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Abstract： Pronouns are a group of most widely-used words in English. And they are also easily common misused vocabulary. A very effective method of teaching pronouns through action is introduced in this essay.
It seems very essential in learning English to establish a solid foundation， in which pronouns are very commonly used. According to the survey， most Chinese teachers teach pronouns either by explaining in Chinese， like “he” is a subject and refers to a male or by listing many sentences as examples on the chalkboard， which is teacher-centered with little involving of students. The new way introduced in this essay is very practical and efficient and it can help us solve the problem.
1. Introduction
Scientists discover that people’s left mind works when people listen， while people’s right mind works when people act. People internalize quickly by using both minds at the same time. When using this approach， students can rapidly understand and use pronouns in chunks rather than word-by-word； it also can give students long-term retention that lasts weeks， months… even years； still it makes learning another language thoroughly enjoyable.
2. The teacher will need the following materials：
Picture cards for example： occupations （nurse， teacher， banker， etc.）， places （park， school， bank， bakery， etc.）， animals （dog， female lion， cat， etc.）， a doll， a key， a pencil， a pen， a book， an apple， a fork.
3. Illustrations of learning pronouns through actions：
3.1 Object Pronouns （me， you， him， her， it， us， them）
T- Give me the paper. （The teacher models by putting a doll in a student’s hand and gesturing for the student to give the doll to the instructor. While you are gesturing， say again. “Give me the doll.”）
S- Perform the action.
T- Give the female lion to him. （Again， the teacher may model by placing a female lion in a student’s hand and gesturing for the student to give the female lion to anther student who is a male. While you are action this out， you may say again. “Give the book to him.”）
S- Perform the action.
T- Give her （the female lion） to me. （If the student is uncertain or slow to respond， act out the direction while you repeat the utterance. “Give her to me.” Continue to model each direction until the students are responding rapidly and with confidence.）
S- Perform the action.
T- This is a key. Touch it.
S- Performs the action. T- Smile at them.
S- Performs the action.
T- Smile at us.
S- Perform the action.
T- Give a pencil to me and to him.
S- Performs the action.
T- Give him a book and give her a pen.
S- Perform the action.
T- Touch me on the arm， and then throw an apple to her.
S- Performs the action.
T- Hit him and dance with her.
S- Perform the action.
The teacher recombines and forms new commands with object pronouns. Examples of recombinations would be the following utterances from the teacher to individual students：
·Put it on his chair.
·Touch it on the leg.
·Give her a peach.
·Tell him to tell her to give it to me.
·Walk to her and give her a hug.
·Throw the book to them.
·Take the fork from him and give it to me.
·Write him a message on the chalkboard.
·Tell them to give us their pencils.
·Run to her and take her book from her.
·Frown at me and then sit on the front table.
·Sit on the floor and then smile at it.
·Sing him a song， and then pat him on the back.
·These are my keys. Throw them to me.
3.2. Subject Pronouns （I， you， he， she， it， we， they）
T- I am a teacher.
If I am a teacher， give me the book. （Model for the students.）
S- Performs the action.
T- You are a boy.
If you are a boy， shake my hand. （Model for the students.）
S- Perform the action.
T- He is a student.
Touch his arm if he is a student. （Model for the students.）
S- Perform the action.
T- She is a woman.
If she is a woman， give her the book. （Model for the students.）
S- Performs the action.
T- The book is green. It is green.
Touch it if it is green.（Model for the students.）
S- Perform the action.
T- We are students.
Turn off the lights if we are students. （Model for the students）
S- Perform the action.
T- They are listening. （Teacher points to a group of student who are listening.）
Wave to them if they are listening. （Models）
S- Performs the action.
The teacher recombines and forms new commands with subject pronouns.
More With Subject Pronouns
（From magazines， cut out pictures of people in different occupations and glue each picture to a piece of stiff cardboard.）
T- She is a doctor. Run to the window if she is a doctor. （Sally has the doctor card. The teacher gives the command to Martha while pointing to Sally.） S- Performs the command.
T- The forks are on the table. If they are on the table， please put them on the floor.
S- Performs the action.
T- These are books. Touch them if they are books.
S- Performs the action.
T- Run to the back desk. It is blue. If it is green， sit on it. If it is blue， sit under it.
S- Perform the action.
T- She is a baker. Touch her if she is a baker.
S- Performs the action.
T- He is a banker. Sit on the floor if he is a banker.
S- Perform the action.
T- He is a teacher. If he a teacher？
S- Expected Response： “Yes” or “Yes， he is a teacher.”
T- We are people. Are we people？
S- Expected Response： “Yes” or “Yes， we are people.”
T- Bill， write your given name on the chalkboard. He is writing on the chalkboard. What is he doing？
S- Expected Response： “Writing” or “Writing on the chalkboard” or “He is writing on the chalkboard.”
3.3 Possessive Pronouns （Adjectives） （my， your， his， her， our， their）
As usual， the instructor communicates meaning by modeling – that is， utter a new command， then act it out either alone or with a few students. When students are responding rapidly and confidently， discontinue the modeling. You then utter a command and individual students act by themselves.
T- Touch my arm.
Point to your nose.
Hit my foot.
Kick your leg.
Push my foot.
Smile at your hand.
Touch his hand.
Kick her foot.
Push his arm.
Point to her head.
Smile at his foot.
Touch her hand.
Wave to our class.
Touch our chalkboard.
Touch our chalkboard.
Touch our window.
Smile at their teacher.
Kick their teacher in the foot.
Touch my arm， his leg and then your foot.
Smile at her book， wave to his pen and then hit your hand. Shake her hand， shake his hand and then wave to their teacher. The teacher continues recombining constituents to create new commands using possessive pronouns. For example.
·Put my keys on his head.
·Throw her pen to him.
·Give his book to her.
·Wave to her arm and then hit her.
·Push her desk to the window.
·Kick the desk’s leg. Kick its leg.
·Bill， hop to the door. If he hops to the door， grab his arm.
·Put their pencils on the floor. Take my pen and give it to Jim. ·Run to the door and then put Steve on his head.
·Shake his hand and then leave their classroom.
·Put their books on his desk.
·This is our classroom. Leave the room if it is our classroom.
·Touch my foot and then smile at me.
·Throw my papers on his desk.
·Push her desk in back of his desk.
·Wave to her purse and then put it on his foot.
4. Conclusion
Learning pronouns through actions can make students change the ingrain attitude of boring grammar class， or rather making them enjoy the class. They build their confidence by using the right English， which may help them in further study.
Reference：
1. Finocchiaro. Mary. English as a Second Language： From Theory to Practice. New York： Regents. 1974
2. Asher， James J. And Price， Ben S. "The Learning Strategy of the Total Physical Response"， 1967
3. Asher， James J， Learning Another Language Through Actions， 1993
作者简介：霍鑫红，性别：女，出生年月：1978.10.13，所在单位：大连商务职业学院， 职称：讲师，研究方向：英语，教育。
It seems very essential in learning English to establish a solid foundation， in which pronouns are very commonly used. According to the survey， most Chinese teachers teach pronouns either by explaining in Chinese， like “he” is a subject and refers to a male or by listing many sentences as examples on the chalkboard， which is teacher-centered with little involving of students. The new way introduced in this essay is very practical and efficient and it can help us solve the problem.
1. Introduction
Scientists discover that people’s left mind works when people listen， while people’s right mind works when people act. People internalize quickly by using both minds at the same time. When using this approach， students can rapidly understand and use pronouns in chunks rather than word-by-word； it also can give students long-term retention that lasts weeks， months… even years； still it makes learning another language thoroughly enjoyable.
2. The teacher will need the following materials：
Picture cards for example： occupations （nurse， teacher， banker， etc.）， places （park， school， bank， bakery， etc.）， animals （dog， female lion， cat， etc.）， a doll， a key， a pencil， a pen， a book， an apple， a fork.
3. Illustrations of learning pronouns through actions：
3.1 Object Pronouns （me， you， him， her， it， us， them）
T- Give me the paper. （The teacher models by putting a doll in a student’s hand and gesturing for the student to give the doll to the instructor. While you are gesturing， say again. “Give me the doll.”）
S- Perform the action.
T- Give the female lion to him. （Again， the teacher may model by placing a female lion in a student’s hand and gesturing for the student to give the female lion to anther student who is a male. While you are action this out， you may say again. “Give the book to him.”）
S- Perform the action.
T- Give her （the female lion） to me. （If the student is uncertain or slow to respond， act out the direction while you repeat the utterance. “Give her to me.” Continue to model each direction until the students are responding rapidly and with confidence.）
S- Perform the action.
T- This is a key. Touch it.
S- Performs the action. T- Smile at them.
S- Performs the action.
T- Smile at us.
S- Perform the action.
T- Give a pencil to me and to him.
S- Performs the action.
T- Give him a book and give her a pen.
S- Perform the action.
T- Touch me on the arm， and then throw an apple to her.
S- Performs the action.
T- Hit him and dance with her.
S- Perform the action.
The teacher recombines and forms new commands with object pronouns. Examples of recombinations would be the following utterances from the teacher to individual students：
·Put it on his chair.
·Touch it on the leg.
·Give her a peach.
·Tell him to tell her to give it to me.
·Walk to her and give her a hug.
·Throw the book to them.
·Take the fork from him and give it to me.
·Write him a message on the chalkboard.
·Tell them to give us their pencils.
·Run to her and take her book from her.
·Frown at me and then sit on the front table.
·Sit on the floor and then smile at it.
·Sing him a song， and then pat him on the back.
·These are my keys. Throw them to me.
3.2. Subject Pronouns （I， you， he， she， it， we， they）
T- I am a teacher.
If I am a teacher， give me the book. （Model for the students.）
S- Performs the action.
T- You are a boy.
If you are a boy， shake my hand. （Model for the students.）
S- Perform the action.
T- He is a student.
Touch his arm if he is a student. （Model for the students.）
S- Perform the action.
T- She is a woman.
If she is a woman， give her the book. （Model for the students.）
S- Performs the action.
T- The book is green. It is green.
Touch it if it is green.（Model for the students.）
S- Perform the action.
T- We are students.
Turn off the lights if we are students. （Model for the students）
S- Perform the action.
T- They are listening. （Teacher points to a group of student who are listening.）
Wave to them if they are listening. （Models）
S- Performs the action.
The teacher recombines and forms new commands with subject pronouns.
More With Subject Pronouns
（From magazines， cut out pictures of people in different occupations and glue each picture to a piece of stiff cardboard.）
T- She is a doctor. Run to the window if she is a doctor. （Sally has the doctor card. The teacher gives the command to Martha while pointing to Sally.） S- Performs the command.
T- The forks are on the table. If they are on the table， please put them on the floor.
S- Performs the action.
T- These are books. Touch them if they are books.
S- Performs the action.
T- Run to the back desk. It is blue. If it is green， sit on it. If it is blue， sit under it.
S- Perform the action.
T- She is a baker. Touch her if she is a baker.
S- Performs the action.
T- He is a banker. Sit on the floor if he is a banker.
S- Perform the action.
T- He is a teacher. If he a teacher？
S- Expected Response： “Yes” or “Yes， he is a teacher.”
T- We are people. Are we people？
S- Expected Response： “Yes” or “Yes， we are people.”
T- Bill， write your given name on the chalkboard. He is writing on the chalkboard. What is he doing？
S- Expected Response： “Writing” or “Writing on the chalkboard” or “He is writing on the chalkboard.”
3.3 Possessive Pronouns （Adjectives） （my， your， his， her， our， their）
As usual， the instructor communicates meaning by modeling – that is， utter a new command， then act it out either alone or with a few students. When students are responding rapidly and confidently， discontinue the modeling. You then utter a command and individual students act by themselves.
T- Touch my arm.
Point to your nose.
Hit my foot.
Kick your leg.
Push my foot.
Smile at your hand.
Touch his hand.
Kick her foot.
Push his arm.
Point to her head.
Smile at his foot.
Touch her hand.
Wave to our class.
Touch our chalkboard.
Touch our chalkboard.
Touch our window.
Smile at their teacher.
Kick their teacher in the foot.
Touch my arm， his leg and then your foot.
Smile at her book， wave to his pen and then hit your hand. Shake her hand， shake his hand and then wave to their teacher. The teacher continues recombining constituents to create new commands using possessive pronouns. For example.
·Put my keys on his head.
·Throw her pen to him.
·Give his book to her.
·Wave to her arm and then hit her.
·Push her desk to the window.
·Kick the desk’s leg. Kick its leg.
·Bill， hop to the door. If he hops to the door， grab his arm.
·Put their pencils on the floor. Take my pen and give it to Jim. ·Run to the door and then put Steve on his head.
·Shake his hand and then leave their classroom.
·Put their books on his desk.
·This is our classroom. Leave the room if it is our classroom.
·Touch my foot and then smile at me.
·Throw my papers on his desk.
·Push her desk in back of his desk.
·Wave to her purse and then put it on his foot.
4. Conclusion
Learning pronouns through actions can make students change the ingrain attitude of boring grammar class， or rather making them enjoy the class. They build their confidence by using the right English， which may help them in further study.
Reference：
1. Finocchiaro. Mary. English as a Second Language： From Theory to Practice. New York： Regents. 1974
2. Asher， James J. And Price， Ben S. "The Learning Strategy of the Total Physical Response"， 1967
3. Asher， James J， Learning Another Language Through Actions， 1993
作者简介：霍鑫红，性别：女，出生年月：1978.10.13，所在单位：大连商务职业学院， 职称：讲师，研究方向：英语，教育。