Understanding The Pronoun Paradigm In An L2 Context: The Malaysian Experience

It is noted that second language (L2) learners of English in the Malaysian classroom have problems with the pronoun paradigm in English. For example, they do not make a gender distinction between the forms of he/she and him/her in English. This study aims to investigate this phenomenon of pronoun use and will attempt also to link their use to the influence of their first languages, that is Malay, Chinese and Tamil. The data obtained will lead to information regarding their L2 knowledge that could be used to describe the problems encountered by the learners. The information will also be relevant to language teachers who need to be aware of cross linguistic differences between the first and second languages of the learner. Twenty-four learners of L2 English (12 Malays, 6 Chinese and 6 Indians) were randomly selected to provide oral input for the study. They are provided with pictures as a stimulus and are asked to relate the story depicted in the pictures. This task is recorded and subsequently transcribed to reveal the target structures. The analysis of the data describes the forms, meanings, and uses of the grammatical resources pertinent to the structure under study which are available on the part of the L2 learners