Pronoun

English should adopt they as a third person epicene pronoun, also coined a gender neutral, gender-fair, or common-gender pronoun (Adami 281, Baranoski 379). Generic he has persisted since the 1850 Act of Parliament that declared it so, but is he truly generic (Zuber and Reed 519)? The use of he is sexist, excluding females and people who do not fall neatly within the male-female gender binary (Strahan 17). English also lacks a third person pronoun for instances when a person’s gender is unknown.…

The idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts is a theme that runs through Salisbury's The Pronoun “I” is Becoming Obsolete, Hurley's The Perils of Pollution in Steel City, and Turner's American Individualism and Structural Injustice. The individual parts are often not able to stand alone, but together they form a comprehensive whole. Some groups are exploited, but the gestalt group achieves more together than they would apart. The majority and minorities can achieve more…

Almost all cultures in the world are set up within a binary system. These cultures force people to conform to either adherently masculine characteristics to show they are male or adherently feminine characteristics to show that they are in fact female. From the time a person is born they are taught ways in which they should act in order to conform to their culture’s ideas on their role based on their gender. Anyone who does not conform to these characteristics is chastised and marked as being a…

Skill acquisition theory focuses on how people learn a skill and the advancement of that skill. (DeKeyser, 2007) .According to Lightbown and Spada (2013), second language acquisition is seen as a build up of knowledge that eventually becomes automatised. In addition, McLaughlin (1990) views language acquisition as a type of motor skill and that language acquisition is related to learning a skill like driving a car or riding a bike. Skill acquisition theory claims that we all acquire skills in…

about three years into high school, a thought lingered around; who am I? It started when Rebecca (Randy) came into one’s life. They were born biologically a female yet identifies as gender fluid, thus having two names and having to use gender-neutral pronouns (they/them). Gender fluid is “referring to a gender identity that changes with time and/or situation as opposed to a fixed sex-role or gender queer expression.” (Winter, Claire R. 2010) In other words, being a gender fluid individual can be…

Gender equality is a very hot topic these days as women demand equal rights in the workplace and are even running for President. This fight for equality is even in the way people speak and write. The English language is increasingly becoming gender neutral in an attempt to be sexually unbiased toward women. However, the overuse of gender neutral terms is quite comical. To write or speak an already complicated language in a consistent and unbiased way is, if not impossible, futile. Neither…

In Defense of People and Language: A critical analysis essay Gender equality is a very hot topic these days as women demand equal rights in the workplace and are even running for President. This fight for equality can even be seen in the way we speak and write. Cyra McFadden, the author of “In Defense of Gender”, writes about how the English language is increasingly becoming gender neutral in an attempt to be sexually unbiased toward women. However, the overuse of gender neutral terms is…

Gender, the behavior and thoughts surrounding people of different sexes, and sexuality, the range of behaviors, desires, and beliefs related to erotic physical contact, were a reoccurring theme within the film, Viva!. Set in a Cuban town, the film follows Jesús, a young male aspiring to be a Drag Queen, through his journey to obtain a spot on the stage. Through the trials and tribulations of his journey, each interaction with the other characters and events that happened, illuminate a…

Gender-biased vs. gender-neutral education Gender roles remain strong in education, as children are often treated and taught differently depending on their biological gender. Not only does this promote the gender gap and stereotypical gender roles, but it also tends to exclude those who do not identify as their assigned or any gender. Lately, these issues have been recognized and addressed and alternatives are being thought of. Some small steps towards gender-neutrality have also been taken.…

grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation. Personal Pronouns, in particular, can be considered as the easiest and the most basic grammar point at the first stage of learning English, but learners cannot avoid making mistakes when translating them into another language, particularly Vietnamese. Therefore, I would like to present a contrastive analysis of personal pronouns between English and Vietnamese. A Contrastive Analysis of Personal Pronouns in English and Vietnamese.…