Problem Areas in Teaching Personal Pronouns

Abstract

By the time a Malay pupil reaches the Lower Secondary School he should be able to use pronouns correctly if he has mastered what the Primary English Syllabus sets out to achieve. But very often in Form One and even when he has reached Form Three, he still finds difficulty in handling pronouns. The pupil who does not speak English other than in the classroom is the main culprit. He confuses the pronouns when speaking or writing English because the form that pronouns take in his mother tongue may differ from that in English. The first language interference is evident in varying degrees at various stages in the pupil’s learning of the second language.