A Study on Korean College EFL Learners’ Perception of English Epicene Pronouns
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This study aims to investigate how South Korean college students perceive English epicene pronouns. More specifically, the article examines how specific nouns including occupational terms influence the selection of epicene pronouns and students’ understanding of singular they. The article discusses the way EFL learners handle the lexical gap of third person singular pronouns particularly when the gender of the antecedent is not clear. A survey questionnaire and qualitative interviews were conducted. The findings show that in terms of overall usage, he or she is the most preferred epicene pronoun, followed by singular they and generic he, whereas generic she is the least frequently used. In the case of epicene nouns and occupational terms, the results indicated similarities to the overall frequency. However, singular they was used the most in the case of indefinite pronouns. This suggests that English should not only be taught formally but also practically in its everyday contemporary usage.
Abstract
This study aims to investigate how South Korean college students perceive English epicene pronouns. More specifically, the article examines how specific nouns including occupational terms influence the selection of epicene pronouns and students’ understanding of singular they. The article discusses the way EFL learners handle the lexical gap of third person singular pronouns particularly when the gender of the antecedent is not clear. A survey questionnaire and qualitative interviews were conducted. The findings show that in terms of overall usage, he or she is the most preferred epicene pronoun, followed by singular they and generic he, whereas generic she is the least frequently used. In the case of epicene nouns and occupational terms, the results indicated similarities to the overall frequency. However, singular they was used the most in the case of indefinite pronouns. This suggests that English should not only be taught formally but also practically in its everyday contemporary usage.