中国二语学习者英语单数通性代词的选择:一项混合研究

The Choice of English Singular Epicene Pronoun by Chinese Learners:A Mixed Study

代词选择牵涉性别歧视这一敏感的社会问题。前人研究在中国二语学习者(简称中国学习者)是否习得了英语性别中立的单数通性代词singular THEY上存在分歧。我们通过心理学行为实验和口语语料库分析互证的混合研究范式,发现中国大学生仅少数采用了性别中立的单数通性代词形式,大多数仍表现出性别偏见。他们的选择受到社会性别和先行语限定类型这两个已知因素的影响,反映出学习者性别平等意识较弱、正确形式输入不够、二语代词加工能力不足等方面的问题。在教学中增加singular THEY的输入,可以促进中国学习者在英语口语中使用无性别偏见的通性代词,充分反映性别平等的社会进步立场。

Pronoun selection reflects the speaker's gender attitude,which is a sensitive social issue these days.Previous studies disagree on whether Chinese EFL Learners have learned the gender-neutral epicene pronoun singular THEY.Through mutual verification of behavioral experiments and spoken corpus analysis,we find that only a minority of Chinese college students use gender-neutral singular pronouns,and the majority still show gender bias.Their choices are influenced by two known factors:social gender and antecedent restriction,reflecting learners'weak awareness of gender equality,insufficient input of correct forms,and inadequate cognitive skills in processing second language pronouns.Increasing the input of singular THEY in teaching can encourage Chinese EFL learners to use generic pronouns without gender bias in spoken English and fully reflect gender equality and social progress.