come from the Topling Corpus, a collection of writings by Finnish upper secondary school students. The search words for epicene pronouns in the data were they, he, he or she and she. After the search, the antecedents were found and categorized. The results showed that they was the most commonly used epicene pronoun in the corpus data. Indefinite and definite noun phrases were used the most out of the antecedent categories. CEFR level seemed to not affect epicene pronoun use significantly, although the lowest level students used them the least. The popularity of singular they indicates that gender is unimportant in the relationship between pronoun and antecedent for Finnish speakers. Additionally, the small number of generic he use suggests that traditional grammar rules are not as prescribed as before. Finnish English learners prefer to use they with less individuated antecedents and opt to use he with more individuated ones. Furthermore, pronoun use may be affected by the teacher’s views on the topic as well as textbook explanations. However, the results of this study seem to indicate that teachers had little effect on epicene pronoun use in the data. Finnish students understand the use of English epicene pronouns and the use of they as a singular pronoun has reached Finland. It is important that students understand as well as acquire inclusive English.