SalohyTojoM ENS M1 16

UNIVERSITE D’ANTANANARIVO
----------------------------------
ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE
DEPARTEMENT DE FORMATION INITIALE LITTERAIRE
Centre d’ Etude et de la Recherche en Langue et Lettres Anglaises
IMPROVING THE TEACHING OF THE

ENGLISH PERSONAL PRONOUNS TO
MALAGASY PUPILS OF “CLASSE DE
SECONDE”
CAPEN DISSERTATION
By
SALOHY Tojo Mampionona
Dissertation advisor
MANORO Régis : Maître de conférences

Academic year:2015-2016
23rd December 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to the following people in that this
CAPEN dissertation would have neither been completed nor ready for public presentation
unless they shared a great deal of help to us.
Firstly, we are extremely indebted to Mrs RAKOTOMENA Norosoa for her advice
and for having accepted to be the president of the jury.
Secondly we would like to express our deep gratitude to Mr TEFINJANAHARY

Tantelinirina who kindly offered many helpful and positive criticisms for the final version of
this research work.
Thirdly, we owe a special debt of gratitude to Mr MANORO Régis, our dissertation

advisor, for his constant assistance, suggestions and patience which have helped us to achieve
this end-of –study dissertation
Our sincere thanks are also due to all the teachers in the English Department of the
ENS for all the knowledge we have acquired and obtained from them.
Still, we would also like to express our gratitude to all those who in a way or another
contributed to the realization of this work.
Last but not least, we are extremely grateful to all friends and family members and
especially for NOEL Andrée, my aunt, NOEL Guislaine DUFOUR, my cousin and
NIRINASOA Tsiry, my husband, for their patience and encouragement, their constant moral
and material support.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0. INTRODUCTION
0.1.RATIONALE OF THE CHOICE OF THE TOPIC 1

0.2. OBJECTIVES, SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 2
0.3.STRUCTURE OF THE WORK 4
PART I
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
0.1.INTRODUCTION 5
1.1. STUDY OF THE ENGLISH PERSONAL PRONOUNS 5
1.1.1.DEFINITIONS OF TERMS 5
1.1.1.1. Person 5
1.1.1.2. Pronoun 7
1.1.1.3. Gender 10
1.1.1.4. Number 12
1.1.2.FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS 14
1.1.3. USES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS 15
1.1.4. MEANINGS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS 17
1.2. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 19
1.2.0. GENERALITIES 19
1.2.1. SUMMARY INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH 19
1.2.2. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATIVE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 20
1.2.2.1. Presentation 20
i
1.2.2.2. Practice 21
1.2.2.3. Production 22
CONCLUSION TO PART I
PART II
THE TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH

PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN MALAGASY
LYCEES: THE CURRENT SITUATIONS
2.0.INTRODUCTION 25
2.1.A QUICK GLANCE ON THE OFFICIAL SYLLABUS 25
2.2. THE QUESTIONNAIRE 26
2.2.0. PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH PROCEDURES 26
2.2.1. CONCLUSION TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE INVESTIGATION 36
2.3. CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS 37
2.3.0. INTRODUCTION 37
2.3.1. REPORT OF THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS 37
2.3.2. CONCLUSION TO THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS 62
2.4. EVALUATION OF THE STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN THE USE OF THE ENGLISH

PERSONAL PRONOUNS 62
2.4.0. INTRODUCTION 62
2.4.1. TEST N°1 63
2.4.2. TEST N°2 64
2.4.3. TEST N°3 66
2.4.4. TEST N°4 68
2.4.5. CONCLUSION TO THE STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN THE USE OF THE ENGLISH

ii
PART III
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE

TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH PERSONAL
PRONOUNS TO MALAGASY LYCEE PUPILS
3.0. INTRODUCTION 72
3.1. WHAT TO TEACH 72
3.2. HOW TO TEACH 72
3.3. LANGUAGE TO BE USED 73
3.4. INTEGRATED LESSON PLANS BASED ON THE TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH

3.4.1. EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLANS 73
3.4.1.1. Lesson plan N°1 73
3.4.2. NON-EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLANS 87
CONCLUSION TO PART III
GENERAL CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY 101
Appendices
iii
ABSTRACT
This dissertation proposes ways how the teaching of the English personal pronouns could be
improved in order to help teachers in their day-to-day teaching but also lycée learners of
“classe de seconde” in the process of their structural mastery and use of this grammar point.
The research work has been carried out following a three part plan:
§ The first part constitutes theoretical basis of the study and deals, on the one hand ,
with a theoretical analysis of the forms, meanings and uses of the English personal
pronouns and on the other hand, the basic principles of the communicative
teaching of grammar, preceded by a summary presentation of the communicative
approach to language teaching;
§ The second part is concerned with field work and contains the investigation , by
means of a questionnaire and classroom observations that we have carried out in a
few lycées in Madagascar with a view of finding out the present ‘state of affairs’
concerning the current teaching of the English personal pronouns in our lycées;
§ The third part is practical and contains the teaching investigations that we put
forward as our contribution to bring about some improvement to the teaching of
the grammar point dealt with in this study to lycée pupils of “classe de seconde”.
KEY WORDS:
Personal pronouns- communicative approach- language teaching- grammar etc…..
OTHER DETAILS: List of abbreviations, Appendices
Number of pages: 103
Number of tables, charts and diagrams: 22

ABBREVIATIONS
-T : Teacher
-SS : Students
-S : Student
-BB : Blackboard
-ELT : English Language Teaching
-CAPEN : Certificat d’Aptitude Pédagogique de l’Ecole Normale
-ENS : Ecole Normale Supérieure

0-GENERAL INTRODUCTION
0.1.RATIONALE OF THE CHOICE OF THE TOPIC
This CAPEN dissertation is concerned with “Improving the teaching of the English
personal pronouns to Malagasy pupils of “Classe de Seconde”.
There are several reasons which have decided us to choose this research topic but we shall
mention only a few of these.
Firstly, we have chosen to devote this research work on grammarbecause the various
lectures that we have had on linguistics, grammar and ELT methodology at the
EcoleNormaleSupérieure have raised our awareness of the complexity and the
multidimensionality of human language at the heart of which there is grammar. Indeed, “ It can
be said that grammar is the very organizing body of human language, the backbone without
which no living creature can stand up” and that it is “the structural patterns and rules of
grammar which give shape and coherence to disorganized tangle of sound and sense” (
NEWBY 1987, quoted by RAVELOARISOA 2000).
Secondly, since the 1970’s, there has been a rapid growth and development of the
communicative approach to language teaching , especially in the teaching of the English as a
foreign language, an approach which came as a reaction to the previous dominant structural
language teaching methods for which “ the target language learning is the mastery of structures”
(RANJEVARIVONY 1994). However, the adoption of this new approach does not mean a total
rejection of the teaching of grammar for, as LITTLEWOOD (1981) points out: “ A
communicative approach opens up a wider perspective on language. In particular, it makes us
consider language not onlyin terms of structures (grammar and vocabulary), but also in terms of
the communicative functions that it performs. In other words, we begin to look not onlyat
language at language forms but also that at what people do with these forms when they want to
communicate with each other (…). A communicative approach opens a wider perspective on
language learning. In particular, it makes us more strongly aware that it is not enough to teach
learners how to manipulate the structures of the foreign language. They must also develop
strategies for relating these structures to their communicative functions in real situations and in
real time”. (1)
It is clear from these few lines that communicative language teaching “goes beyond” the
teaching of structures but does not exclude it and we personally believe that a good knowledge
1
of grammar contributes to learners ‘ language skills and communicative competence
(TAVANDRA 2002).
Thirdly, the choice of the topic of this dissertation has also been dictated by our personal
experience as a lycée pupil and as a trainee teacher during our teaching practice at the
LycéeModèrne d’ Ampefiloha, in Antananarivo.
Indeed, during our secondary school studies, we did not master the use of all the English
personal pronouns properly and we often tended to mix them up and, as a result, and when
possible, we avoided using some of them in sentences of our own. This was due to the fact that,
during all those years, none of our teachers ever carried out a systematic teaching of this
grammar point.
During our practical training at LycéeModèrned’Ampefiloha in 2006, we noticed that

some pupils of “classe de seconde” had some difficulties in manipulalting some of the element of
the category of personal pronouns.
Finally, when reviewing the list of CAPEN dissertation topics that have been dealt with
at the Department of English of the EcoleNormaleSupérieure of Antananarivo, we have realized
that, to our knowledge, none has been devoted to this chapter of the English grammar, probable
because it is not considered as problematic and as a source of important learning problems
which, as we shall realize in this dissertation, is not at all the case.
All these reasons have led us to choose the topic of this CAPEN dissertation and to
focus it on the improvement of the teaching of this grammar to Lycée pupils of “ classe de
seconde”
0.2. OBJECTIVE, SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OFTHE STUDY
Our chief aim is, in this dissertation, to propose ways how the teaching of the English personal
pronouns could be improved in order to help teachers in their day-to-day teaching but also the
Lycée learners of “ classe de seconde” in the process of their structural mastery and use of this
grammar point.
2
The present piece of work does not have any pretentions to cover all and every aspect
of the English personal pronouns. Owing to time constraints, we have limited the coverage of
this dissertation to the forms, meanings and uses of these grammatical items.
Moreover, we have restricted the classes concerned only to “ classe de seconde”,

though some of the proposals could be valid for other classes. We have chosen the “classe de
seconde” firstly, because this is the class in upper secondary education where pupils have more
time to devote to deepening grammatical knowledge as they do not have any national
examination at the end of the school year. The second reason is that “ classe de seconde” is the
suitable class to try to harmonize the students’ levels as they come from different horizons and
have not had the same degree of exposure to English in their lower secondary school studies as it
is optional at the BEPC examination and as a result, some students may have neglected this
subject. The final reason is that we propose to offer to the students, at this level, an opportunity
to start their upper secondary schools studies in good conditions for their better chances of
success at the Baccalaureate examination in “ classesterminales”.
-------------------------------------------------------------
(1)
We have underlined “not only” to stress clearly that “language structure” and “ language
communicative function” are not exclusive of each other in language teaching and learning.
3
0.3. STRUCTURE OF THE WORK
In order to attain the objectives that we have set forth above, we have carried out our
research work following a three- part plan;
§ The first part constitutes theoretical basis of the study and deals , on the one hand, with
the theoretical analysis of the forms, meanings and uses of the English personal pronouns
and , on the other hand, the basic principles of Communicative teaching of grammar,
preceeded by a summary presentation of the communicative approach to language
teaching which forms the foundation of the practical teaching suggestions that we shall
put forward
§ The second part is concerned with field work and contains the investigations, by means
of questionnaire and classroom observations that we have carried out in a few lycée of
Madagascar “with a view of finding out the present state of affairs concerning our object
of study, that is , the “what” and the “how”(RAHARINDRATOSOA 2004)of the current
teaching of the English personal pronouns in Malagasy higher secondary schools.
§ The third part is practical and contains the teaching suggestions that we put forward as
our contribution to bring about some improvement to the teaching of the grammar point
dealt with in this study to lycée pupils of “classe de seconde”.
4
PART I
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.0. INTRODUCTION
As stated earlier in the general introduction, this CAPEN dissertation purposes to

bring some contributions to the teaching of the English personal pronouns to Malagasy pupils of
“classe de seconde” for the purpose of such an objective, the theoretical part of our study will
consist of two main subparts:
§ The first part is linguistic and deals with a theoretical investigation into the aspects
of the English personal pronouns which are covered by the scope of the dissertation,
that is to say, their forms, meanings and uses ;
§ And, since this work concerns the teaching of one aspect of the English grammar,
the second subpart will be didactic and will provide some theoretical background of
the teaching of grammar within the framework of the communicative approach to
language teaching, approach that we shall present briefly.
Although the focus of this dissertation is practical, we believe that this theoretical
foundation of the work has its full relevance because “ if the practice of teaching werecompletely
divorced from theory , it would merely be random activity ( and it is therefore necessary ) to
provide a coherent rationale for the techniques (…) (to) help ( the teacher) torelate them to the
goal communicative activity and integrate them into his or her own teachingmethodology”
( LITTLEWOOD 1981: x).
1.1. STUDY OF THE ENGLISHPERSONAL PRONOUNS
1.1.1 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
1.1.1.1. PERSON
The linguistic category of “ person” , essentially represented by pronouns , is

defined with reference to the dynamic process of production (and interpretation) of an utterance,
in its particular network of situations of production , called “ situation of enunciation,” or “
situation of utterance” (CULIOLI , quoted in MANORO 2005) (2):
§ The first person refers to the speaker/ writer or a group including the
speaker/writer at the time he is producing the utterance;
§ The second person refers to the person spoken to/written to or a group including
the person spoken to/ written to at the time the speaker/writer is producing the
utterance;
5
§ The third person refers to the person(s) or thing(s) which are neither the speaker
/writer nor the person(s) spoken to/ written to at the time the speaker/writer is
producing the utterance.
It should be noted that, in general , and as it will be shown in the coming sections,
these universal categories are, in one given language, linguistically represented represented by
different forms which generally vary depending on their grammatical functions and, for the third
person , on their gender or on whether the reality referred to is a person or not , as shown in the
following table , as far as English is concerned:
Function First Second Third

person person person
Speaker/ Group Listener/ Group Single A group
Writer Including Reader Including person Of
Speaker/ Listener/ persons
Writer Reader
Male female Non person
person
Subject I We you you he she it they
Object me us you you him her it them
---------------------------------------------------------
(2)
MANORO R., Lectures in applied linguistics, Antananarivo: EcoleNormaleSupérieure,
Unpublished Document, 2005. For CULIOLI, the “situation of enunciation” comprises, among
other things. (1) the speaker/writer (“enunciator”), (2) the listener/reader (“co-enunciator), (3)
the time of speaking /writing, that is , now, (time of enunciation) and the place of speaking
/writing, that is, here (place of enunciation).
6
1.1.1.2.PRONOUN
“Pronoun” is a term used in grammatical classification of words , referring to the

closed set of items which can be used to substitute for a noun phrase or a single noun
(CRYSTAL 1997 : 312)
The classification of pronouns into subclasses may somehow vary from one author to another but
we shall , in this dissertation, adopt the following classifications (COLLINS, eds, 1990) which
we have found the most recurrent through our review of the literature on the subject and which
retains the following subclasses(3):
(1) Personal pronouns
Examples:
(01) – Would you come and have a drink?

(02) - Send us a card so we’ll know where you are.
(2) Possessive pronouns
Examples:
(03) – Her parents were in China , and so were mine.

(04) – It was not his fault, it was theirs.
(3) Reflexive pronouns
Examples:
(05) – He forced himself to lie.

(06) – I’m sure history repeats itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------
(3)
The pronouns are in italics in the example,
Let us note, for example, that QUIRK, et al (1985) and CHALKER, S. 1987 slightly adopt
different classifications.
7
(4) Demonstrative pronouns
Examples:
(07) – This is BBC World Service.

(08) – The biggest problem is the accent. That is difficult for me.
(5) Indefinite pronouns
Examples:
(09) – Everything has gone wrong.

(10) – Jane has said nothing for the moment.
(6) Reciprocal pronouns
Examples:
(11) – John and Sarah love each other very much.

(12) – All the children trust one another.
(7) Relative pronouns
Examples:
(13) – The man who has just left is Clark.

(14) – There’s that man over there whose name I have forgotten.
(8) Interrogative pronouns
Examples:
(15) – Who is your favorite football player?

(16) – Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
(9) Other pronouns
Examples:
(17) – Both were offered jobs immediately.
8
(18) – I saw one girl whispering to another.
Finally, let us mention that “one” which is essentially known as cardinal number, as in
Example:
(19) – Why do you have only one witness?
Can also be used as singular pronoun in formal style.
Examples:
(20) – One has to think of the practical side of things.

(21) – This scene makes one realize how poor these people are.
Apart from these clearly identified subclasses of pronouns, COLLINS, eds. (op.cit.) maintain
that “ Manyother words can be pronouns provided that it is clear what is being talked
aboutbecause it is then unnecessary to repeat the headword” and add that “ most general
determiners(4) can also been pronouns”.
------------------------------------------------------------
(4)
“General determiners are used in noun groups when you are talking about people or things in
general or indefinite way, without identifying them(…) “ Here is a list of general
determinerswhich are also pronouns”
All each fewer more several
Another either less most some
Any enough little much
Both few many neither
COLLINS, eds. (op.cit:41;52)
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To conclude this overall consideration about pronouns in English , it is worth stressing
that a detailed investigation into the various subcategories highlighted above falls outside the
scope of this research work as its focal point is constituted by personal pronouns on which we
shall devote a more detailed study in the section to come.
1.1.1.3. GENDER
“Gender” is a “grammatical category used for the analysis of word-classes displaying such
contrasts as masculine /feminine/neuter, (…) Grammatical gender is not feature of
English,though some parts of it can be analyzed in such terms” (CRYSTAL, op-cit.: 164-165).
This can be seen, for example, in contrasts displayed by the following table:
Person Number Function

Subject Object Reflexive
Third person Singular Masculine he him himself

Feminine she her herself
Neuter it it itself
The table shows that gender distinction is restricted to the third person singular of personal
pronouns.
In general, the English gender system is fairly simple :a male human is referred to as “he”
whereas a female human as “she” and an animal and a thing as “it”.
However , it’s worth noting that a pet animal like “ a cat” and “ a horse”
Examples:
(22) – Go and find the cat and take him out.

(23) – Go and find the cat and take her out.
“she” is sometimes used for a car, a motorbike, and so on, whereas sailors use “ she” for a ship.
Examples:
10
(24) - A: How is your new car?
- B: Terrific! She is running beautifully.
(25) – What a lovely ship! She will set sails next week.
Although “it” is the most generally used personal pronoun for a country, some people will
sometimes use “she/her” instead.
Examples:
(26) – He loves Spain- its culture, its history and its civilization.
(27) – He loves Spain- her culture, her history and her civilization.
We can use “he or she”, “him or her” to refer to someone like a student or a politician and
someone who can be a man or a woman
Example:
(28) – If a student is ill, he or she must send his or her medical certificate to the college.
Yet, this form is rather awkward and most people will use “he” , “him” and “his” instead of
“he” or “she” and so on.
Example:
(29) – If a student is ill, he or she must send his or her medical certificate to the college.
After “anybody”, “somebody”, “nobody”, “everybody” and so on especially in a formal style

, we often use “they”, “them” and “their” with a singular meaning, instead of “he” or “she”
Examples:
(30) – If anybodycalls ,tell them I’m out but take their name and address.
(31) – Nobody phoned, did they?
(32) – Somebody left their umbrella behind yesterday. Would they please collect it from the
office?
(33) – Everybody thinks they are different from everybody else.
Yet, in a more formal style, the tendency is to use “he”, “him”, and “his”
11
Example:
(34) – When somebody does not want to live, he can be very difficult to help.
1.1.1.4. NUMBER
Applied to English, number is “ a grammatical category used in the analysis of word-

classesdisplaying such contrasts assingular , plural, dual ( two), paucal(few), etc” (CRYSTAL,
op-cit.:265) (5). In general, however, the “ English number system constitutes a two-term
contrast: singularwhich denotes “one”andplural, which denotes “more than one” (QUIRK et
al., op.cit: 297).
In this language, only four parts of speech display the number contrast , as shown in the table
below: nouns, pronouns, verbs and possessive adjectives.
Word classes Singular Plural

Nouns One student Three students
Personal pronouns I We
Demonstrative pronouns This is good These are good
Adjectives This dissertation These dissertations
Verbs She likes the job They like the job
-----------------------------------------------------------
(5)
The determiners (or pronouns) “both”,“either” and “neither” are said to be dual in that they
are not plural proper but can refer to only two entities whereas “few/a few” and “little/alittle”
are labeled paucal determiners ( or pronouns), meaning that they refer to small numbers or
quantities . (QUIRK et al., op cit .; 380-382).
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Discussing the case of nouns, CRYSTAL (Ibid.) points out that “ The contrast generally
corresponds to the number of real-world entities referred to , butlinguisticdiscussion has
drawnattention to the problem involved in proposing any such straightforward one- to- one
correlation. Anoun, for example, may ‘look’ singular, but refers to a multiplicity of entities (e.g.
billiards). There are in addition several analytical difficulties in relatingthe notionof
numbertothat of countability”. Thus, for example, nouns like “butter” and “happiness” are
singular in the way that they do not bear the mark of plural “s” but they cannot be associated
with “a” which normally indicates a single element of a countable entity.
On this issue, MANORO writes: “It must also be noted that the linguistic distinction
countable /uncountable has to be distinguished from our everyday or common sense perception
of what can be counted or not in real life. Thus, if we consider the following table,
A B C
Apple Cloud Money
Table Idea Luggage
Cat Star Homework
Car Worry Furniture
We realize that
§ Nouns in A and B are all linguistically countable but, while those in A are countable both
linguistically and refer to realities that can be counted in real life, those in B are
linguistically countable but refer to realities that cannot actually be counted in real life;
§ Nouns in C are linguistically uncountable nouns but they refer to realities that we count
in our everyday life.
“We cannot, therefore, always rely to our common sense and use the idea of ‘ counting’ as a
guide to tell us whether a noun is countable or uncountable. This is further exemplified by the
contrast between ‘hair’ and ‘worry’ ; the first is an uncountable noun although it refers to
something more easily countable in everyday life (since made of distinct units) whereas the
second is countable even if it refers to a reality that cannot be separated into distinct units”.
(MANORO, op.cit:3-4, quoted in extenso
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1.1.2.FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS
The table below shows the various forms that English personal pronouns can have. This table
highlights that these forms are, in general, variable and depend on their:
v Grammatical functions: subject or object, or reflexive(6);

v Person: first , or second or third person;
v Number: singular or plural;
v Gender( for the third person singular): masculine , or feminine or neuter.
Person Number Function

Subject Object Reflexive
First person singular I me myself
plural we us ourselves
Second person singular you yourself
plural yourselves
Third person singular Masculine he him himself
Feminine she her herself
Neuter it it itself
plural they them themselves
-------------------------------------------------------
(6)
Reflexive is a form of a (personal)n pronoun “ which is usedwhen the direct or indirect
objectin a sentence refers to the same person or things as the subject of the sentence “
(RICHARDS, et al 1989).
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1.1.3. USES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS
As suggested in the previous section , personal pronouns have three main functions: subject ,
object and reflexive.
Broadly speaking, subject pronouns are used as subjects of finite verbs (verb with tense).
Examples:
(35) – He and I are just good friends.

(36) – What is she going to do?
(37) – You are luckier than I am.
(38) – We want to know the truth.
(39) – It smells good.
In all other contexts, personal pronouns function as object of the verb.
Examples:
(40) –The Smiths have asked my husband and me to dinner.

(41) – Don’ t tell them anything , please explain this to us.
(42) – We want them to be here.
(43) –A: Who is that?
B: It’s me
(44) – You are luckier than me.
(45) – She looked around her, threatened to death.
(46) – I haven’ t got my identity card with me.
It is worth noting that example (44), in which we have the object pronoun ‘me’, can be
compared with example (37) in which the same idea is expressed but , this time, with the use of
the subject pronoun ‘I’.
Moreover , in examples (45) and (46), we have instances of object pronouns as constituent
elements of prepositional phrases of place: ‘around her’ and ‘on me’.
15
A reflexive pronoun has been defined above as a form of a (personal) pronoun “ which
isused when the direct or indirect object in a sentence refers to the same person or thing as
thesubject of the sentence”, as exemplified by the following:
(47) – John has found himself a new job.
(48) – She hurt herself and asked me to help him.
(49) – Don’t talk to yourself.
(50) – Everyone enjoyed himself /themselves.
(51) – Nobody likes to talk about himself/themselves.
(52) –I went by myself.
(53) - Imyself saw what happened.
(54) – I saw what happened myself.
Let us note that
“everyone” and “nobody” can have either “himself /herself” or “themselves” as

corresponding reflexive equivalent (examples 50 and 51)
Reflexive pronoun for emphasis purposes can follow the subject (example 53) or take a final
position in the clause (example 54).
It must be mentioned that only the reflexive forms: “yourself” and “ yourselves” preserve a
distinction between singular and plural.
Moreover, it should be noted that the first and second person reflexive pronouns are formed
with the corresponding possessive adjectives , whereas , the third person reflexive pronouns are
formed from the corresponding pronouns in the objective case.
Objective case Possessive adjectives Reflexive pronouns

Me my Myself
You your Yourself
Him his Himself
Her hers Herself
It its Itself
Us our Ourselves
You your Yourselves
Them their Themselves
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1.1.4. MEANINGS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS
Despite their name, pronouns do not always stand for nouns. It should be noticed that the
terms “ 1st person” (I, We), second person (you) and “ third person” ( he, she, it, they) are more
accurate formally than functionally.
“I/We/You” usually have reference outside the text.
“I” means the speaker or writer. “We” may include the listener(s)/reader(s), or it may exclude
them and include some other people.
“She/her; he/him” are mainly used for people. Both can be used for animals which are felt to
have some personality.
Example:
(55) – Where’s that dog of mine? I want to take him for a walk.
“she/her” can be used for countries, ships and sometimes cars.
Examples:
(56) – India needs to increase her exports.

(57) – A : How is your new car?
B: Great, she can do a hundred miles an hour.
“They/them” can refer to people or things because there is no third person singular pronoun in
English which is neutral between male and female. Informal English often uses
“they/them/their” in sentences such as:
(58) –Will everyone please bring their passport with them?

(59) – If anybody calls, please tell them I’m out.
“They/you” can be used as vague informal personal pronouns; they often means “the authorities”
and you means “people generally”.
Example:
(60) – They fine you in Singapore if you drop litter in the streets.
17
“It/itself” would more accurately be described as “non- personal” pronouns as far as the
meaning is concerned , but normally, these are included among the personal pronouns. The
meaning is not , however, always inanimate.
“It” can be used for animals and even human babies if the sex is unknown or unimportant.
Example:
(61) – What’s the matter with that child? It looks ill.
“It” can also have more general textual reference.
Example:
(62) – Her mother’s just died. It’s been a terrible shock for her.
“It” is the pronoun for all/everything in question tags
Example:
(63) – Nothing is the same now, is it?
“ Empty it” is used as an empty subject with no meaning when talking about the weather , time
and some other structures.
Examples:
(64) – It’s raining .

(65) – It’s cold today.
(66) – It’s November already.
“One” is a formal personal pronoun in the sort of context where you means “ people”. It often
means people including the speaker , and sometimes seems to be a substitute for I.
Examples:
(67) – One can’t do anything these days without breaking some laws.
(68) – A: Did you enjoy the boarding-school?
B: Oh, one got used to it.
“One/ones” can be pronoun substitutes for count nouns, people or things.
18
Examples:
(69) – The teapot’s broken, and we do need one.

(70) – And what about cups? There were some pretty ones here yesterday.
1.2. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR
1.2.1. GENERALITIES
As hinted earlier in this dissertation, the practical teaching suggestions that we shall
propose in the third part try to adopt the principles and techniques advocated by what has come
to be known as the communicative approach to language teaching (CLT). This approach applies
to various aspects that the language teacher is concerned with in the classroom:
§ The teaching of “ language elements” : pronunciation , grammar, vocabulary,

language functions and so on
§ The teaching of language skills : listening , speaking , reading and writing
As our dissertation is concerned with one aspect of the English grammar , we shall , in this
section concentrate on the principles of teaching grammar within the framework of the
communicative approach. Yet, for this purpose, we need to provide a quick and general
presentation of the approach.
1.2.1..A SUMMARY INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH
It is generally admitted that before the 1970’s , approaches to language teaching were
essentially ‘ structural’ . In other words, the main objective was the mastery of the language
system or structural competence ( knowledge of vocabulary, morphology, grammar and so on)
because it was believed that the mastery of these will automatically lead to use the language in
natural and normal situations or “ communicative competence”( RICHARDS and RODGERS
1986). However, it was noted that ‘students , especially students in developing countries , who
have received several years of formal teaching , frequently remain deficient in the ability to
actually use the language and to understand its use in normal communication whether in spoken
or written mode’ (WIDDOWSON 1979, quoted in RAHARINDRATOSOA 2004). The reason is
that that ability to compose correct sentences is not the only ability needed in order to
communicate effectively . This implies that we are able not only to compose correct sentences
19
but also to use these to perform a variety of non- linguistic but social acts such to describe , to
make requests , to ask questions , to give orders, to invite, to make offers , to take leave and so
on. These social acts that we perform by means of language are called , in language teaching ,
language functions.
Therefore, to the ability to put words and sentences together must be added a knowledge of how
to put these sentences to their normal and natural use as a means of communication ; language
learners need to be equipped with the ability to compose correct sentences and with the
competence in using these appropriately according to the topic , the setting and the social
relationships between the protagonists of the communication.
Such a shift in the view of language as not merely structure but also as a means of
communication, in the aim of language learning as not merely the mastery of language structures
but also the mastery of the communicative competence and in the goal of language teaching as
merely training the learners to become structurally competent but also equipping them with
communicative competence has given birth and led to the development of the
‘communicativeapproach to language teaching’ or ‘communicative language teaching’ (
MANORO, Lectures in ELT Methodology , Antananarivo, ENS, 2005 (Unpublished).
1.2.2. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATIVE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR
Generally speaking , the teaching of grammar and of language element in general ( grammar,
vocabulary, functions, sounds ), as opposed to language skills , follows three successive stages
known as presentation , practice ( or controlled practice) and production ( or free practice) or
(3Ps). In this section, we shall briefly present the main characteristics of these three stages and
for this purpose ; we have largely used MANORO 2005 ( op. Cit)
1.2.2.1. PRESENTATION
§ Definition
Presentation is the stage when the Teacher(T)introduces new language or puts the Students (SS)
in contact with the new language for the first time.
§ Rationale for presentation
In the context of first language acquisition, we acquire new languages without conscious and
explicit presentation by a teacher because the learner is immersed in the language and has
20
repeated opportunities to encounter the new language . Therefore, even if he does not understand
the meaning of the new language and how it is used during a first encounter , he will still have
other opportunities for doing so in the future. The situation is different in the context of school ,
especially in the context of foreign language learning where there is no immersion and that the
contact with the foreign language is only at school , during a limited time and within the
constraints of completing a syllabus. As a result, it is important to have a good and carefully
prepared and administered presentation so that what is normally acquired through long, repeated
and unconscious exposure is acquired through one single and conscious presentation.
§ Objectives of presentation
The objectives are here to show very clearly the meaning and form of the new language ,how and
when it is used and how it is pronounced and spelt.
At this stage , the objective is not yet that they can by themselves already use the new language
but only that they understand how and when it is used as well as how it is formed, pronounced
and spelt.
§ Main features of presentation
It is oral ( with sometimes some blackboard writing), normally relatively short teacher- centered
(with the teacher firmly in control of the class and having a large proportion of talking time). The
teacher plays the roles of provider of new language ,model and corrector of mistakes whereas
the students listen, reproduce the model accurately and note down correctly in their copybooks.
T S(S) but not S S(S)
1.2.2.2. PRACTICE
§ Definition
When T is sure that the objectives of presentation are reached, he can move to the rehearsal
stage in order to fix new language in SS’ memory. Therefore, practice consists in
intensivepractice of new language but their production is carefully guided and closely controlled
by the teacher.
§ Rationale for practice

§ It is not enough for SS to be told and explained things/facts about language
(meaning, use, pronunciation, and spelling). They need to exercise in using it, to
21
have intensive practice in using it in order to have an automatised knowledge for
fluent expression.
§ Objectives of practice
The objectives of this stage are to rehearse new language , to consolidate and fix it in the
students’ memory.
§ Main features of practice
It can be oral or written ( individually/in pairs/groups ) and is probably the longest stage. The
teacher is still in control of the class and the activities but the amount of talking time is roughly
the same between the teacher and the students but the teacher is still focus of attention as he is
the conductor of the activities ( drills and so on) while the students are doing the activities.
At this stage, the teacher plays the roles of conductor of activities and corrector of
students’mistakes while the latter repeat ( drills) and practice ( saying , reading and writing new
language).
The dominant pattern of classroom interaction is here;
T S(S) and S S(S)
1.2.2.3. PRODUCTION
§ Definition
Production is the stage where the students have to perform /use new language independently, in
their own, by themselves and for themselves freely.
§ Rationale for production
Being told facts about the language and rehearsing it are not enough to be able to use the
language for communication :the students needto train themselves to put the newly
learntlanguage into use and to cope by themselves (as they will do in real use of the language
outside the classroom).
Production is the final rehearsal before using the language in the real world : the students learn
to communicate here with their fellow students
22
§ Objectives of production
The objectives of this stage are to provide opportunityfor the students to experiment the
newlylearnt language added with their previous knowledge ,to allow them to realize by
themselves the extent to which they have really understood and learnt the new language and to
serve as a feedback to the teacher to assess the attainment of his objectives.
§ Main features of production
Production can be:
ü Oral: taking part in an interview, role play, etc.

ü Written: writing a letter, preparing questions for an interview, etc.
ü The teacher relaxes his control over the class and only initiates activities , manages
them , does not intervene unless the ongoing activity breaks down altogether , he
does not correct errors but note them down and he talks to the minimum ( initiation/
management of activities, assistance only)
ü It is the students who do most of the talking and they are encouraged to use ‘ old
language ‘ in addition to ‘ the new’
ü This stage is student - centered
The normal pattern of classroom interaction is here;
S(S) S(S)
It must be noted that the possibility of students’ errors is here high because they use the language
by themselves , unguided but when mistakes occur , they should not be corrected( but noted
down for later treatment if serious) to avoid breaking down the activity.
23
In this part of our dissertation, our aim has been to lay the theoretical foundations of our work
both from linguistic and pedagogical points of view. For this purpose, we have carried out
§ A survey of some concepts that we think relevant to deal with our topic, namely the
notions of person, gender and number.
§ A fairly detailed study of the English personal pronouns ; their nature (definition),
their forms, their uses and their meanings
Then, as our teaching suggestions will be based on the communicative approach and this
dissertation concerns one aspect of English grammar, the second facet of this theoretical part of
our work consists in a summary introduction to this approach to language teaching in general and
to the basic principles which, in general , underlie the teaching of grammar within the
framework.
Now that the theoretical basis of our work is established, we are going to look at the present
situation in lycées as far as the teaching of this grammar point is concerned. This will be carried
out by means of a look at the official syllabus, questionnaire for teachers and classroom
observations.
24
PART II
THE TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH
PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN
MALAGASY LYCEES: THE CURRENT
SITUATION
2.0 INTRODUCTION
English is studied in Malagasy secondary schools as a foreign language. This subject

matter is learnt from the beginning of the pupils’ secondary school studies to the last form of
those schools. Some private schools even study English from the Kindergarten.
Let us remind, at the beginning this second part of our dissertation, that its objective is
to propose ways to improve the teaching of the English personal pronouns to Malagasy Lycée
pupils. In order to tackle this problem, we have thought that it is necessary to have a clear
picture of the current situation on the teaching of this grammar point in our lycées. That
constitutes the essence of the second part of our dissertation. This investigation will be carried
out by means of four complementary methods: a brief look at the official syllabus, a
questionnaire for teachers, classroom observations and a students’ performance test.
2.1.A QUICK GLANCE AT THE OFFICIAL SYLLABUS
Our investigation focuses on “ classe de seconde” because it is in this form that we

need to reinforce the teaching of structures and personal pronouns are one of these points.
Pupils in “classe de seconde” come from different areas, some even come from remote
districts, and consequently, some of them have not regularly had teachers of English during
their school years. As a result, they generally have weaknesses both in the manipulation of the
structures and the mastery of language skills in English.
The Malagasy current Official Syllabus has been implemented since 1995, in each
unit of this book, we always find one or many points of grammar to be learnt. Yet, little on
personal pronouns,( namely: possessive pronouns) is recommended to be taught in “ classe de
seconde” in this Syllabus. Thus, during our training at LycéeModerned’Ampefiloha and also
in other private schools in 2006, we have noticed that some learners still did not master the
use of this grammar point and this situation has prompted us to choose the topic of the present
work.
25
2.2.THE QUESTIONNAIRE(seeAppendix I)
2.2.0. PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH PROCEDURE

In our questionnaire, we have asked several questions concerning the teaching of the
English personal pronouns by the teachers who have accepted to answer and to return our
questionnaire
sheets. On the whole, the questionnaire contains different questions concerning the schools
where the teachers teach, their qualifications, the number of years that they have been
teaching the English language, and the ways how they teach the different types and functions
of the English personal pronouns.
In the coming sections, we shall analyze the teachers’ answers to the questions, make
general comments on how teachers actually teach this grammar point in Malagasy Lycées.
The teachers’ answers will be presented in the graph at the end of each analysis
Question N°1
Name of the school where you teach
The school teachers to whom we dispatched the questionnaire were various. (10% )teach at
Lycée Jean Joseph RABEARIVELO. (10%) teach at LycéeModemed’Ampefiloha; (10%)
teach at Lycée NANISANA. (6,66%) teach at Lycée MASCA SabotsyNamehana, (6,66%)
teach at Lycée DANIEL Ilafy, (10%) teach at Lycéed’Andohalod’Antananarivo, (13,33%)
teach at Lycée Jacques RABEMANANJARA Toamasina ( 6,66%) teach at College David
Jones Toamasina, (6,66%) teach at LycéepriveTsarahofanaToamasina, 1 teacher;3,33%
teaches at College James Seth Toamasina, (6,66%) teach at the Lycée College
d’AntanetibeAntehiroka, (6,66%) teach at the LycéePrive Agora of Talatamaty, and (3,33%)
teaches at College Prived’AndeponaAlasora.
26
All of the teachers who have answered teach in Public schools and Private schools.
Question N°2
Your highest qualifications

A-License
B-Maitrise
C-CAPEN
D-Others (please, specify)
This question is aimed at knowing the qualifications of the teacher which necessarily
affect the way they teach.
The majority of the teachers, that is,( 70, 33%) who answered to our questions have a
LICENCE, (16,66%)have a MAITRISE, and (10%) have a CAPEN degree from the
EcoleNormale. We can
conclude from this result that still many teachers (90%) have not had pre-service teacher
training in the discipline.
10%
16,66%
70,33%
Question N°3
How long have you been teaching the English language?
27
We have asked this question in order to know the teaching experience. Most of the
teachers who have answered this question ( 90%%) are experimented teachers ( 2 to 26
years of experience, and only a few (10%) have been teaching for less than two years.
Generally, most of the teachers are very experienced teachers?
Question N°4
Do you use Malagasy and French when teaching?

A-Yes B-No
The aim of this question is to find out the languages that the teachers use in their classes.
The answers show that 80% use only English language as a language of instruction. The
rest, that is 20% use Malagasy and French
According to that percentage, we can realize that many teachers are aware of the importance
of using, the target language in order to teach it to their pupils.
20%
80%
Question N°5
Do you teach the English Personal pronouns to pupils of “classes de seconde” ?

A-Yes B-No
28
This question has helped to know if the personal pronouns are among the grammar points that
the teachers teach in” classe de seconde”
All the teachers, 100% have answered that they teach the English personal pronouns in”
classe de seconde”.
This result shows that the teachers give a great importance to the teaching of the English
personal pronouns in this form.
100%
Question N°6
If your answer to question6 is “Yes”, you teach them because

A- It is required by the official syllabus
B- You consider them as an important aspect of grammar
C- Your pupils often make mistakes when using them
D- OtherreasonsPlease, specify
By asking this question, we want to know, the reasons which motivate

teachers to teach the English personal pronouns to pupils of “classe de
seconde”.
Their answers show that (13, 33%) teach this grammar point because they consider it as an
important aspect of English grammar; (60% ) teach the personal pronouns because they are
required by the official syllabus and (26,66%) said that they teach it because the pupils always
make mistakes when using personal pronouns in class.
29
According to these answers, most of the teachers give some importance to the teaching of the
English personal pronouns to pupils of “classe de seconde” because they find them as an
important aspect of grammar that should be taught in this form.
13,33%
26,66%
60%
Question N°7
You teach the different types and functions of the English Personal Pronouns
A- Separately
B- At a time
This question has been asked in order to find out how do they manage to teach the English
personal pronouns to their pupils.
Among the thirty teachers who have answered, only (6, 66%) teach them separately, but the
remaining teachers, (93, 33%) teach the different types and functions of the English personal
pronouns at a time. As seen through this result, most of the teachers integrate the teaching of
the types and functions of the English personal pronouns in one lesson as they facilitate the
teaching of this grammar point.
6,66%
93,33%
30
Question N°8
Do you use special sessions devoted to the teaching of the English personal
pronouns?
A- Yes B- No
Our reason for asking this question is to know if the teaching of the English personal
pronouns is important for the teachers so that they devote special sessions to teach them.
Only (13, 33 %) of the teachers have answered “Yes” and the rest, (86, 66%) have answered “
No”.
We can conclude from this answer that most of the teachers do not devote much time to the
teaching of this grammar point.
13,33%
86,66%
Question N°9
How do you proceed to the teaching of the English personal pronouns?

A -By giving rules and explanations followed by examples
B- By using translation into French and/or Malagasy
C- Other methods (Please specify)
We have asked this question because we wanted to know the methods and techniques that the
teachers adopt to teach the English personal pronouns.
All the teachers (100%) affirmed that they teach the English personal pronouns by giving
rules and explanations followed by examples.
31
In fact, it is very understandable that this technique is the most used because of the academic
profile of these teachers (see answers to question2)
QuestionN°10
How much time do you spend on the teaching of the English personal pronouns?
A -One hour
B- One hour and a half
C- Two hours
D- More than two hours
Our objective is here to discover how much time the teachers spend in teaching the English
personal pronouns
The answers show that (53, 33%) teach the English personal pronouns only in one hour and
14 teachers and (46, 66 %) answered that they teach them in one hour and a half.
According to these answers, most of the teachers do not spend more than two hours to teach
the English personal pronouns, which implies that they are not considered to be too difficult
to teach.
46,66%
53,33%
Question N°l l
Do you follow the 3Ps( Presentation Practice Production stages) when teaching the
English personal pronouns?
32
A- Yes B- No
We have asked this question in order to know if this framework (Presentation-Practice-

Production) is adopted by the teachers who teach the English personal pronouns.
We can note from the answers of the teachers that only (16, 66%) use the 3Ps when teaching
this grammar point. The rest (83, 33%) do not adopt this framework of grammar teaching.
Again, this is understandable considering the profile of the majority of the teachers ( See
answers to question N°2) and as a result, most teachers may mix up these three stages when
they teach the English personal pronouns.
As seen through this result, most teachers may mix up these three stages when they teach the
personal pronouns.
16,66%
83,33%
Question N°12
During the Practice stage, when you give exercises, do you
A- Take them from books?
B- Produce your own exercises?
This question has been asked in order to know if the teachers use resources or teaching aids
when building their lesson plans.
Among the 30 teachers who answered, (90) said that they exclusively take exercises from
books and (10%) said that they produce their own exercises.
33
10%
90%
Question N°13
Do you think that the teaching of the English personal pronouns in” classe de seconde” is
important? Why?
A- Yes B- No
We want to know how the teachers find the teaching of the English personal pronouns to
pupils of “classe de seconde”.
Almost all of the teachers answered that they find that the teaching of this grammar point in
“classe de seconde” is important.
Most of the teachers say that the personal pronouns are among the most basic grammar point
that pupils of “classe de seconde” should know. Others say that they should know them in
order to master the English language and use it in everyday life.
100%
34
Question N°14
Do your pupils like the lessons about the English personal pronouns?
A -Very much
B -So so
C- Not very well
Our aim in asking this question is to know how the pupils find the teaching of the English
personal pronouns (93,33%) of the teachers have answered “so so” and (6,6%) have said that
their pupils like it very much.
According to this result, the pupils in “classe de seconde” more or less like the lesson about
the English personal pronouns.
6,66%
93,33%
Question N°15
At the end of the “classe de seconde”, how do you find the pupils’ mastery of the
English personal pronouns?
A -Excellent
B-Good
C-Just average
D-Bad
35
This question has been asked in order to know the result of the teaching of the English
personal pronouns to pupils of” classe de seconde”( 23,33%) say that at the end of the” classe
de seconde” their pupils’ mastery of this grammar point at the end of the “classe de seconde”
is excellent, (43,33%) have answered “ Just Average”, (33,33%) answered “Good”, and no
teachers answered “ Bad”.
33,33% 23,33%
43,33%
2.2.1. CONCLUSION TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE INVESTIGATION
The results that we have obtained from the questionnaire have helped us to find out the
teachers’ opinions on the teaching of the English personal pronouns. The results show that,
even though all the different types of the personal pronouns are not studied in” classe de
seconde”, almost all of them teach these grammar points to their pupils in this form even if
the way, the moment, the duration differ from one teacher to another. Let us remind that the
objective of the present research work is to improve the teaching of the English personal
pronouns to pupils of “classes de seconde”. Therefore. We are concerned with finding ways to
suggest to Lycée teachers for the improvement of the teaching of this grammar point. The
questionnaire is already one way of finding out how the teachers teach the English personal
pronouns to Malagasy lycée pupils but, as we are not sure that the teachers actually do what
they say, we have decided to cross-check what they say by means of classroom observations
which constitute the next section of our work
36
2.3. CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS
2.3.0. INTRODUCTION
We have carried out some classroom observations in order to have a clear idea on the
way how the English personal pronouns are actually taught in “classe de seconde”
Before actually reporting our classroom observations, we have to mention that many teachers
we talked to confessed that they do not normally give special sessions, nor devote
independent sessions
on the teaching of the English personal pronouns. They said that they are not able to devote
such sessions on each grammar point because of the insufficient time allotted to the English
subject in Secondary schools. They, however, exceptionally accepted, on our demand, to give
lessons on this grammar point.
In the next pages, we shall report the way how teachers actually teach these structures
by providing detailed scripts of what we have observed in each class. Then, we shall make a
general comment after each observation.
2.3.1. REPORT OF THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS
§ Classroom observation N°1
Date : 23rdJanuary 2008
School : Lycée MascaSabotsyNamehana
Level : “ Classe de seconde”
Duration : 40 mn
Materials : blackboard, pieces of chalks
I/ WARM-UP (05mn)
37
T: Close your copy-book.
- I would like to introduce you to Miss Salohy, she is here to observe us

- We continue our lesson next time but today we are going to talk about the personal
pronouns
- Do you know what are the personal pronouns?
( Some pupils raise their hands)
T: - Yes, Ravaka?
S: - I, You, He, She, It, We, You, They
T: Yes, they are personal pronouns
- They are among the subject pronouns which are among the personal pronouns
- First, we are going to talk about the subject pronouns
- You have alreadygiventhem
- So, they are: I, You, He, She, It, We, You and They
- For example:
- ShestudiesMathemetics.
- They are good friends.

( T writes the two examples on the BB)
II/PRESENTATION (40mn)
T: In the sentences that I have written on the blackboard, what subject pronouns did I use?
SS: “She” and “they”
T: Goo, now find sentences in which you use a subject pronoun
T: If you find, raise your hand
- Yes?
S: Mybrotherlikes football
38
T: And where is the pronoun in your sentence?
: - Can you replace “my brother” with a subject pronoun?
S: He likes football.
T: Another sentence?
S: I study English
T: Good, now , let us see the next pronouns which are the object pronouns.
T: What are the object pronouns?
SS: me, you, him, her, it, us, you and them
T: That’s it
( T draws a chart on the BB)
SubjectPronouns Object Pronouns

I Me
You You
He Him
She Her
It It
We Us
You You
They Them
T: Now, try to find two sentences, one with a subject pronoun and another with an object
pronoun
39
T: please, raise your hand
SS: - I am astudent.
- lend he a car.
- She prepares lunch.
- He is a crazy boy.
T: Lend he a car? Is it correct?
SS: No
T: It is not correct because “He” is a subject pronoun , but here you should use an object
pronoun
So, what is the object pronoun you should use here?
SS: him
T: Good, so what would be the sentence?
SS: Lend him a car.
T: Good
( T writes something on the BB)
- Wearepupils.
S V O
- Ihavea dog.
S V O
- Yougivehima present.
S V O O
T: Now, give me other examples with the object pronouns like what I have written on the
blackboard
40
SS: - What do you suggest me?
- They buy me food.
(T writes something on the BB)
T: Good, now , look at the blackboard
- Mothereatsmangoes
T: Now, replace the subject and the object in this sentence with a subject and an object pronoun
SS: She eats it.
T: Now , look at the blackboard again
- I love him
- He kisses me
- Sheeatsit
What are the subject pronouns in these three sentences?
SS: I, He, and She
T: And what are the object pronouns?
SS: Him, me and it
T: Good, now, it’s your turn to find sentences
You replace the subject and the object in the sentences with a subject and anobject pronoun
Ss: - The teacher punished the students
She punished them
- The students look at the blackboard
They look at him
T: But is blackboard a person
SS: No, teacher
T: So why you replace it by him?
41
What is the appropriate object pronoun here?
Ss: It
T: Yes, the answer should be : “They look at it”
T: And now, find sentences with “them”
SS: - John looks at his friends.
He looks at them.
- My friend helps her parents.
She helps them.
T: Good, that is about the subject and the object pronouns
T: Now, let us see the next type of personal pronouns
T: they are the possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns
T: What are the English possessive adjectives?
SS: My, your,
T: Yes, they are: my, your, his, her, its, our, your and their
For example:
- Hismotheris ill.
- They are ourfriends.
T: Now, find sentences in which you use a possessive adjective
( The bell is ringing)
T: Well, we stop there for today, we continue this lesson next time
42
COMMENTS ON THE OBSERVATION
Pupils in this class are very talkative as they come from many different schools. Only a
few of them have studied in that lycée. The teacher couldn’t have finished the lessons; they
stopped at the possessive pronouns. When we arrived, the teacher, right away, stopped her
lessons because they had studied about the Superlatives. So, she introduced the lesson about the
personal pronouns. The teacher speaks in Malagasy most of the time in order to make the
students understand well the lesson because some of them do not understand when the teacher
speaks in English. In this class which we observed, the teacher didn’t explain the use of the
English personal pronouns to the pupils; as a result, the children didn’t know well, how to use
them. She only gave examples of sentences and asks the students to find sentences of their own.
Obviously, therewere no practice and production stages.
§ Classroom Observation N°2
Date:26thJanuary 2008
School:Lycée Daniel Ilafy
Level: “Classe de seconde”
Duration: 45mn
Materials: Blackboard, pieces of chalks
I/ WARM-UP
T: What time do you get up in the morning?
S: At six O’clock
T: Can you give me a full sentence please?
S: I get up at 6 O’clock in the morning.
T: Good, so everybody, what time does she get up in the morning?
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SS: In the morning, she gets up at 6 O’ clock.
II/ PRESENTATION
T: Today, our lesson is about the personal pronouns
T: What are the subject pronouns?
SS: I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they
T: Can you please use them in sentences? Please, raise your hand
(Some pupils raise their hands)
SS: - I study at Lycée Daniel.
- He likes football.
T: Good, so when do we use the personal subject pronouns?
( Nobody answers)
T: Well, we use the personal subject pronouns to refer to a person , an animal or a thing
T For examples
( T writes examples of sentences on the BB)
- Bemaisstudyingsociology.
Heisstudyingsociology.
T: Now , it is your turn to find sentences and then you replace the subject by a subject
pronoun.
SS: - Mother is going to the market
Sheis going to the market.

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- John likes fruits.
He likes fruits.
T: good, now, we are going to see quickly the next pronouns which are the object pronouns
T: Do you know what are they?
SS: me, you,
T: Yes, they are: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, and them
T: Now, look at the blackboard
( Twrites sentences on the BB)
- The nurse washed the baby.
- I will help the children.
T: What are the subjects in these two sentences?
SS: “The nurse” and “I”
T: Yes, and where are the objects?
SS: “the baby” and “the children”
T: Good, so as you can see then , object pronouns can be used as what?
SS: Objects
T: Right, that is why they are called object pronouns
T: They can be used as objects of sentences
T: Is everything clear?
SS: Yes, teacher
T: Good, now, I would like you to find sentences in which you replace the objects of the
sentences by object pronouns
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T: Please, go to the blackboard and write there your sentences
Underline the objects that you will replace with an object pronoun
(SS rush to the BB)
SS: - She invites my father to the restaurant.
She invites him to the restaurant.
- She looks at Sariaka.
She looks at her.
- They give the book to the teacher.
They give him the book.
T: I see , you are intelligent students, now, we continue with the possessive pronouns.
T: There are two subclasses of personal possessive pronouns.
T: They are: Possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns
T: They are called possessive pronouns because they indicate possession
T: Can you tell me what are the possessive adjectives?
SS: my, your, his, her, its, our, your and their
T: Good, and the possessive pronouns?
( nobody answers)
T: Ok, so let us the first the possessive adjectives and then we’ll see the possessive pronouns
after.
(T writes sentences on the BB)
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- This is your copy-book.
- Hisapartmentis large.
- Their marks are very high.
T: In these three sentences, there are three possessive adjectives, what are they?
Ss: “your”, “his”, and “their”
T: Good, now, go to the blackboard to write your own sentences with possessive adjectives
SS: - This is my pen.
- Your shoes are dirty.
- Our teacher is cool
T: Yes, but in the last sentence, You’d better use fantastic or kind instead of cool
T: Let us see now the personal possessive pronouns
T: Let me give you an example to make you understand it
( T writes a sentence on the BB)
This is my book.
T: And now, let’s suppose that I don’t want to repeat the words “my book”
T: By which pronoun will I Replace it?
( No answers)
T: Ok then, in the place of my book, I can say
This is mine.
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T: Still, another example?
SS: Yes teacher
T : Ok, so
Is this your satchel?
T: If I don’t want to repeat the words “your satchel”, what would be my sentence?
SS: Is this yours?
T: Is it clear now?
SS: Yes teacher
T: Good, would you please tell me now what are the English possessive pronouns?
SS: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, and theirs
T: Good, so, now it’s your turn to find sentences with the personal possessive pronouns
( The bell is ringing)
T: You will do it at home as a homework since time is up
Our observation in this class started at 9 0’clock and ended at 9; 45 because at this time, pupils
go out, so, the lesson lasted only 45 minutes.
Pupils in this class are more serious and brilliant than those in the previous observation.
They are more correct when they give examples and understand quickly when the teacher
explains the lesson. The only language used by the teacher is English. He never speaks in
French, nor in Malagasy. We found it good because resorting to other languages than that which
is under study should be avoided, and the personal pronouns are very easy to those pupils to
understand. But in this observation, we have noticed that the teacher has forgotten to give a title
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to the lesson and to write it on the blackboard. He couldn’t have finished the reflexive pronouns
because time was up, and like in the first observation , there was not enough time devoted to the
practice and production stages
§ Classroom Observation N° 3
Date: 16th March 2008
School: Lycée Collège d’AntanetibeAntehiroka
Level: “ Classe de seconde”
Duration: 40mn
I/ PRESENTATION (40mn)
Subject Object Possessive Possessive

adjectives pronouns
I Me My Mine
You You Your Yours
He Him His His
She Her Her Hers
It It Its Its
We Us Our Ours
You You Your Yours
They Them Their Theirs
T: Please, do not take it in your copy-book yet but I’d like you to look at it first
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T: As seen in this chart that I have drawn on the blackboard, there are different types of
personal pronouns
T: The subject pronouns, the object pronouns and the possessive pronouns
T: Let us begin with the easiest first, that is the subject pronouns
T: Can all of you read them please?
SS: I …they
T: I’m going to give you examples now
- I dislike looking at TV.
- She makes me feel good.
- We are going on holidays this year.
T: What subject pronouns did I use in these three sentences?
SS: “I”, “She” and “we”
T: Yes, good
T: As you can notice in these examples that I gave you , the subject pronouns are used like
subjects, and because they are subjects, they are always put at the beginning of the sentence.
T: Can you give me a sentence in which you use a subject pronoun?
T: He finish the exercise.
T: Yes, thank you Nambinina
T: What is the subject pronoun that Nambinina has used in his sentence?
SS: He
T: Yes, the subject is correct here but there is something wrong in his sentence. What is it?
SS: finish
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T: What should we have?
SS: Finishes
T: Yes finishes , because our subject is ‘he” which is a third person singular , so the verb ends
in “s” because it is in the present simple tense
T: The third person singulars are; “he”, “she”, and “it”
T: For example
- Shecookswell.
But not : “ she cook well”
- He watches football matches every Sunday.

T: Other examples?
T: Yes, Théodore?
S: They buy a food.
T: As far as the subject pronoun is concerned , it is correct but there is also something wrong
in this sentence
T: Can you count food?
SS: No
T: We cannot count food, we cannot say one food or two foods, so the noun “food” is
classified among uncountable nouns, so we can’t say “ a food”
T: Now , let us look back at our chart and focus on the second column.
T: What do you see?
SS: Object pronouns
T: Yes, can you please read them loudly?
SS: Me, you,
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(T gives examples on the BB)
- She thanked me politely.
- They take him to the hospital.
- Does it make you laugh?
T: In these three sentences, the object pronouns: “me”, “him” and “you” are used in the place
of objects
T: Can you give me other examples?
SS: - He gives me a cake.
- Mother punishes us
- She kisses him.
T: Good, now, you can take the lesson in your copy-book before we continue with the
possessive pronouns
T: If you have finished, then , we continue our lesson
T: As you can see through this chart, there is still another type of personal pronouns
T: What are they?
SS: Possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns
T: They are used when you want to say that something belongs to someone
T: Look at my examples:
( T writes the examples on the BB)
- This ismyhandout.
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- Their car is that blue one over there.
- Our photo isbeautiful.
- Shepaintsher room.
- I likeyoursmile.
- His book is at home.
T: That is aboust the possessive adjectives, let us see the possessive pronouns
T: Read the possessive pronouns that you see in the chart
SS: mine, yours, ……..
T: Right, Here are sentences in which they are used
- This watch which is beautiful is mine.

- The house near yours is hers.
T: The possessive pronouns, unlike the possessive adjectives are used to indicate that
something belongs to someone, but in the sentence “ This watch is mine”, the possessive
adjective “mine” is used in that we do not repeat “my watch” anymore.
T: Ok, time is up so we stop there , that’s all for today , see you next time
COMMENTS ON THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATION
This observation was carried out in the classe de seconde of the

lycéeAntanetibeAntehiroka. This class has thirty eight students. They were very talkative in
53
class. The teacher said that this was because some of them did not study at the same school
before. Like the previous teacher, this one also couldn’t have finished her lesson since she
planned to do the lesson in 45 minutes. As the teacher gave at first a chart showing the different
types of personal pronouns, she then had the intention to finish all of them. Unfortunately, time
did not allow her to achieve the lessons, so it stopped after she had given the use of the
possessive pronouns and the students couldn’t’ have been given exercises in order to make
them practice what they have just learnt.
In this lesson, the teacher used the deductive method, which did not allow the students to
guess what the lesson was about but, instead, she had given it in advance by showing the
different types of the personal pronouns in a chart. In this chart, that she has drawn, she did not
include the personal reflexive pronouns. As we have already mentioned it earlier, there were no
practice and production stages and no warm-up stage also at the beginning.
§ Classroom Observation N° 4
Date: 24th April 2008
School: Lycée Jacques RABEMANANJARA Toamasina
Level: “Classe de seconde”
Duration: 30 mn
I/ PRESENTATION (30 mn)
T: Close your copy-book
T: We are going to learn about the personal pronouns
T: What are the subject pronouns?
SS. Pronomspersonnelssujets
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T:Yes, that is how we call it in French
T: What are they?
SS: I, You,…….
T: Give me one sentence, just one sentence as you like
S: My father works in the bank.
T: Ok, my father works at the bank
T: Right, now replace the subject in this sentence with a subject pronoun
T: What is the subject in this sentence?
SS: My father
T: So what would be our sentence if we replace the subject “ my father” with a subject
pronoun?
SS: He works at the bank.
T: Good, now I’m going to write some sentences on the blackboard, and your task is to
change the subject of each sentence by the corresponding subject pronoun
- The childrenplayoutside.
- Rakotopunisheshis son.
- The woman takes care of the baby.
- Bema and Rasoa love each other.
- Mother bought a new coat.
- The dogslikebones.
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- Karine and I went to the market.
- My father enjoys playing cards.
- Tomatoes are good for health.
- The copy- book is made in Italy.
T: Now, come to the blackboard and do it.
T: In the first sentence, is the noun “children” singular or plural?
SS: Singular
T: No, it is not correct, children is already in plural, the singular form of this word is “child”
T: So you cannot use “he” here, in this sentence but “they”
T: Is it clear?
SS: Yes teacher
T: So, what would then be the sentence?
SS: They play outside
T: Good, and in the sixth sentence
T: What is the subject?
SS: The dogs
T: Is it in the singular or the plural form?
SS: Plural
T: So, you don’t use “it” as a subject here but “ they”
T: Before writing the answer , you should see first whether the subject is singular or plural
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SS: Yes teacher
T: Good, so write your answers on the blackboard now
( Students go to the blackboard to do the small practice)
SS: Good, everything is correct so let us move on quickly to the next type of personal
pronouns which is the object pronoun!
T: As their name indicates it, personal object pronouns are used as objects
T: They can be objects of verbs or prepositions
T: For example
- She asked me something.
- The teacher spanked him.
- She forbids them to go to church.
T: In these sentences, I have used the object pronouns: “me”, “him” and “ them”
T: Now, I’m going to draw a chart showing the subject and object pronoun
Subjectpronouns Object pronouns

I Me
You You
He Him
She Her
It It
We Us
You You
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They Them
Example: Example:
We finished the lesson If you see him, give him
my love
T: Now, find sentences in which there is an object pronoun
SS: - Kathya loves him.
- The cat eatsit.
- Wepreferthem.
T: Well, our lesson today comes to its end because the bell is ringing
T: Learn your lesson at home and try to make exercises about the subject and the object
pronouns.
This class observation was carried out in one classe de seconde of the Lycée Jacques
RABEMANANJARA of Toamasina. This class is rather calm. The teacher listened carefully to
their teacher. The teacher taught only the subject and the object pronouns. She had decided to
give little practice after the teaching of the personal subject pronouns. There were no warm- up
and production stages.
§ Classroom observation N°5
Date:29th April 2008
School: Collège David Jones Toamasina
Level: “classe de seconde”
Duration: 50 mn
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Materials: Blackboard, chalks
I/ WARM-UP (06 mn)
T: You know, on my way to school, when I was in the bus, can you guess what I have seen at
the back of the chair in front of me?
SS: hmmmmmmmmm a man, a crazy boy
T: Mmmm, not really
T: No, I saw a sentence which is written in red
I LOVE YOU
II/ PRESENTATION (45mn)
T: I love you
T: You know , after I had seen this sentence, I have changed my idea on the lesson that we are
going to do today
( T writes the sentence on the BB underlines the subject and the object in the sentence)
T: Can you guess what is the title of our lesson today ?
SS: Love, marriage
T: Not exactly, our lesson today is about the personal pronouns
T: Isn’t it interesting to study them?
T: Well, the sentence which is written on the blackboard, what is the subject?
SS: I
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T: What is the verb?
SS: love
T: And what is the object?
SS: me
T: Good, so in this sentence, “I” a personal subject pronoun and “me” is a personal object
pronoun
T: Can you give me a sentence with a subject pronoun
SS:
- You are kind.
- They are intelligent.
T: Good, now find me sentences with a personal object pronoun
SS:
- Do youlikeme?
- I willkillyou
-
T: Good, now, we will draw two columns on the blackboard showing the different forms of
the subject and object pronoun.
Subjectpronouns Object pronouns

I Me
You You
He Him
She Her
It It
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We Us
You You
They Them
T: Apart from the subject and object pronouns, there are other parts of personal pronouns
which are the possessive pronouns
- I begged for her pardon.
- Listen to myrecommendations.
- Never look at his diary.
T: What are the possessive pronouns used in these sentences?
SS: “her”, “my”, and “his”
T: What are the possessive pronouns that you know?
SS: My, your, his, her, its, our, your and their
T: Unfortunately, time is up so we must stop there for today
We have carried out this classroom observation in one private school of Toamasina,
The Collège David Jones. This class was a bit talkative but the pupils answered to the teacher’s
questions. As far as the teaching of the English personal pronouns is concerned, the teacher
stopped her lesson at the possessive pronouns, she has not even finished them till the end. The
61
teacher’s warm-up really woke up the students. This observation could have been better if the
teacher had given the uses of the personal pronouns because she did not mention them in her
teaching process. The teacher did not also give a title to the lesson, and like the previous
observations, there were no practice and production stages.
2.3.2. CONCLUSION TO THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATION
The classroom observations that we have carried out in some public and private schools
have made us aware of what really happens in the classroom. None of the teacher whom we
observed had used teaching aids during their teaching and that is the main reason which
encouraged us to show in the third part of this research work that there are techniques and
materials that teachers can use in dealing with the teaching of the English personal pronouns.
In general, it was difficult to find teachers who accepted to be observed, and most of
them have accepted us only to observe them for only an hour because they said that the teaching
of this grammar point should be done in less than one hour. Yet, we have noticed that some of
them did not manage to finish the lesson in one hour.
2.4. EVALUATION OF THE STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN THE USE OF THE

ENGLISH PERSONAL PRONOUNS
2.4.0. INTRODUCTION
We have administered some tests to pupils of classe de seconde in order to determine their
performance in the use of personal pronouns. We have given four different tests. The first test is
about the use of the personal subject pronouns. The second test concerns the personal object
pronouns , the third test is about the personal possessive pronouns and the last one deals with the
personal reflexive pronouns.
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2.4.1. TEST N°1
§ Presentation of the test
This test has been given to one classe de seconde of the Lycée Jacques Rabemananjara in
Toamasina which has forty six(46) students.
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate subject pronouns
Example:
1- The man walked slowly because…….was carrying a heavy parcel.
The man walked slowly because he was carrying a heavy parcel.
2- Although ………knew it was dangerous, the girl wanted to ride the horse.
3- The tree was very tall but ………. does not give much shade.
4- She and I are coming because ………are too busy.
5- Doughnuts taste best when……are fresh.
6- The children are happy because…….have a holiday today.
7- My father and I had planned to visit the park, but since it was raining……..decided not
to go.
8- This chair is valuable because……….is so old.
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9- Until ………retired, their father managed a business.
10- After the apples have been cut up, ………should be bought.
11- Because her husband used to study music, ……..knows how to play several music
instruments.
12- My neighbor and I like to go shopping together so that ………we can help each other
choose what to buy.
13- The woman was pleased because ………has found a work.
14- Her daughter like to study because ………finds the work interesting.
15- The car is in good condition, but ……….needs a new muffler.
§ Analysis of the results of the test
Most of the students (33out of 46) have obtained the average mark.
In general, this test is more or less easy as the pupils just had to find the appropriate
personal pronouns. For those who did not obtain the average mark, we personally think that
their problems are due to the fact that they may not have studied this grammar point in lower
classes.
2.4.2. TEST N°2
64
This test has been administered to pupils of classe de seconde of the lycée Jacques
Rabemananjara in Toamasina which has forty two( 42) students.
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate personal object pronouns

Example:
1- I am looking for the post office, can you help…….?
I am looking for the post office, can you help me?
2- Because she is your friend, I offered to help ……..
3- I wish someone would tell……..the answer.
4- They look familiar, I’m sure, we have met ……..before.
5- If you are ready, we will drive……home.
6- He is our neighbor, we have known……..for years.
7- This is the book I need. May I borrow ……..?
8- If you like, I will call………..when we arrive.
9- We were surprised they remembered………
10- I think they expect………to come.
11- Will she mind if I ask…….. a question?
12- The beans will grow faster if you water……..
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13- Her grandfather is a wise man. Everybody respects……..
14- My sister likes sport. We should invite……..to join us.
15- Those people are your neighbors. Haven’tyou met……yet?
Students in this class have more or less difficulties in dealing with the personal object
pronouns. Contrary to the first test, more than half of the students, thirty two(32) did not
obtain the average mark.
The pupils’ main problems concerning the use of the personal object pronouns are that
they confuse them with the personal subject pronouns, and some of them make mistakes
because they do not know which pronoun to use.
2.4.3. TEST N°3
This test has been given to pupils of classe de seconde of the college David Jones of
Toamasina which has thirty two(42) students.
A- Fill in the blanks with the appropriate possessive adjectives
Example
1- Last night, I wrote to ……… sister.

Last night, I wrote to my sister.
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2- She has ordered ……..tickets in advance.
3- My aunt visits ……..cousins once a year.
4- We are proud of …….. record.
5- Have you filled up …… application?
6- They are going to find ……. Apartment.
7- They saw …….. friends on television.
B- Fill in the blanks with the appropriate possessive pronouns
Example
1- I thought the book was yours, but in fact it was……..

I thought the book was yours but in fact it was mine.
2- I mailed my letter, did you mail ……..?
3- I rarely use my car, but they drive …….. everywhere.
4- I have received my diploma, but she has not received …….
5- I got my driving license last month but he got …….. a year ago.
6- Most businesses try to expand, but we have kept …… small.
7- I finished my assignment yesterday. Have youfinished…….?
8- Although they do not know it yet, the prize is……
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Most of the pupils did not get the average mark. Only a few of them, that is, seven(7) students
obtained more than 10/20.
As seen from this result, many pupils still do not master the use of the personal possessive
pronouns; they sometimes confuse them with the possessive adjectives. Another pupils’
problem also is that they always refer to the first subject given in the sentence. For example,
in the sentence “ I got my driving license last month but he got ……..a year ago”, the
possessive pronoun “ his” should be used but some pupils do not refer to “he” in the second
class but to the subject “ I” in the first clause, so most of them wrote; “I got my driving
License but he got mine a year ago”. Some pupils also do not know the forms of some
personal pronouns because instead of writing “ their” , they wrote “them”.
2.4.4. TEST N°4
This forth test has been given to pupils of classe de seconde of the Collège David Jones of
Toamasina which has twenty six(26) students.
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate reflexive pronouns
Example
1- I found …….. in a difficult situation.
I found myself in a difficult situation.
2- The children warmed ……….. in front of the fire.
3- You should better take care of ………….
4- Isawit…………..
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5- We could see ………..reflected in the mirror.
6- She likes to involve…….. in community affairs.
7- The bird perched…….. on the window sill.
8- The students found the solution………
9- You……… must decide what to do.
10- The teenagers amused………by telephoning their friends.
11- We………..were surprised at the news.
12- She prides…….on her ability to speak English.
13- He likes to hear ………talk.
14- I told…….not to lose hope.

15- The fox hide……..under a bush.
More than half of the students in this class obtained the average mark with this last test, only
five of them did not get more than ten.
According to the result, this test has been easy to the students, for those who did not obtain
the average mark, they do not know the gender of the subject in sentence n°2 for example “
The children warmed……..in front of the fire”. They do not know that the noun “ children” ,
here, is in plural , so instead of using “ themselves” they used “ himself”. There are also a few
students who wrote “theirselfs” instead of “ themselves” , and “ hiself” instead “himself” and
some students separate “my” with the rest, for instance, they wrote “ my self”, him self” or
“our selves”
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2.4.5. CONCLUSION TO THE EVALUATION OF THE STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN
THE USE OF THE ENGLISH PERSONAL PRONOUNS
The results of the tests above show that many pupils have problems in when using the
personal pronouns in “ classe de seconde”. These problems are mainly due to the fact that
they haven’t studied them well in lower classes, and apart from that, they do not know how to
distinguish whether the subject is a person or a thing or an animal. The personal subject
pronouns are easier easier for the pupils to understand than the other subclasses of personal
pronouns. Thus, as we have already mentioned it before, the teaching of this grammar point in
“ classe de seconde” needs to be improved.
70
CONCLUSION TO PART II
To conclude this second part of our research work, let us first say that all lycée teachers
are aware of the importance of grammar in language teaching because it enables the students
to communicate accurately. Normally, this awareness should oblige them to adopt modern
approach and techniques. But when we carried out the class observations, we noticed that the
teachers have many problems in the teaching of grammar. The class observations have shown
that the majority of them rush in the teaching of the English personal pronouns because of the
insufficient amount of time allotted to English. All the lessons given to the pupils are too
structural. The teachers do not have any clear contexts in the examples. They almost took
their teaching job for granted. In addition, we have noticed that the teachers do not always
take into considerations the students’ levels and their understanding. Many times, the students
copy what is written on the blackboard without understanding it.
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PART III
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE
IMPROVEMENT OF THE TEACHING
OF THE ENGLISH PERSONAL
PRONOUNS TO MALAGASY LYCEE
PUPILS OF « CLASSE DE SECONDE »
3.0. INTRODUCTION
The analysis of the teachers’ answers in the questionnaire and the classroom observations that
we have carried out in some private and state lycées have shown some problems and weaknesses in
the current teaching of the English personal pronouns in “classe de seconde” of Malagasy secondary
schools.
Thus, the last part of our dissertation consists of proposals aimed at improving the teaching of
the personal pronouns.
Our suggestions consist of five contained lesson plans; three of them have been experimented by
ourselves , but owing to time constraints , two of them have not been experimented.
3.1. WHAT TO TEACH
Pupils’ understanding and production should be the main criteria when we want to teach the
English personal pronouns. Thus, we should teach the different types of these grammar points, their
gender and their functions. We should train them so that they would not forget what they have
acquired. As a result, the exercises are of great importance since they enable the pupils to produce
their own sentences.
3.2. HOW TO TEACH
As mentioned in the first part, our suggestions in this part will be based on the communicative
approach and more precisely the personal pronouns will be taught following the 3ps framework. It
is worth noting that the three stages (Presentation Practice Production) should be preceded by a
short but important stage; “warm-up”, which aims at waking the students up and attracting their
attention to the English lesson.
Moreover, the teaching procedures will be inductive. In other words, the teacher does not give
pre- established grammar rules to his or her pupils but, instead, he or she leads them to try to find
these rules from the examples that are given. In this way, grammar is presented, not in an abstract
way but in a context.
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3.3. LANGUAGE TO BE USED
Using English in order to teach the English language is advised in the way that it gradually
familiarizes the students with the English language system. Additionally, teachers should take into
account the importance of the students’ participations. To increase their motivation to participate,
teachers should let them speak and not correct them every time they produce mistakes. But if and
when serious mistakes occur, teachers should correct them tactfully and do their best not to hurt the
students’ feelings. In a word, teachers should let their students learn from their mistakes.
3.4. INTEGRATED LESSON PLANS BASED ON THE TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH

PERSONAL PRONOUNS
3.5.1. EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLANS
§ 3.5.1.1. Lesson plan n°1

nd
Date:2 October 2008
School: LycéeAmbohidratrimo
Class: “ classe de seconde”
Title of the lesson: Personal subject pronouns
Objective: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about the personal subject pronouns
Numbers of students: 53
Duration: 1h 30 mn
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PROCEDURES OF THE LESSON
I/WARM-UP
T: asks the students about the present day news
II/ PRESENTATION
Technique: using an imaginary situation
Step1:contextualization
T: provides a situation
- Now, we are going to talk about a program on TV

- Imagine what you see and what you follow during the famous daily emission
- Do you have a TV at home and do you follow this emission?
SS: Yes, we have and it is “ Money-drop”
T: Yes, now imagine that you are looking at that emission
- How many players can play in this emission?
SS: There are two players
T: Yes, who are they?
SS: They are friends or husband and wife or mother and daughter or father and son
Step2: Leading the questions towards the rules of the new language
T: - Very good , it is seen that you are really good spectators
- Ok, so two persons take part in this emission, they are, as you said, husband and wife or
friends
- And can you tell me who presents this emission?
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SS: We don’t know, a very fat woman
T: - Yes, I completely agree with you that she is fat but not very
- Do you think that that this emission attracts many people’s attention?
SS: Yes, it is very interesting
T: writes three sentences on the blackboard and underlines the subject pronouns
- They are husband and wife.
- She is a fat woman.
- Itisinteresting.
Step 3: Drawing the rules and explanation
T: Now, I would like you to tell me what are the words that I have underlined?
SS: “they”, “she”, and “ it”
T: Yes, so can you guess what title can we draw from the given sentences?
SS: It is about the pronouns
T: Good, so , let us have a look at them
- So, we study in this lesson one category of the English personal pronouns which are the
subject pronouns.
- Can you tell me what they are?
SS: they are: I, You, He, She, It, We, You and They.
T: And as seen from the examples of sentences written on the blackboard, when do we use the
personal subject pronouns?
S: We use a subject pronoun like a subject of a verb
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T: Good, so for further explanation , we use the subject pronoun in the place of the subject,
that is in the beginning of the sentence , often because the subject has already been mentioned
earlier and that we don’t want to reuse it anymore, so we replace it by a subject pronoun.
III/ PRACTICE
Activity: gaps filling
Complete the dialogues with the appropriate subject pronouns:
A: Where are my keys?
B: ……… are on the chair.
A: Where did the cat come from?
B: ……... came in through the window.
A: What do you think of the film?
B: ……….. is not very good.
A: Do you like tickets for the concert?
B: How much do ………. Cost?
A: Can you give me his phone number?
B: ………… ‘ll give it to you this afternoon.
IV/ PRODUCTION
Activity: Tell about the members of your family ( Dad, mum, sister or brother) to your partner and
tell him or her who do you like the most and why?
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Example: I am Sitraka, I like my father, he is MrLalaina, he is very kind, he is a doctor,….
COMMENTS ON THE LESSON PLAN N°1
There is an interaction between the teacher and the students, based on questions and answers.
Thus, the pupils can participate by answering to the questions. The pupils have already
learned the grammar point in lower classes, so, the imaginary situation, that is, the emission “
Money-drop” motivated them a lot to speak. As a result, we were able to introduce easily the
lesson about the personal subject pronouns.
§ 3.5.1.2. Lesson plan N°2
Date: 14th October 2008
School:Lycée Jacques RabemananjaraToamasina
Class: “classe de seconde”
Title of the lesson: The personal object pronouns
Objective: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about the personal object
pronouns
Number of students: 47
Materials: Blackboard , pieces of chalks, short passage
Duration: 1h 30m
I/ WARM-UP
T: Can you tell me what we did last time?
II/ PRESENTATION
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Technique: using a short passage
Short passage (see Appendix)
Step1: Contextualization
T: asks the students to copy the passage in their copy-book
- Asks the students to read the passage silently
T: Where does the action in this passage take place?
SS: In the market place
T: Right, in the market place, and what does it talk about?
SS: It talks about the woman who stole the man’s wallet
T: In English, how do we call someone who steals another person’s money or things?
Especially when it happens in the street?
SS: A pick-pocket
T: Yes, we call them pick- pockets, so how did the woman manage to steal the man’s wallet,
then?
SS: She pretended to be lost and asked the way to the man
T: Yes, and what happened after?
SS: While, the man was still showing her directions, she stole it.
T: Good, so let’s look back at the text
Step 2: Presenting the rules to the students
T: - writes the sentence on the blackboard:
While the man was showing her directions, she has stolen it.
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- What are the words I have underlined?
SS: “her” and “ it”
T: - So, in this example , what are “her” and “it” ?
- What do they replace?
SS: “her” replaces the noun “woman” and “it” replaces the noun “ wallet”
T: So, as for you then, what are “her” and “it” ?
Ss: They are object pronouns
T: Yes, we have already studied earlier that subject pronouns are followed by verbs, and
today, we talk about the object pronouns
T: So, what can you say about the object pronouns?
SS: They are used as objects
T: Good
- So, like the subject pronouns, the object pronouns also are among the types of personal
pronouns.
- We use them as objects of verbs
- For the subject pronoun “I” , for example, what is the corresponding object pronoun?
SS: Me
T: Good, now can you give me the object pronouns?
SS: they are: me, you, him, her, it, us, you and them
T: As it has already been explained earlier, we use the object pronouns as objects of verbs
- Apart from objects of verbs, there is also another use of te object pronouns
- Now, look at the following sentences that I’m going to write on the blackboard
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- Please, give the book tome.
- We have heard aboutyou.
- I bought a present forher.
- This letter is fromthem.
T: What object pronouns can you see in these examples?
SS: “me”, “you”, “her”, and “them”
T: And what do you see before them?
SS: “to”, “about”, “for” and “from”
T: Good, can you tell me what are they?
SS: words
T: Yes, they are words but what are the functions of these words?
( no answers)
T: Since you don’t know it, I’m going to give it to you right away. They are prepositions
- So, as well as being used as the object of verbs, the object pronouns can also be used as
objects of prepositions
- You need some practice about this lesson. So, let’s have someexercises
III/ PRACTICE
Activity: gaps filling
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate object pronouns
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1- They want us to go with………
2- She thinks we are talking about……..
3- The wall was so high that I could not see over……..
4- Your nephew wants us to write to ……….
5- You should ask them to send it to……..
6- Because she is your friend, I offered to help……….
7- He is our neighbor, we have known………for years.
8- We were surprised they remembered………
9- I think, they expect ……….. to come.
10- Will she mind if I asked ……… a question?
IV/ PRODUCTION
Now, work three by three. The first person will give order to the second person and the second
reports it to the third. And you will do it one after the other , that is, each of you should give an
order
Example:
S1: Give me the book
S2 to S3: He asks me to give him the book
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COMMENTS ON THE EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLAN N°2
Although the pupils in this class where we carried out our experimentation is rather calm, we
could have achieved the teaching of the personal object pronouns until the end, that is, the
correction in the production stage. In the beginning, they were not very enthusiastic as far as
answering to the questions are concerned, but lately, in the production stage, they were
motivated to participate in front of the whole class. As a result, the teaching of the personal
object pronouns has been done successfully.
§ 3.5.1.3. Lesson plan N° 3
Date: 20th November 2008
School: LycéeAmbohidratrimo
Class: “ classe de seconde”
Lesson : The personal possessive pronouns
Objectives : At the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about the possessive adjectives
and the possessive pronouns
Materials: Blackboard, pieces of chalks, realia
Duration : 1h 30 mn
I/WARM-UP
T: leads the course by asking the pupils to speak about the last lesson
I/PRESENTATION
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Technique: using objects in the classroom
Step 1: Contextualization
T:- Now, I’d like you to take something that belongs to you
- Then, come here in front to put it in this large bag( teacher is holding a bag)
- You can bring a pen, an eraser, a key, a sweater, as you like
( students rush in front to bring their objects)
- Good, if you finish, then turn right away to your seat
- Ravaka, can you please come here?
- Can you take something from the bag and ask your friends to whom it belongs?
S1: Whose ruler is it?
S2: It’s my ruler
Step 2: Leading the activity towards the rules of the new language
T: So, this ruler belongs to Rivo
: - It’s Rivo’s ruler, it’s his ruler, it’s his
( teacher writes it on the blackboard)
T: Now, I’d like another student to come here again to drop his or her hand in the bag
S3: Whose pen is it?
T: Isn’t it yours?
S3: No
T: Ok the, so whose pen is it?
S4: It’s mine
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T: good, so, this pen belongs to Aina, it’sAina’s pen, it’s her pen, it’s hers
( teacher writes it on the blackboard)
T: Now, I’d like all of you to sit down and look at the blackboard
- Since the ruler belongs to Rivo, it’s his .

- Next, the pen belongs to Aina, it’s hers.
- So, from these two sentences that I have written on the blackboard, can you guess what
is the title of our lesson today?
SS: Possessives
T:- More precisely, they are possessive pronouns.
- Today, we focus on this type or subclass of personal pronouns

- There exist two types of personal possessive pronouns; the possessive adjectives and
the possessive pronouns
- Can you tell me what are the possessive adjectives in our examples?
SS: they are: “his” and “her”
T: Right, and what do we have after them?
SS: a noun
T: Yes , a possessive adjective is followed by a noun
- For example: my ruler, your key, his eraser, her hat, our school, your house
- So, they are called possessive adjectives because they are used as adjectives and
indicates possession
- Can you give me now the possessive adjectives in English?
SS: They are; my, your, his, her, its, our, your and their
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T: That’s about the possessive adjectives, let us see next the following examples that I’m going
to write on the blackboard
- The red bicycle is his.
- Are theseglovesyours?
- Because I forgot my umbrella, she lent me hers.
T: In these three sentences, what are “his”, “yours” and “hers”?
SS: Possessives
T: More precisely, they are called possessive pronouns
T: Instead of repeating the noun after the possessive adjective, you can resort in other
way, that is by using the possessive pronouns
T: So, instead of repeating “my ruler” for example, you can say “mine’, or instead of
saying” his pen”, you can say” his”
T: So now, can you give me all the English possessive pronouns?
SS: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours,yours and theirs
T: good, so I think, you are ready now for some practice
II/ PRACTICE
Activity 1:
Circle the correct answer
1- John and his/ her/ their wife has gone to Greece
2- Ann has lost her/ his/ its keys
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3- That’s not me/my/mine coat
4- Their house is much bigger than our/ ours/ their
Activity 2: gaps filling
Put in the correct possessive adjectives or pronouns
1- I’mlooking for ....... keys.
2- I failed my exams, but my brother passed ..........
3- Did the man finish ........ work?
4- I forgot to bring my camera, did you bring ........ ?
5- She has already got ...... ticket.
6- The gymnasts asked ......... coach for advice
7- I water my plants everyday but you never water ......
8- The eagle is holding something in ....... wings
9- I never cut my hair but my sister always cuts..... once a month.
10- Because I had no gloves, my niece offered me ........
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IV/ PRODUCTION
Find sentences in which you first use the possessive adjective, then, change your
sentences by replacing the possessive adjectives by possessive pronouns.
Examples:
- I playwithmytoys
- I playwithmine
COMMENTS ON THE EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLAN N°3
This lesson is a bit longer compared to the lessons about the subject and the object pronouns.
Thus, we hadn’t had enough time to achieve the correction in the production work. In this
class, the teaching of the English possessive pronouns is just a kind of review because they
have already done them in lower classes unlike the other forms of the personal pronouns. As
for us, we found it better to use objects in the classroom for a relaxing and funny environment
in order to make the pupils understand the lesson. The lesson was quite successful because the
students understood it quickly and we can also confirm that from the results of the practice we
have given them.
3.5.2.NON-EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLANS
§ 3.5.2.1.Lesson plan N°4
Title of the lesson: The personal reflexive pronouns
Objectives: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about the personal reflexive
pronouns
Materials: blackboard, pieces of chalks chalks, picture
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Duration: lh 30 mn
I/ WARM-UP
T: Do you know what a tongue twister is?
SS: No, teacher
T: Ok, so let me give you an example of a tongue twister then “she sells sea-shells on the
seashore, the shells that she sells are seashore shells she’s sure” ( The students have fun
repeating the tongue twister
II/ PRESENTATION
Technique: using a picture
Step 1: contextualization
T: What is this?
SS: A picture
T: Now, look at the picture and tell me what can you see?
SS: Two persons, a man and a woman
T: Good, so what are they doing?
SS: they are looking at the mirror
T: Yes, when you are in front of a mirror or when you hold a mirror, who are you looking at?
SS: our photo
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Step2: Leading the questions towards the new language
T: When you hold a mirror or stand in front of the mirror, it means that you see your photo in
the mirror, you look at yourself in the mirror
T: Let’s go back to our picture, the man and the woman are looking at themselves in the
mirror The man is looking at himself and the woman also is looking at herself in the mirror
T: So what do you notice in these three examples?
SS: “themselves”, “himself’ and “herself’
Step3: giving the rules and explanation
T: Good, so, what are they?
Ss: reflexive pronouns
T: Good, so don’t write anything on your copy-book yet. I’m going to give you other
examples
- The children formed themselves into a line.
- She should give herself more time.
- We announced the news ourselves.
T: In these three sentences, what are the reflexive pronouns did I use?
SS: “themselves”, “herself ‘and “ourselves”
T: When do we use a reflexive pronoun?
SS: We use them as objects
T: Good, we use a reflexive pronoun as direct or indirect object of the verb and that the object
is the same as the subject.
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T: Reflexive pronouns, then, refer back to the subjects
T: If I say for example
-John taught ....... guitar
T: What reflexive pronoun should be put in the blanks?
SS: himself
T: Good, it’s “himself’ because the subject, that is “ John” is a third person singular, that
is if we replace John by a personal pronoun subject, we have “he”. So the corresponding
reflexive pronoun is himself.ing and that he is also, at the same time, the person who was
taught
And this sentence means that it’s John who did the teaching
SS: Yes teacher
T: good, so now, I’d like you to give me all the reflexive pronouns
SS: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves
T: Good, so now, let’s have some exercises about the reflexive pronouns
III/ PRACTICE
Activity 1
Complete the conversation by putting a reflexive pronoun
Matthew: I’ll get the tickets, shall I?
Emma: It’s Ok, I can pay for.........
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Olivia: I’ve got lots of photos of my children
Linda: Yes, but you haven’t got many of…..
Rita: Did you have a good tile at the holiday centre?
Laura: Well, there wasn’t much going on. We had to amuse .......
Peter: Why has the light come off?
Kate: It switches ............ off automatically.
Activity2
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate reflexive pronouns
1- He was tired but he forced ............ to go on?
2- She has cut ....... so badly.
3- They built ........ a garage behind the house.
4- He boiled……..a couple of eggs.
5- We built most of the house ...........
6- The fox hid ...... under the bush.
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7- I told ...... not to lose hope.
8- You could see ...... reflected in the mirror.
9- She likes to involve ....... into community affairs.
10-The students found the solution ....................
IV/ PRODUCTION
Find five sentences of your own in which you use the reflexive pronouns and then tell your
sentences to the whole class.
§ 3.5.2.2.Lesson plan N°5
Title of the lesson:The Personal Subject Pronouns
Objective: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to use the Personal Subject Pronouns
Materials: pictures, blackboard, pieces of chalks
Duration: lh 30mn
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I/ WARM-UP
How is it going?
- Great
- Bad
- So so
II/ PRESENTATION
Technique:
usingpictures
Step1:
Contextualization
T: sticks the picture n°1 on the blackboard.
(See Appendix)
: - What is this?
SS:- A picture
T: - Yes, so what can you see in this picture?
SS: A person
T: -Good, a person, but is it a boy or a girl?
SS:A boy
T: - Good, so, let’s call this boy Henry
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- What is Henry doing?
SS: Henry is using a moto
T: - More precisely, here, Henry is riding a motorbike
T: Writes on the blackboard the sentence:
- Henry is riding a motorbike.
T: sticks another picture on the blackboard
:- Now, can you tell me what you see in this next picture?
SS: A person, a girl
T: Good, this is a girl
-This time, let’s call the girl Kate
-What is Kate doing in this picture?
SS: Kate is skiing.
T: Good, Kate is skiing
T: writes the sentence on the blackboard
- Kate is skiing.
T: sticks another picture on the blackboard
- Here, in this picture, what do you see?
Ss: A bird
T :-Yes, a bird.but what kind of bird?
- Can you tell me the name of this bird?
-Please, raise your hand if you know it
SS: A colombe
T: - In French, it is “Colombe’’but in English, we call this bird “dove”
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- Repeat after me; dove
SS: Dove
T:-Good, So, what is this dove doing?
SS: - This dove is flying
T: Good, The Dove is flying
T: writes the sentence on the blackboard
Step2: Leading the sentences written on the blackboard towards the rules of the new
language
T: - Now, as I have written three sentences on the blackboard -What is the subject in
the first sentence?
SS: Henry
T: - If I don’t want to use Henry here as a subject, what can I use?
SS: He
T: Good, so, can you repeat the sentence by not using the noun ’Henry” anymore?
SS: Yes, He is riding a motorbike
T: Writes the sentence with the subject pronoun «He” on the blackboard again
-Now, let’s move on to the next sentence
-What is the subject in this second sentence?
SS: Kate
T: Good, which personal pronoun shall we use here in order not to repeat Kate?
SS: She
T: Why you say, it’s “she”?

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SS: Because Kate is a girl
T: Good, and finally, let’s work on the third example
Could you read the sentence please?
SS: Pronouns
T: Yes, today, we are going to talk about an important category of the personal pronouns
-So, the title of our lesson today is “The Personal Subject Pronouns”
Step3: Drawing the rules and explanation
T: So, we have seen through our examples that we can use the personal subject pronouns
before the verbs
-As its name indicates, a personal pronoun subject can replace a subject. So, instead of
repeating the subject in the sentence, we can use a personal pronoun.
-Do you understand?
Ss: yes, teacher
T: Good, so can you give me now what are the personal subject pronouns?
Ss: I, You, He, She, It, We, You, They
T: Now. I’d like you to look at the blackboard again and have a glance at the following
sentence
- John and his bother are tall and John and his brother are intelligent.
- What do you notice in this sentence?
Ss: A repetition
T: A repetition of what?
Ss: “John and his brother” is repeated twice
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T: Yes, here, instead of repeating the subject “ John and his brother”, what should I have
written?
Ss: They
T: - Very good, so, here, the personal pronouns subject “they” could be used instead of
repeating” John and his brother”
T: -1 think that everything is more or less clear about the personal subject pronoun
- It’s better to have some exercise on them
III/ PRACTICE
Activity: Replace the subjects in the following sentences with personal pronouns
1- Tony and Timothy are basketball players.
2- Miss White is very clever.
3- Lionel is an English teacher.
4- Lion is the king of the jungles.
5- Sarah isverybeautiful.
6- Fred and I are good friends.
7- Is James good at volleyball?
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8- Mount Everest is very high.
9- MrsRogala has 23 students.
10- Are you and Mr Parker brothers?
IV/PRODUCTION
Ask information about your partner and then report it to the whole class by using the Personal
subject pronouns
Example:
She is Sitraka, she likes Maths, She has got one bother, he is a teacher and he is very kind, ..............
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CONCLUSION TO PART THREE
In this third part and last part of our dissertation, we have given some suggestions
for the improvement of the teaching of the English personal pronouns to Malagasy Lycée
pupils.
We would like to single out that the teaching of the English Personal pronouns
should follow the three stages ; “Presentation”, “ Practice”, and “ Production” stages. As the
purpose of learning a language is communication , therefore, the activities that should be done
during these three stages should be communicative activities to help pupils memorize the
rules and use them in different situations.
Five samples of lesson plans are provide. The timing proposed is very flexible in
that they depend on the level of the class. Therefore, it is up to the teachers to adapt their
teaching to their classes and the teaching aids available.
Thus, we hope that these suggestions would help the teachers to bring some kind of
improvement in the teaching of these particular grammar points
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GENERAL CONCLUSION
To close our study, we would say that our main objective is generally to contribute
to the improvement of the teaching of one aspect of English grammar; the English Personal
Pronouns. More precisely, to share a few ways on how we should come over a simple
traditional teaching of these grammatical elements by suggesting a variety of activities to
improve the English teachers’ methods and techniques for an efficient teaching of these
grammar points has three parts.
The first part is theoretical and consists in:
§ A linguistic study of the forms , meanings and uses of the personal pronouns.
§ A short presentation of the theoretical background to our didactic suggestions

that is the Communicative Approach and the principles, methods and
techniques for the teaching of grammar in this approach.
The second part aims at obtaining information about the present practices concerning
the teaching and the learning of the personal pronouns to Lycée pupils. For this purpose, we
have tried to find out the teachers’ opinions about the teaching of these grammar points by
means of a questionnaire and finally, we have carried out a series of class observations in
different Lycées.
In the last part of this research work, we provided lesson plans. We have intended to
undertake experimentation of all our lesson plans but owing to the teachers’ impossibility to
accept our request and the lack of time available for our purpose, we have experimented only
some of them.
Consequently, this work does not have any pretention to be the final solutions to the
problems dealt with here.
We only hope that , in one way or another, it will contribute to the improvement of the
teaching of the English Personal Pronouns in particular and of English in general
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Teaching. Cambridge UniversityPress, 1986
B- CAPEN DISSERTATIONS
16- RAHARINDRATOSOA, M. V., Improving the Teaching of the English adverbs to

MalagasyLycée pupils. CAPEN Dissertation, Antananarivo: Ecole Normale
Supérieure, 2004.
102
17- TAVANDRA, A., Improving the Teaching of Subjective Quantifiers to Malagasy
LycéePupils. CAPEN Dissertation, Antananarivo: Ecole Normale Supérieure, 2002.
18- RANJEVARIVONY, S., Using The Communicative approach in Difficult

Circumstances: Case of Madagascar, CAPEN Dissertation, Antananarivo:
EcoleNormaleSupérieure, 1994.
19- RAVELOARISOA, L.N., Helping CEG Teachers of English to teach Grammar in

“Classe de6è”, DCPES. Dissertation, Antananarivo: Ecole Normale Supérieure, 2000.
C- OFFICIAL SYLLABUS
20- Ministère de l’Education Nationale, (eds), Programme scolaire classe de seconde,

1996.
D- DICTIONARIES
21- Chambers 20th century English Dictionary, London : Edinburgh: W&E Chambers,
1903.
22- Longman Dictionaries of Applied Linguistics, 1985.
23- Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary, Oxford, 2006.
103
APPENDICES
Appendix N°1
(Questionnaire)
QUESTIONNAIRE
Question N°1
Name of the school where you teach
Question N°2
Your highest qualifications
A- LICENSE
B- MAITRISE
C- CAPEN
D- OTHERS (please, specify)
Question N°3
How long have you been teaching the English language?
Question N°4
Do you use Malagasy and French when teaching?
A- Yes
B- No
Question N°5
I
Do you teach the English personal pronouns to pupils of “classe de seconde”?
A- Yes
B- No
Question N°6
If your answer to question N°5 is “Yes”, you teach them because:
A- It is required in the Official syllabus
B- You consider them as an important aspect of grammar
C- Your pupils often makes mistakes when using them
D- Other reasons (please specify)
Question N°7
You teach the different types and functions of the English personal pronouns
A- At a time
B- Separately
Question N°8
Do you use special sessions devoted to the teaching of the English personal pronouns?
II
A- Yes
B- No
Question N°9
How do you proceed to the teaching of the English personal pronouns?
A- By giving rules and explanation followed by examples
B- By using translation into French or Malagasy
C- Other methods (please specify)
Question N°10
How much time do you spend on the teaching of the English personal pronouns?
A- One hour
B- One hour and a half
C- Two hours
D- More than two hours
Question N°11
III
Do you follow the 3Ps ( Presentation Practice Production) stages when teaching the English
personal pronouns?
A- Yes
B- No
Question N°12
During the Practice stage, when you give exercises, do you
A- Take them from books
B- Produce your own exercises
Question N°13
Do you think that the teaching of the English personal pronouns in “classe de seconde” is
important? Why?
Question N°14
Do your pupils like the lesson about the English personal pronouns?
A- Very much
B- So so
C- Not very well
IV
Question N°15
At the end of the classe de seconde, how do you find the pupils’ mastery of the English
personal pronouns?
A- Excellent
B- Good
C- Just average
D- Bad
V
Appendix N°2
(Extract from the official syllabus)
VI
APPENDIX N°3
(Pictures, short story……)
SHORT STORY
Text:
The other day when I was shopping, a woman stopped me and asked me
the way to the post office. I gave her directions and she thanked me politely,
thenran off quickly in the opposite direction. I put my hand in my pocket and
found out that my wallet was missing. She must have taken it while we were
talking. I shouted after her but it was no good. Shehaddisappeared in the crowd.
VII
VIII
University of Antananarivo
Ecole Normale Supérieure
English Department
Title : Improving the teaching of the english personal pronouns to Malagasy pupils of “classe de
seconde”
Author : Tojo Mampionona SAHOLY
ABSTRACT
This dissertation proposes ways how the teaching of the English personal pronouns could be
improved in order to help teachers in their day-to-day teaching but also lycée learners of
“classe de seconde” in the process of their structural mastery and use of this grammar point.
The research work has been carried out following a three part plan
The First part constitutes theoretical basis of the study and deals, on the one hand, with a
theoretical analysis of the forms, meanings and uses of the English personal pronouns and on
the other hand, the basic principles of the communicative teaching of grammar, preceded by a
summary presentation of the commutative approach to language teaching.
The second part is concerned with field work and contains the investigation, bymeans of a
questionnaire and classroom observations that we have carried out in a few lycées in
Madagascar with a view of finding out the present state of affairs’concerning the current
teaching of the English personal pronouns in our lycée ;
The third part is practical and contains the teaching investigations that we put forward as our
contribution to bring about some improvement to the teaching of the grammar point dealt with
in study to lycée pupils of “classe de seconde”
KEY WORDS : personal pronouns – communicative approach – language teaching –grammar

etc ….
OTHER DETAILS : List of abbreviations, Appendices
Number of pages : 103
Number of tables charts and diagrams : 22

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UNIVERSITE D’ANTANANARIVO

Centre d’ Etude et de la Recherche en Langue et Lettres Anglaises

IMPROVING THE TEACHING OF THE

SALOHY Tojo Mampionona

MANORO Régis : Maître de conférences

23rd December 2016

Secondly we would like to express our deep gratitude to Mr TEFINJANAHARY

Thirdly, we owe a special debt of gratitude to Mr MANORO Régis, our dissertation

0.1.RATIONALE OF THE CHOICE OF THE TOPIC 1

1.1. STUDY OF THE ENGLISH PERSONAL PRONOUNS 5

1.1.2.FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS 14

1.1.3. USES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS 15

1.1.4. MEANINGS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS 17

1.2. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 19

1.2.1. SUMMARY INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH 19

1.2.2. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATIVE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 20

THE TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH

2.2.0. PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH PROCEDURES 26

2.2.1. CONCLUSION TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE INVESTIGATION 36

2.3. CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS 37

2.3.1. REPORT OF THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS 37

2.3.2. CONCLUSION TO THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS 62

2.4. EVALUATION OF THE STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN THE USE OF THE ENGLISH

2.4.1. TEST N°1 63

2.4.2. TEST N°2 64

2.4.3. TEST N°3 66

2.4.4. TEST N°4 68

2.4.5. CONCLUSION TO THE STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN THE USE OF THE ENGLISH

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE

3.1. WHAT TO TEACH 72

3.2. HOW TO TEACH 72

3.3. LANGUAGE TO BE USED 73

3.4. INTEGRATED LESSON PLANS BASED ON THE TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH

3.4.1. EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLANS 73

3.4.1.1. Lesson plan N°1 73

3.4.1.2. Lesson plan N°2 77

3.4.1.3. Lesson plan N°3 82

3.4.2. NON-EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLANS 87

3.4.2.1. Lesson plan N°4 87

3.4.2.2. Lesson plan N°5 92

CONCLUSION TO PART III

Personal pronouns- communicative approach- language teaching- grammar etc…..

OTHER DETAILS: List of abbreviations, Appendices

Number of pages: 103

Number of tables, charts and diagrams: 22

-ELT : English Language Teaching

-CAPEN : Certificat d’Aptitude Pédagogique de l’Ecole Normale

-ENS : Ecole Normale Supérieure

During our practical training at LycéeModèrned’Ampefiloha in 2006, we noticed that

0.2. OBJECTIVE, SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OFTHE STUDY

Moreover, we have restricted the classes concerned only to “ classe de seconde”,

As stated earlier in the general introduction, this CAPEN dissertation purposes to

( LITTLEWOOD 1981: x).

1.1. STUDY OF THE ENGLISHPERSONAL PRONOUNS

1.1.1 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

The linguistic category of “ person” , essentially represented by pronouns , is

Function First Second Third

“Pronoun” is a term used in grammatical classification of words , referring to the

(1) Personal pronouns

(01) – Would you come and have a drink?

(2) Possessive pronouns

(03) – Her parents were in China , and so were mine.

(3) Reflexive pronouns

(05) – He forced himself to lie.