The Acquisition Of English Third Person Singular Pronouns By Chinese EFL Students

Errors of English third person singular pronouns are obvious in the interlanguage of Chinese EFL students. This thesis presents the empirical evidence investigating the factors as to the difficulty of differentiating"he"from"she"orally by Chinese EFL students. The participants in the experiment consist of 40 Chinese college students in two English levels. Three major conclusions are obtained:i. The elementary-level students commit errors of using"he"as"she"in long-text speaking significantly more than they do in speaking short sentences. Thus the effect of situational context is observed. ii. In long-text speaking, the elementary-level students commit errors of using"he"as"she"significantly more than the advanced-level students do, which is due to the adoption of different communication strategies.iii. There is no striking difference in errors of using"she"as"he"in different situational contexts by Chinese EFL students of different levels. This fossilization is attributed to the transfer of training, overgeneralization and feedback given to the learners'speaking practice.