Gender-inclusivity and gender-neutrality in foreign language teaching: The case of French

Abstract

This is a secondary research discussion paper on the issue of non-conforming gender-inclusivity or neutrality in foreign language teaching of gender-based languages. Australian universities welcome increasingly diverse populations of students. One source of diversity among the student population is characterised by the notion of gendered identities, and especially the affirmation of the rights of LGBTQIA+ communities. Universities aim to show equal respect to all gendered identities. It entails using the language that is most respectful to refer to people in a non-sexist, gender-neutral, or gender-inclusive manner, and to allow students to use the language they are most comfortable with. The demands for gender-inclusive and/or gender-neutral language brings some new challenges with respect to the teaching of gender-based foreign languages. In this article, I delineate these challenges with regards to the teaching of French as a foreign language. There is a growing body of literature on ESL Queer teaching, but a paucity of information about this issue in the foreign language teaching of gender-based languages. Even the best-intentioned teacher can therefore feel insecure because of the lack of information. I specifically review strategies on how to deal with the introduction of gender-inclusive and gender-neutral modes of expression in foreign language teaching, dealing with so-called inclusive writing and the neo-morphemes that have been proposed, and examine how language teachers can raise awareness among their student population about LGBTQIA+ issues.

Gender neutral and non-binary language practices in the Spanish language classroom: Tensions between disciplinary and societal changes

“…While articulation of specific curricular and pedagogical strategies have been gaining momentum in the teaching of English (see, for instance, Merse, 2015;Moore, 2020b;and, notably, Paiz, 2019;Paiz, 2020Paiz, , 2021and Seburn, 2021, in relation to the development of inclusive materials), there are also many emerging scholarly works in French (Knisely, 2016(Knisely, , 2020(Knisely, , 2021Peters, 2020;Pilon, 2020), Italian L2 Journal Vol. 14 Issue 3 ( 2022) 12 (Formato, 2019), German (Djavadghazaryans, 2020), and Japanese (Arimori, 2020).…”

Português para todes: percepções de profissionais de língua portuguesa sobre o uso de linguagem inclusiva

“…Não se pode ignorar a opinião de pessoas que se dizem resistentes à adoção da linguagem inclusiva por não haver ainda a "oficialização", "padronização" ou incorporação dessas formas na língua padrão, ou daquelas que argumentam que essa linguagem ainda não é usada pela maioria das pessoas. Inclusão e justiça social, no entanto, devem fazer parte dos nossos currículos e das discussões em nossos ambientes escolares (Annamalai e Skutnabb-Kangas, 2020;Okan, 2019;Peters, 2020;Randolph e Johnson, 2017). É possível que, em breve, formas inclusivas de linguagem se tornem uma opção em instituições escolares, como já ocorreu em algumas escolas em países lusófonos.…”