This document discusses the politics of pronoun usage for animals in language teaching. It argues that pronouns like "who" are commonly used to refer to animals but language teaching materials incorrectly state that "who" is only for people. This risks teaching students that humans are separate from nature and can negatively impact environmental attitudes. The document suggests activities to raise awareness of various pronoun options and reflect on how language influences perspectives.

1. Animals who get called she or
he, or even they
The Politics of
Pronouns for Animals

2. Themes of this presentation
- Language use always construes the world in particular ways (Halliday,
2001)
- Pronouns are never neutral (Pennycook, 1994)
- All education is environmental education (Orr, 2004)
Humans often construe themselves as different and distant from non-human
animals, and thus from the natural world.
The terms we use and teach for other animals, including pronouns, create
patterns of evaluation, erasure, distortion, and saliency with ecological
consequences.

3. What do we teach about pronouns and animals?
The example of ‘who’ vs ‘which’
All major learner’s dictionaries say that ‘who’
can only be used for people (Brown, 2017).
For instance:
1. what or which person or people
2. used after a noun or pronoun to show
which group of people you are talking
about
3. used to introduce an additional
statement about someone who has
already been mentioned
- Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary
What does this teach?
It teaches much more than just an English
pronoun convention. Among other things, it
teaches that:
- Humans are apart from other animals
- Other animals are categorically more
similar to things like rocks, tables, pens,
etc., than to beings with sentience,
feelings, or personalities like humans.
- This dichotomy is natural or inevitable

4. Is such a “rule” valid?
- Dictionaries (not learner’s dictionaries) acknowledge
‘who’ is used with animal referents (e.g. Merriam-
Webster)
- Corpus research has shown that ‘who’ is routinely
used with animal referents (Gilquin & Jacobs, 2006)
- English learning materials such as graded readers
routinely use ‘who’ with animal referents (Brown,
2017)

5. Animals with “person” pronouns
Relative
1. She is a sweet dog who knows sit and shake. (SkELL) (also notice ‘she’)
2. Its only enemy is the sperm whale who hunts it deep in the ocean. (SkELL)
3. Against the Capitol I met a lion, / Who glared upon me, and went surly by
(Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 3)
Third person
- She is a cat, after all, and cats like to nap. (SkELL)
- The wolf had cornered his prey and was now moving in for the kill. (SkELL)

6. Even singular ‘they/them’ !!!
Get the dog out of the car and move them to a shaded, or cooler area. Then,
douse the dog with cool water and let them drink small amounts of it. Make
sure the water is cool but not cold, to avoid shock.
If the dog is not displaying signs of heatstroke, let them rest while you
establish how long they were in the car, and make a note of the vehicle’s
registration.
- The Metro, “Are you legally allowed to smash car windows to rescue dogs?”

7. What does this mean?
- Teaching that some pronouns are only
for humans, and never for other
animals, reifies the idea that humans
are separate from nature.
- Such language use is part of a broader
pattern of use and discourse that makes
environmentally destructive and
ecologically unsound behaviour more
likely.
- Teaching that some pronouns are only
for humans, and never for other
animals, is inaccurate and doesn’t reflect
how fluent users of the language use
pronouns.
- Students need to be aware that there
are various options when using
pronouns for animal referents, and that
different choices can convey different
views, attitudes, and positions.
Ecologically Pedagogically

8. What to do?
1. Pay attention to, and be selective about, materials that use pronouns in
particular ways.
2. Do noticing activities; discuss why a speaker/author may have used a
particular pronoun.
3. Encourage reflections about other points of language use; if applicable,
encourage noticing of similar points in students’ L1(s).
4. Involve students; engage with students’ ideas and opinions about animals,
ecology, nature, and how people talk about such subjects.

9. Example Activity
Problem: The coursebook gives/implies the “rule”
that ‘who’ is for people, and ‘which’ is for animals.
(note: this activity assumes easy access to the
internet)
Activity (adapt as needed for comprehension)
1. Personalize the topic of other animals
a. For example, do any students have
pets? Do you have a pet?
b. Are pets family members? Do they have
personalities?
2. State that the who/which distinction in the
coursebook is oversimplified (explain as little
as possible, for now). Craven, 2013

10. Example Activity, ctd.
3. Ask each student to choose an
animal (any animal, domesticated or
wild, is ok).
4. Each student should visit the SkELL
website. They should search for
<animal name> who and <animal
name> which. (see the pictures to the
right for an example of a student
searching shark.
5. Have students record the
frequencies, and report these on the
board.
6. Guide a discussion about what this
data teaches us.

11. Not a fix; an opportunity
Simply changing the pronouns we typically use when referring to animals, or
changing how we teach this topic, doesn’t fix the other ways that our
discourse and behavior negatively affects other animals, the environment, or
our ecological well-being. After all, people treat each other poorly without
calling each other ‘it’.
But it’s not nothing. And it can tied into other critical and eco-critical learning
activities. Furthermore, it has pedagogic value in that it reflects how fluent
speakers actually use the language. It isn’t just activism; it’s the target
language.

12. Sources
Dictionaries
Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/
Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary http://learnersdictionary.com/
Web applications
Sketch Engine for Language Learning (SkELL)
https://skell.sketchengine.co.uk/run.cgi/skell
Newspapers
Nagesh, A. (2016, July 20). Are you legally allowed to smash car
windows to rescue dogs? The Metro.
http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/20/are-you-legally-allowed-to-smash-car-
windows-to-rescue-dogs-6017953/
Plays
Shakespeare, W. (≈1600). Julius Caesar. 3.1.
Journals, Books
Brown, M.H. (2017). Nonhuman animals and the relative pronoun
‘who’ in learner’s dictionaries and graded readers. Language &
Ecology. http://ecolinguistics-association.org/journal/
Gilquin, G., & Jacobs, G.M. (2006). Elephants (who) marry mice are
very unusual: The use of the relative pronoun who with nonhuman
animals. Society & Animals, 14(1), 79-105.
Halliday, M. A. K. (2001). New ways of meaning: The challenge to
applied linguistics. In: Fill, A. & Muhlhausler, P. (Eds.) The
ecolinguistics reader: Language, ecology, and environment (pp. 175-
202). London & New York: Continuum.
Orr, D. (2004). Earth in mind: On education, environment and the
human prospect. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Pennycook, A. (1994). The politics of pronouns. ELT Journal, 48(2),
173-178.
Coursebooks
Craven, M. (2013). Breakthrough Plus 4. Macmillan Education.