Real Grammar - Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber 2009

The Pronouns This and That
Unit 23 Yeah, that’s right!

What have you learned from your grammar textbook?

(1) The pronouns this and these refer to things that are near to you. (2) The pronouns that and those refer to things that are away from you.

1. Mom, this is a really good salad.

2. That is a nice beach.

What does the corpus show?

A

Frequency information. In conversation, the pronoun that is extremely common, but the pronoun this is not frequent.

In academic writing, neither pronoun is especially frequent, but the pronoun this is twice as common as that.

B

The pronoun that usually does NOT refer to a specific object or person that is distant from the speaker. Rather, that is common in conversation because it has several special functions:

* For more on coordination tags, see Unit 20.

C

In academic writing, the pronoun this is much more common than that. This almost never refers to a specific object that is near. Rather, the pronoun this usually refers to the idea expressed in the preceding sentences:

• Loban (1963) was able to highlight one crucial problem. He found that the frequency of dependent clauses in the written language of high-ability students did not increase, while it did for low-ability children. This suggests that there is a ceiling to the effectiveness of such frequency counts.

Be careful! When you use the pronoun this, make sure that the idea it refers to has been clearly stated. For example, it is impossible to know exactly what this refers to in the following student writing:

• The tribe’s traditional way of thinking was central to sustainable development, but they could not be successful without modern technology that makes development more productive. This is very important because the group established sustainability without changing their traditions.

The pronoun this might refer to the idea that “the traditional way of thinking was central” or the idea that “they could not be successful until..” or to an unstated idea that “the tribe did eventually use modern technology.” If you cannot use the pronoun this with clear reference, state your idea another way.

Activities

1 Notice in context: Read the conversation and the paragraph from an academic text. Circle all instances of this and that

1. Conversation: After a job interview.

John: Well, I think he sounds qualified for what we’re looking for. Especially since, you know, it’s hard to find a good dedicated salesman that can travel all the time.

Pat: Yeah, that’s right. And he says he can travel, and he’s worked as a salesman before.

2. Academic writing: From a handbook about film equipment.

When selecting film equipment to buy for local projects, one should make sure that repair shops are of good quality and spare parts are quickly obtainable. If equipment has to be moved frequently between different locations, it must be able to withstand stress, so a strong carrying case is preferable. This seems obvious but is not always considered when selecting items.

2 Analyze discourse: Answer these questions about the conversation and paragraph in Activity 1.

1. In the conversation, underline the word that when it refers to an idea. State the idea below:

2. In the paragraph, underline the word this when it refers to an idea. State the idea below:

3 Practice conversation: imagine you are at a party and overhear the following statements. Express your opinion of the statements using the type of phrase in parentheses.

4 Practice conversation: Think about something you recently read or heard about in the news, work with a partner and take turns telling about the news story and commenting on it using as many of the patterns from the chart in Section В as you can.

Example

A: This morning I read about a dog that saved a child in a swimming pool.

B: That’s great!

A: Yeah, but I wondered why only the dog was in the yard with the child.

B: Yeah, that’s a good point...

5 Practice writing: Each paragraph below includes a sentence that begins with the pronoun this, but the idea that this refers to has not been clearly stated in the preceding sentence. Describe the problem and rewrite the passage to make it clear. If you cannot make the idea clear using the pronoun this, write the ideas another way.

Example

Detailed records that report if an employee has done his/her job and handled difficult situations can assist in the evaluation process. This requires accuracy as well as consistency.

Problem: The pronoun this is unclear, because it could refer to unstated difficulties in keeping “detailed records," or to the process of “assisting in the evaluation process,” or even to the employee doing the job well.

Rewrite:

Detailed records that report if an employee has done his/her job and handled difficult situations can assist in the evaluation process. Keeping such detailed records requires accuracy as well as consistency.

1. The theory may come from a variety of sources: from experience or experiment, or from sudden insight. But wherever it comes from, the theory needs to be made clear. This is not to deny that teachers may be highly effective without following a theory.

2. Some people will feel uneasy about the definition of “pedagogy” as “operational research,” because it might cramp the teacher’s style. This raises an issue which is important to the matters discussed in this book.