Creating a Gender and Sexuality Inclusive OER World Language Course

Federica Goldoni, Georgia Gwinnett College
Kristina Watkins Mormino, Georgia Gwinnett College

Abstract

Diversity and inclusivity are imperatives in world language classes because teaching and learning a foreign language entails intimacy and engagement of various identities and preparation for immersion in the target language and culture. World language instructors who use OER must keep abreast of real-world developments and issues and incorporate them into lessons, practice, and assessments. Gender inclusive language specifically is one cultural and linguistic issue that instructors face—especially when teaching gendered languages—and that has been rapidly changing hand-in-hand with socio-cultural developments.

This article shows how inclusive education instruction draws on open educational practices. World language instructors using OER can increase diversity and acceptance of all sexualities and gender identities and dismantle the concept of universal values. OER-based culture lessons can be added highlighting female and queer figures, vocabulary lists can be expanded to embrace gender inclusive terms, and inclusive notions can be integrated into activities, course goals, and assessments throughout the course using backward design. Creating an inclusive space while drawing on open educational practices helps students see the target culture with greater nuance, the language as living and evolving, and the people who speak it as more real and less stereotypical.

Keywords: world languages and cultures, diversity and inclusivity, gender inclusive language, sexuality, inclusive pedagogy, open educational resources

Suggested citation: Goldoni, F., & Mormino, K. W. (2024). Creating a gender and sexuality inclusive OER world language course. In T. Tijerina (Ed.), Pedagogy opened: Innovative theory and practice (pp. 97-127). University of North Georgia Press. https://alg.manifoldapp.org/read/pedagogy-opened-v1-a4/.

Introduction

Diversity and inclusivity are a challenge and an imperative in world language classes because teaching and learning a world language entails intimacy and engagement of various identities on the part of instructors and learners and preparation for immersion in the target language and culture. World language instructors who use open educational resources (OER), which are not always up-to-date, have an added duty to keep abreast of real-world developments in the target language and culture and to incorporate them into lessons, practice, and assessments. Gender inclusive language specifically is a complex cultural and linguistic issue, especially in gendered European languages. Gender inclusive language has been at the forefront of people’s attention, and it has been rapidly changing together with socio-cultural developments, like gender equality and non-conformity of gender and sexual orientation, as language reflects culture, power, and societal biases.

This article shows how inclusive education instruction draws on open educational practices. World language instructors using OER can increase and normalize diversity and acceptance of all sexualities and gender identities, dismantle the concept of universal values and enable students to see culture with greater nuance. OER-based culture lessons and vocabulary lists can be added and/or expanded, and inclusive language and ideas can be integrated into activities, course goals, and assessments throughout the course using backward design, therefore leading each lesson toward assessment and a demonstration of proficiency in each learning outcome. The implications of this discussion are important: Creating an inclusive space while drawing on open educational practices has the potential to help students see the target language as living and evolving and the people who speak it as more real and less stereotypical; students may experience a deeper sense of belonging and a greater appreciation of the complexity and nuances of cultures and societies. Finally, sharing these OER among instructors can potentially transform world language teaching by bringing gender and sexuality inclusivity to a greater number of classrooms.

What Do Gender and Sexuality Inclusivity Look Like in a World Language Class?

Because culture and identity permeate the world language curriculum in both subtle and overt ways, there are innumerable points at which there may be inclusion or exclusion. In many fields, it would be sufficient to explore minority, women, and LGBTQ+ figures and works or achievements associated with them. In world language classes, however, students are directed to communicate about their own lives and opinions using the target language. For example, if students are learning vocabulary dealing with relationships, they must practice by speaking and writing about their own relationships, be they familial, friendly, professional, residential, or romantic. So too, if they are learning vocabulary and grammar used in describing people, they apply that knowledge by describing themselves and people they know. In brief, students develop proficiency with vocabulary and grammar by communicating about themselves. Moreover, while there are other disciplines—anthropology, geography, and religious studies, for example—that analyze varying types of societies and cultural norms from an external perspective, world language classes must prepare students to immerse themselves in the target language and culture. In short, it is personal. The intimacy entailed in learning a world language requires instructors and learners to engage with a range of identities. Thus, inclusivity presents a particular challenge and a special imperative in world language classes compared to other academic subjects.

Inclusivity Using Open Educational Resources for World Language Instruction

World language instructors who use OER have a particular duty to focus on diversity and inclusivity in their pedagogical practice. The profit motive in professional publishing incentivizes and enables updating textbooks on a regular basis, such that for-profit books are more likely to reflect recent developments in culture and language. By contrast, the tremendous amount of work required and the relative paucity of support available for the writing, editing, and revision of open educational texts increases the likelihood that they will lag behind contemporary shifts in the target language and culture, not to mention developments in U.S. culture. Students coming of age in the wake of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements and the mainstreaming of Gay Pride have questions about social movements abroad that may not be addressed in OER textbooks, particularly those that have not been kept up-to-date. It then becomes incumbent on the classroom instructor or course supervisor to (1) keep abreast of real-world developments—including those that take place in virtual spaces, such as in social media—and (2) incorporate those developments into lessons, practice, and assessments.

To determine whether OER are lacking gender inclusivity, one may start by considering the following:

For the moment, the number of OER textbooks world language faculty can choose from is more limited than what is available through for-profit publishing companies, at least in widely-spoken European languages. Because best practices in world language pedagogy require integrating instruction in vocabulary, grammar, and culture, it is impractical to try to teach with a hodgepodge of OER materials taken from here and there, especially at the elementary levels during the first two to three semesters of instruction in a language. With the need to select a single text or program from a restricted number of options, professors considering factors such as scope and sequence, multimedia resources, and instruction style may feel compelled to select texts that come up short in terms of inclusivity.

However, users of OER are also creators of OER, because they can make a coherent and effective course by adopting a main text or program and incorporating supplementary materials that can be borrowed, adapted, or created new. These supplementary materials can then be shared with others, in particular those who have adopted the same textbook or program. This kind of sharing, be it through Creative Commons, conferences, communities on social media, or instructor-to-instructor exchanges, has the power to transform world language instruction on a larger scale, bringing gender and sexuality inclusivity to a vastly greater number of (virtual and literal) classrooms.

Gender Inclusivity as a Cultural and Linguistic Issue

The Importance of Gender Inclusive Language

The United Nations broadly define gender inclusive language as "speaking and writing in a way that does not discriminate against a particular sex, social gender, or gender identity, and does not perpetuate gender stereotypes” (United Nations, n.d.). The background of inclusive and genderless language in the context of specific languages and cultures is complex. Progress toward gender inclusivity has been made in the last fifty years, and inclusive language has become more widespread. Lately, gender identity and gender inclusive language have been at the forefront of people’s attention, and gender-free language has been changing rapidly. Nevertheless, inclusive language remains contested and rejected, and much work remains to be done to build more inclusive and unbiased societies. In the sections that follow, instructors may glean both general and detailed information about recent changes to make certain European languages more inclusive and the arguments for and against those changes. This information can inform instructor-created vocabulary, grammar, and culture lessons for classes using OER.

While the development of inclusive language is sometimes contentious in English, it is understandably more fraught in languages with gendered nouns and adjectives, such as Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese. In these languages, gender agreement may be essential for clarity to the extent that syntax and style of expression are dependent on gendered features of language. How can one refer to persons in a gender-neutral fashion when even places, things, and ideas belong to gendered categories? How can there be gender inclusivity in a way that does not simply default to masculine forms, as has always been done? Yet, numerous Western societies that use these gendered European languages also embrace—or at least tolerate—concepts like gender equality and non-conformity of gender and sexual orientation. In these contexts, linguistic norms are being shaped by socio-cultural developments.

Gender Inclusive Linguistic Developments: Examples in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and English

One way to explore gender inclusivity is to look at language in the Spanish-speaking world, including Spanish in the U.S., through the experience of nonbinary people, the American civil rights agenda, and American cultural politics. Like other romance languages, Spanish has binary grammatical gender: Every noun and modifier, animate or not, is marked with either feminine or masculine gender. The gender of animate nouns generally corresponds to the apparent biological sex of the referent. Gender ambiguous individuals struggle to express themselves in Spanish due to the binary grammatical gender that is required. In addition, masculine generics dominate the Spanish language, and here mixed groups of individuals are referred to in the masculine form. This has been criticized for its erasure of women and gender diverse individuals by feminists and activists, like Irene Montero, Minister of Equality of Spain, who strongly advocated in 2021 for gender-inclusive language and stated, “Lo que no se nombra, no existe” (“what is not named, does not exist”), thereby questioning the use of masculine generics in Spanish (Pino, 2021).

Inclusive language in Spanish generally appears in four forms: Doublets, the inclusive marker -@, the gender inclusive -x, and the morpheme –e (Banegas & Lopez, 2021; Slemp, 2020; 2021; Stetie & Zunino, 2022):

In the U.S., Latin@s, Latine, and Latinx are widespread labels that are not mutually exclusive; rather, they complement one another and are employed by Hispanic people in different settings and environments. The “x” in Latinx stands for the unknowable or undefinable (similarly to Malcolm X and Gen X), and it seems to represent gender binary politics and intersectional identities (Mora et el., 2022). For example, the term “Latinx” opens discussions about inclusivity and diversity and the impact of ethnoracial identities in reifying gender binaries, and it is not just used in elitist spaces and academic environments where these discussions are likely to take place. Rather, those without college degrees employ the label “Latinx,” perhaps thinking about gender politics and fluidity in intersectional ways and therefore indexing ethnoracial identification and representation.

In other gender-marked languages like Italian, French, Portuguese, and German (which has three genders, but primarily uses the feminine and masculine genders when referring to people), gender inclusive language can appear in various forms such as:

The doubled forms can be problematic because they take up space, especially in an online interface, and because they perpetuate the binary masculine versus feminine dichotomy without offering a gender-neutral alternative. The asterisk, the marker @ and the point médian in French or the “gender-star” in German can be useful in writing, but they pose accessibility issues orally, namely for text screen readers, and reading-impaired and dyslexic people find them challenging to read. Other strategies for gender neutral language in gender-marked languages are the use of periphrases, the passive voice, or collective or neutral and invariable nouns, including gender neutral professional language. Some examples are offered below:

Unlike Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and German, English is a largely gender-neutral language, and advocates for gender-neutral language have pushed for the use of the gender-inclusive, usually plural, pronoun “they/them” to stand in for the singular “she/he”. However, English does express gender through word endings and stereotypes associated with the words and a masculine generic. One example is the feminine morpheme “-ess” employed to modify masculine versions of nouns such as “waiter” versus “waitress”. The endings -man and -woman perform a similar function: “chairman” versus “chairwoman” is in common use in the U.S. Congress. One way to overcome these issues is to replace gendered nouns, using words like “server,” “chairperson,” “legislator,” “workforce,” “folks,” “child,” “owner,” “firefighter,” “first-year student,” and “partner,” instead of “waiter/waitress,” “chairman/chairwoman,” “congressman/congresswoman,” “manpower,” “ladies or gentlemen,” “boy or girl,” “landlord,” “fireman,” “freshman,” and “boyfriend/girlfriend.” As indicated above, there are also nouns that, through stereotypes, are often associated with male and female attributes. For example, “nurse” is perceived as a more feminine profession (Teresa-Morales et al., 2022), but “doctor” is often associated with a male physician. Regardless, there has been a push for acceptance of nurses and doctors of any gender.

Linguistic Change and Resistance

The ability of a language to change and adapt is a sign of health; languages change all the time while remaining recognizable as the same linguistic system. Most of these changes and innovations come from the community. Recent research on the use of gender-inclusive language in Spanish (Sczesny et al., 2015; Slemp, 2020, 2021) indicated that (younger) age and (female) gender can have significant correlation with the use of inclusive language. The use of gender-inclusive language is typically linked to people who:

Overcoming Barriers to Genderless Language and Interventions

There are multiple barriers toward the use of gender-inclusive language. One barrier is the novelty of gender-fair forms, which conflicts with speakers’ linguistic habits and practices. Language usage that deviates from the norms that were taught in the past may be perceived as “incorrect.” Another is the challenge of using inclusive language consistently, mostly relying on the individual speaker’s efforts and intentionality, since gender-neutral solutions can be hard in grammatically gendered languages like French, Spanish, and Italian. Sexist beliefs and attitudes constitute another barrier because they impact inclusive language use; speakers tend to avoid inclusive language because they are reluctant to change their linguistic habits so may deliberately use a form of language that treats males as the norm and makes women less visible. The opposition to gender inclusive language can also be correlated with social conservatism and a novel politization of gender. Specifically, in Western Europe parties of the political right have framed “gender” as a tool for conservative mobilization, especially focusing on issues of gender and sexual identity, trans and non-binary identities, and feminism. This turn against “gender ideology” or “woke/cancel culture” is seen as a fruitful strategy for conservative politicians and radical right parties to get traction and votes among large shares of the electorate that are generally opposed to a linear trend towards more culturally progressive societies (Abou-Chadi et al., 2021).

Resistance to linguistic change remains strong because variation is perceived to destabilize the language, create ambiguity, and hinder communication; therefore, understanding could be impaired and legal clarity could be compromised. One form of resistance comes from institutions, linguistic authorities, and even education. One example is the French language authority, the Académie Française (the French Academy), a group of intellectuals charged with overseeing and steering the evolution of the French language. The Académie Française has criticized gender-inclusive language, calling it an “aberration” (Dodman, 202) and stating that it threatens the French language. The inclusion in 2021 of the French genderless pronoun iel by the online version of Le Robert (Le Robert, n.d.), one of France's leading dictionaries, generated heated debate in the French press, on social media, and among politicians despite extensive research conducted among French native speakers evidencing increased usage of the pronoun. The French government and the Education Ministry have resisted the gender-fair pronoun and attempts at incorporating inclusive language in the school curriculum. French president Emmanuel Macron stated that there are two fine pronouns in French, il and elle, and that the French language is beautiful as it is (Atkinson, 2022). Lawmaker François Jolivet, a member of the socially left-of-center Renaissance Party founded by Macron, also opposed the inclusion of the pronoun iel, calling the actions of Le Robert an ideological intrusion undermining French and its linguistic and cultural influence. Jolivet went even further: He introduced a bill banning gender-neutral spelling among government employees (Nöstlinger, 2021). Another example of resistance to inclusive language in France comes from far right-wing National Rally politician Laurie Lavalette who called proponents “highly subsidized activists who seek to spread a grotesque and mendacious ideology” (Gallagher, 2022).

Gender-inclusive language in French took hold in Canada earlier than in France, and while France has not been very receptive, the Canadian government has approached the issue differently. In fact, the Canadian government website has made available a set of bilingual guidelines for using gender-neutral language, stating that “The Guidelines for Inclusive Writing are designed to help the federal public service and any other organization produce writing that is free of discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability or any other identity factor” (Government of Canada, 2022). Similarly, the Quebec Office of the French Language (Office québécois de la langue française, OQLF), in contrast with the French Academy for European French, has a long history of supporting feminist language reform efforts and the feminization of Canadian French (Pilon, 2020), and it has inspired academic milieus like McGill University and the University of Montreal that have shifted toward more inclusive language. Overall, the Canadian civil rights agenda aligning with similar agendas in the U.S. may explain why Canada has a more positive view on inclusive language than France. Additionally, since Canada is a bilingual country (French and English), one could claim that Canadian English speakers shape expectations for gender inclusivity in government texts, all of which must be available in both English and French.

Another form of resistance to inclusive language is represented by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the body that presides over prescriptive Spanish grammar, syntax, morphology, and mostly lexicon. The RAE has not welcomed favorably the inclusion of genderless options in Spanish, be they in writing or oral discourse (Burgen, 2020; Piser, 2021). For example, in the 2018 style guide, the RAE stated it is not considered valid to use the -@, the –e, or the –x to refer to the two sexes: l@s Latin@s, les Latines, lxs Latinx. In fact, the RAE uses the term “sex” rather than “gender” and affirms that there are only two biological sexes. The style guide also stated that the unmarked character of the masculine makes duplication unnecessary (Real Academia Española, 2018).

The official authority of the German language is the Düden dictionary, which has been open to gender-neutral and gender-inclusive language in its publications, but not without pushback. The German Language Society (The Verein Deutsche Sprache), a German language association with the aim of preserving and promoting German as an independent cultural language, has shown a fundamental resistance to language inclusivity, which has been seen as destructive interventions into the German language. The Verein Deutsche Sprache stated that grammar and sex/gender are separate entities, and inclusive language is untenable on both linguistic and social grounds, leading to no social change. Walter Krämer, leader of the Verein Deutsche Sprache, led a petition to “save German from the Düden” over including gender-neutral language, with Krämer calling the gender-star a “modern Hitler salute” for “left-wing idealogues” (Piser, 2021). In contrast, the Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprache, the Society for the German Language supported by the German Conference of Ministers of Education and the Minister of State for Culture, is tasked with promoting and researching the German language. As reported in Luck (2020), for the Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprache, gender-fair language plays a key role in ensuring equal treatment of all individuals in society. However, reservations were expressed about the visualization of the third sex/gender and the fact that gender-fair language must comply with current rules. To be beneficial to the speech community, gender-fair language must be understandable, legible, readable, and grammatically correct, and ensure accessibility, legal clarity, and unambiguousness. Finally, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Alternative for Germany (AfD), respectively a conservative and far-right party in Germany, strongly opposed any attempts to modify the German language or to use the feminine generic (Nöstlinger, 2021), specifically when the Social Democratic Party (SPD)-led Ministry of Justice introduced a draft bill that the CDU-led Interior Ministry promptly shut down over fears it would only apply to women.

Like the Düden, the Oxford English Dictionary has served as the official linguistic authority for the English language, and it has rectified exclusive or derogatory language around gendered terms like “man” and “woman”. In 2015, the Oxford English Dictionary introduced the gender-neutral title “Mx.,” pronounced as “mix,” a title that matched more closely with some of the members of the transgender and gender non-conforming community (Martin, 2015). The Oxford English Dictionary has also defended the use of singular “they/them” as a fact of speech (Baron, 2018). In the U.K, the British House of Lords Hansard held important debates around linguistic norms and neutral drafting of U.K. Government bills, which led to gender-free language in legislation in the U.K. and Ireland. As a result, since 2007, the pronoun “he” cannot be employed anymore as an inclusive term for “he and she”.

Finally, the Accademia della Crusca (Academy of the Bran), the official linguistic academy of Italian, approved the feminization of Italian, including job titles like avvocato and avvocatessa (lawyer). However, in Italy, the political acceptance and opposition of gender-inclusive language seem to fall on the same partisan lines as in Germany and France. Georgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister elected in 2022 and leader of the Italian far-right party, has used the masculine il ministro instead of the feminine la ministra in her official capacity (Stewart, 2022). The scarce literature available on gender-inclusive Italian and the lack of knowledge of and experience with non-binary gender identities in Italy has led to instances of deadnaming and misgendering suffered by genderfluid individuals (Rosati et al., 2022).

Language as a Reflection of Culture, Power, and Biases

Language is a reflection of culture and power in society, and one could claim that a binary system perpetuates gender stereotyping and enforces and solidifies social hierarchies, patriarchal practices, and heterosexual norms. Even a gender-unmarked language like English tends to embrace masculine generics and put masculine first, rather than feminine, in paired expressions like “boys and girls”, “men and women”, “husband and wife”, “sons and daughters”, “brother and sister”, “Mr. and Mrs.” except for “ladies and gentlemen.” Gender inequality exists in the form of unconscious bias instilled in the language and, therefore, affects our thoughts. In the English-language context, Lakoff (1973) and Spender (198) discussed the connection between language and reality, linguistic disparity, social positioning, and how language reflects and perpetuates power structures assigning women a more subordinate position than men. The psychological damage of derogatory or exclusive language on speakers’ perceptions is palpable, as corroborated by empirical data (Bem & Bem, 1973; Born & Taris, 2010; Everett, 2011; Martyna, 1980; McConnell & Fazio, 1996; Moulton et al., 1978; Reali et al., 2015; Schneider & Hacker, 1973; Stout & Dasgupta, 2011). A special edition of the academic journal Linguistische Berichte explained how the German language fundamentally obscures women’s skills, intellect, and accomplishments; it belittles women, relegating them to inferior status or subordinate to men, as if women were unworthy or incapable of existing outside of stereotypical roles (Guentherodt et al., 1980). Empirical studies conducted in German confirmed that women were put at a conceptual advantage if the pair form/gender-balanced form was employed as opposed to the masculine generic (Gabriel and Mellenberger 2004, p. 276). Concurrently, “[w]hen stereotypically male occupations had been presented in pair forms, children of both genders perceived women‘s and men’s success in a more balanced way than if titles had been presented in generic masculine forms” (Vervecken et al., 2013, p. 213). There are signs of progress elsewhere, too. In Germany and France, women no longer must declare their marital status via their title. Editorial style guides, legislation drafting guidelines, and government communications (letters, forms, and legal documents) employ unbiased and gender-fair language. Even national anthems have been revised. The Austrian anthem now includes Töchter (daughters) in the first verse: “Heimat großer Töchter und Söhne” [Home of great daughters and sons] while previously Austria was referred to as “Heimat bist du großer Söhne” [Home are you of great sons] (Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, n.d.). Progress has been made in educational materials, schoolbooks, and job advertisements in German that now contain more gender fair language and equal representation of women and men.

In the U.S., the House Resolution 8 of the 117th Congress changed the title of the Office of the Whistleblower Ombudsman to the Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds, established the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and amended the Rules of the House to use gender-neutral language (House Resolution 8 Section 2(e), 117th Congress), and the rules package of the 118th Congress does not reverse it (House Resolution 5, 118th Congress).

In the Spanish-speaking world, progress toward inclusive language, and the inclusion of women and diverse gender identities has been made. In Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa’s administration, constituted in November 2023, is an example of gender inclusivity: Women were designated at the head of the most important Departments, including el Ministerio de la mujer y de los derechos humanos (the Department of women and human rights). In Spain, Chile, and Argentina there are now institutions such as el Ministerio de la mujer y de la igualdad de género (the Department of women and gender equality); el matrimonio igualitario y la adopción (legal gay marriage and adoption); and the use of social names for transgender people. Additionally, the Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), who were once in charge of the Spanish government, pushed for a rewriting of the Spanish constitution to use gender-neutral language. In Argentina, legal protections for gender-neutral language have been pursued by “mak[ing] explicit and visible the relationship between language and the right to gender identity and diversity” (Stetie & Zunino, 2022, p. 8).

Gender and Sexuality Inclusivity in the Classroom

What are the pedagogical implications of language evolution away from a gendered binary that privileges masculinity? How must teaching change in the face of increasing diversity and growing acceptance of a range of sexualities and gender identities? These are questions that world language professionals must answer. But why? If, as has been made clear in this article, inclusive language is a matter of some controversy, wouldn’t it be better for the classroom instructor to stay out of the political fray? Perhaps not. Since identity is not merely a political positioning but also a reflection of personal experience, the recognition and validation of human diversity—politically charged, though it may be—is essential to creating an inclusive environment, one in which each individual “feels fully present and involved, believes that others recognize and appreciate his or her contributions, and feels both safe and open about his or her social identities” (Ferdman, 2010). On the other hand, one might argue that world language teachers should not concern themselves with the issue of inclusive language, because it is so much a product of North American ideas, movements, social media, and events. Would it not be more respectful to resist the impulse to impose U.S. and Canadian ideas in courses focused on cultures in which such concepts have little traction? Not exactly. Educators whose students reside in North America should absolutely give them the tools to position themselves as North Americans to dismantle the myth of universal values. That is, students must first examine culturally bound perspectives and practices of the place where they live before they can begin to analyze those of other cultures. Adopting an antiracist, inclusive, and equity-minded pedagogy enables language learners to see their own culture as well as others with greater nuance.

Two Pedagogical Paths to Gender and Sexuality Inclusivity

There are two ways to modify an OER-based language course to introduce or increase gender and sexuality inclusivity. First, non-inclusive OER can be expanded by adding culture lessons, supplementary vocabulary, and instruction about inclusive language in the target culture. Secondly, inclusive language and ideas can be baked into activities and assessments throughout the OER-based course. The first approach educates students about gender and LGBTQ+ issues in a direct fashion. The second has a day-to-day impact on the culture of the classroom, thus normalizing and embracing gender and sexuality inclusivity. Whether an instructor adopts the first approach, the second, or both, it is vital to employ backward design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2011). That is, the instructor should start with 1) a learning outcome of the course (what the student should be able to do at the end of the course) and work backward through 2) assessment (how the student demonstrates their achievement of the outcome), then on to 3) practice activities (how the student prepares for the assessment), and finally to 4) the introduction of the OER material (how the student is first exposed to the OER content they will practice and be assessed on).

Gender and sexuality inclusive instruction can be incorporated into any language course at any level, but whereas an intermediate or advanced world language course may have a learning outcome specifically related to gender or sexuality issues, in most elementary and intermediate classes, the instructor will be focused on linguistic and cultural course objectives. It is also true that intermediate-high learners can more readily develop cultural understandings regarding gender and sexuality through authentic resources (that is, resources intended for a native-speaking audience, such as websites, popular music, and podcasts) and compilations of native-speaker interviews, such as those available through The Center for Open Educational Resources & Language Learning (COERLL) at the University of Texas at Austin including the Spanish in Texas Project, the Hindi in America Collection, and the Cultural Interviews with International Business Executives video archives. Beginning students generally lack the linguistic ability and the cultural learning framework to gain a nuanced understanding of LGBTQ+ and women’s issues through resources in the target language. Nevertheless, OER-based activities in elementary-level classes can still be designed to be gender and sexuality inclusive.

Perhaps the simplest way of making an OER-based world language class more inclusive is by adding content related to culture, especially lessons that are not integrated with specific linguistic objectives. For example, historical lessons could spotlight feminist or LGBTQ+ movements or gay and/or female historical figures. Literary selections might include works by cis women or queer authors. Even works that do not primarily tackle gender and sexuality issues can be analyzed through a gender studies lens. Similarly, the instructor can take gender inclusivity into account when selecting films, art, and music for classes. The instructor must be particularly careful to employ backward design when it comes to this kind of cultural instruction, so that the lesson leads toward assessment and a demonstration of proficiency in each learning outcome. Culture lessons that are not well embedded in the course can come off as mere trivia to students or worse, a distraction from what “really counts” towards passing the class. By contrast, assignments that direct students to write or speak about cis women and LGBTQ+ people, their achievements, and their concerns integrate gender inclusivity well with linguistic and cultural course goals.

Presuming instructors or curriculum leads keep abreast of developments in the target culture(s), they can create culture and linguistic OER that focus on the contentious evolution of gender inclusive language. For example, a professor covering subject pronouns, adjective agreement, or words for professions can glean information from this article (at least for a few years) to teach about the steps being made towards gender inclusive language in countries with Western European languages. Even as the instructor strives for an inclusive world language course, it is essential to convey to the students what is generally accepted versus what is considered controversial, radical, or even illegal in the target culture(s). For example, students in a French class must learn to use the gendered pronouns “il” and “elle” in accordance with the conventions of the Académie Française. If not, their French will be considered not gender inclusive but simply wrong. However, by discussing the existence of the novel pronoun “iel” and the controversy surrounding its inclusion in Le Robert, the instructor creates an inclusive space for those students who do not themselves see gender in binary terms. Moreover, attention to linguistic tension and innovation helps students to see French as a living and evolving international language, used and contested in different nations by real individuals who not only appear less stereotypical, more nuanced, and less fixed but also vary in perspective.

World language classes should prepare female, gay, and non-gender-conforming students for what to expect while traveling, studying, or living in countries where the target language is spoken. Certainly, the vocabulary lists of most OER textbooks require addenda to enable students to express that someone is gay or trans, although widely-used gender inclusive terms ought to have a place in their lexicons. To take another example from the French curriculum, lessons about dress should go beyond vocabulary lists and the verb mettre (to put on). Particularly for women, certain modes of dress may be tacitly encouraged or discouraged and officially required or banned, depending on where one is in the francophone world. Thus, from a purely practical standpoint, students should be made aware that mores and taboos around self-presentation exist. Moreover, a discussion of clothing items such as head scarves, burkinis, and abayas, and their use in public spaces, reveals a wide spectrum of francophone perspectives influenced by religion, politics, geography, feminism, history, generational attitudes, public health, and current events. Such a discussion would allow students to see a complexity in French-speaking societies that mirrors the intricacies of their own world and would permit students to be exposed to points of view that may be entirely new to them (e.g., the concept of laïcité, the exclusion of religion from civic life). If the instructor does not feel prepared for or comfortable with lecturing on topics such as these, guest speakers, cultural informants, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), and native-speaking language partners can be extremely helpful for addressing legal and quotidian conditions for LGBTQ+ people and women.

While the use of OER on historical topics is a reliable way to increase gender and sexuality inclusivity, teaching about cultural developments presents special challenges. As discussed above, attitudes, practices, language, and laws are constantly in flux. World language instructors who do not have the ability to frequently immerse themselves in the target cultures must settle for immersion at a distance through a regular diet of authentic sources like news reports, blogs, films, television shows, and music to keep abreast of cultural shifts. Just as information may have an expiration date so also can OER become inaccessible over time. For example, the Center for Global Business – Texas McCombs’ Cultural Interviews with International Business Executives video repository assembled a trove of native-speaker interviews in Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Turkish on topics such as “Machismo,” “Race, Color, and Gender,” and “Women Executives.” These videos are no longer accessible and organized through the Center’s YouTube channel, which has been suspended, or the project website, which is deemed not secure. If time places limits on an instructor’s cultural knowledge and resources, geography does also. After all, trends impacting women in Spain may be unknown or rejected in Honduras or Venezuela. The instructor who incorporates OER about contemporary culture must provide caveats to students about the temporal and geographic specificity of the information and resources shared in the course. Regardless, sexuality inclusivity requires teaching about contemporary culture. While it is possible to celebrate the achievements of historical women, old taboos make it difficult to identify gay and trans figures as such.

An alternative to the additive approach to making a world language course more inclusive is to alter the OER materials used throughout the course for instruction, practice, and assessment. This approach focuses on the incidentals of the course rather than the content itself and is appropriate since world language classes use social contexts as the framework for language learning. For inductive instruction, deductive instruction, or practice activities, model sentences and discussion prompts can incorporate LGBTQ+ identities and relationships. Likewise, tests may employ plausible scenarios in each section that provide a gender inclusive context. For example, if an examination of OER materials reveals a pattern of gendered stereotypes, it would not be very difficult to change the doctor in an exercise on health vocabulary from a man to a woman or, vice versa, change the nurse from a woman to a man. In a test section on food vocabulary, it could be the father rather than the mother who is seeking items in the grocery store and then preparing dinner for the family. In a section on household, it could be the dad rather than the mom who could be the stay-at-home parent in charge of the house chores while the mother is employed, or it could be the dad who is the one on paternity leave after a newborn child. If there is a pervasive assumption of heteronormativity, it is simple enough to place a fictional “Juan Carlos,” “Manfred,” or “André” in dialogue with his boyfriend, rather than his girlfriend in an activity.

While such changes may be simple to make, the consequences may be profound. On the positive side, representation across the spectrum of gender roles and sexual orientations can make students feel that the classroom is a more welcoming environment and that the instructor embraces equity-minded practices. While learners should always retain the prerogative to reveal as much or as little about their private lives as they wish, when inclusivity is modeled in the course materials, they may feel more at ease being open about themselves, their lives, and their loved ones. However, there can be negative reactions, particularly from students whose conservative worldviews oppose feminism and homosexuality. With smartphones and social media, this pushback can certainly spill beyond the classroom, and the current politically-motivated attacks on academic freedom in many parts of the U.S. might make even minor course modifications risky. For those who are willing and able to take on that risk, the worksheet in the Appendix can help generate more inclusive OER materials that integrate well with the overall curriculum of a course.

Erasing Discriminatory Hierarchies and Biases in the OER World Language Classroom

Using gender inclusive language really matters in the academic setting. Likewise, classroom inclusion of all sexual orientations creates a safe space for learners who desperately need it, since biased language, such as sexist and homophobic statements, perpetuate prejudice, discrimination, and even homelessness and violence, and is harmful to transgender and gender nonconforming individuals (National Center for Transgender Equality, 2021). The use of gender-inclusive language, instead, promotes gender equality and inclusivity. No student deserves to feel excluded or unsuited. Everyone deserves to be recognized, accepted, and respected, and to feel equal and proud of who they are, especially when facing the vulnerability it takes to stumble through learning an unfamiliar language. Ideally, those educators using OER who feel empowered to revise their courses with an eye to gender inclusivity will share their ideas and materials with the wider OER community so that everyone will find some new practice and inspiration—however small—that give their students a deeper sense of belonging and a greater appreciation of the complexity of cultures and peoples and their diverse perspectives and practices.

References

Abou-Chadi, T., Breyer, M., & Gessler, T. (2021). The (re)politicisation of gender in Western Europe. European Journal of Politics and Gender, 4(2), 311–314. https://doi.org/10.1332/251510821X16177312096679

Atkinson, E. (2022, December 13). Brigitte Macron hits out at gender-neutral French grammar system. The Independent. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/brigitte-macron-hits-out-at-gender-neutral-french-grammar-system/ar-AA15dZO4

Auxland, M. (2020). Para todes: A case study on Portuguese and gender-neutrality. Journal of Languages, Texts, and Society, 4, 60–83. https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/languagestextssociety/documents/lts-journal/issue-4/lts-issue-4-article-auxland.-m.-para-todes-a-case-study-on-portuguese-and-gender-neutrality.pdf

Banegas, D. L., & López, M. F. (2021). Inclusive language in Spanish as interpellation to educational authorities. Applied Linguistics, 42(2), 342–346. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz026

Baron, D. (2018, September 4). A brief history of singular ‘they.’ Oxford English Dictionary.

Bem, S. L., & Bem, D. J. (1973). Does sex-biased job advertising “aid and abet” sex discrimination? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 3(1), 6–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1973.tb01290.x

Born, M. P., & Taris, T. W. (2010). The impact of the wording of employment advertisements on students’ inclination to apply for a job. The Journal of Social Psychology, 150(5), 485–502. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540903365422

Bundeskanzleramt Österreich - Bundeskanzlerin und Bundeskanzler seit 1945 (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/bundeskanzleramt/geschichte/kanzler-seit-1945.html

Burgen, S. (2020, January 19). Masculine, feminist or neutral? The language battle that has split Spain. The Observer. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/19/gender-neutral-language-battle-spain

Dodman, B. (2021, February 25). ‘Françaises, Français’: Could the French language be less sexist? France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/culture/20210225-fran%C3%A7aises-fran%C3%A7ais-why-the-french-language-need-not-be-so-sexist

Everett, C. (2011). Gender, pronouns and thought: The ligature between epicene pronouns and a more neutral gender perception. Gender and Language, 5(1), 133–152. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v5i1.133

Ferdman, B. (2010). Teaching inclusion by example and experience: Creating an inclusive learning environment. In Hannum, K. M., McFeeters, B., & Booysen, L. (eds.), Leading across differences: Cases and perspectives—Facilitator’s guide (pp.37–49). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Gabriel, U., & Mellenberger, F. (2004). Exchanging the generic masculine for gender-balanced forms—The impact of context valence. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 63(4), 273–278. https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185.63.4.273

Gallagher, T. (2022, December 14). What’s the boeuf? Gender neutral pronouns spark fury of French establishment. Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/12/14/whats-the-boeuf-gender-neutral-pronouns-spark-fury-of-french-establishment

Government of Canada (2022, September 14). Inclusive writing—Guidelines and resources. https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/writing-tips-plus/inclusive-writing-guidelines-resources

House of Lords Hansard—UK Parliament. (2013, October 10). Retrieved March 4, 2023, https://hansard.parliament.uk//Lords/2013-10-10

House Resolution 8, 117th Congress (2021-2022). Adopting the rules of the House of Representatives for the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, and for other purposes. Retrieved March 4, 2023 from https://rules.house.gov/bill/117/h-res-5

House Resolution 5, 118th Congress (2023-2024). Adopting the rules of the House of Representatives for the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, and for other purposes. Retrieved March 4, 2023 from https://rules.house.gov/bill/118/h-res-5

Kofler, B. (2022, March 30). Gender-Inclusive Language Project: German. UX Writers Collective. Directed by Carlos Vives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdvf4XoitC0

Lakoff, R. (1973). Language and woman’s place. Language in Society, 2(1), 45–79. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500000051

Le Robert. (n.d.). Dico en ligne. Retrieved July 12, 2023, from https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/

Luck, C. (2020). Linguistics and literature. In Rewriting Language: How Literary Texts Can Promote Inclusive Language Use (pp. 14–52). UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13xpsg6.5

Martin, R. (2015, May 10). Oxford dictionary proposes gender-neutral title. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2015/05/10/405624481/oxford-dictionary-proposes-gender-neutral-title

Martyna, W. (1980). The psychology of the generic masculine. In S. McConnell-Ginet, R. Borker, & N. Furman (Eds.), Women and language in literature and society, (pp. 69–78). Praeger.

McConnell, A. R., & Fazio, R. H. (1996). Women as men and people: Effects of gender-marked language. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(10), 1004–1013. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672962210003

Mora, G. C., Perez, R., & Vargas, N. (2022). Who identifies as “Latinx”? The generational politics of ethnoracial labels. Social Forces, 100(3), 1170–1194. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab011

Moulton, J., Robinson, G. M., & Elias, C. (1978). Sex bias in language use: “Neutral” pronouns that aren’t. American Psychologist, 33(11), 1032–1036. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.33.11.1032

National Center for Transgender Equality. (2021, April 22). Housing & Homelessness. https://transequality.org/issues/housing-homelessness

Nöstlinger, N. (2021, March 8). Debate over gender-neutral language divides Germany. Politico. https://www.politico.eu/article/debate-over-gender-inclusive-neutral-language-divides-germany/

Orrú, A. & Vitiello, R. (2022, June 23). The gender-inclusive language project. Italiano. UX Content Collective. Directed by Carlos Vives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohPNXgao8w

Pilon, S. (2020). Toward a more gender-inclusive and gender-neutral French language. The French Review, 94(2), 193–205. https://doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2020.0281

Pino, M. C. (2021). Más glotopolítica del sexismo lingüístico: Ideologemas de la argumentación de los defensores del lenguaje inclusivo de género. Erebea: Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, 11, 127–149. https://doi.org/10.33776/erebea.v11i0.6904

Piser, K. (2021, July 4). Aux armes, citoyen·nes! Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/07/04/france-gender-language-ecriture-inclusive-aux-armes-citoyennes/

Real Academia Española. (2018). Libro de estilo de la lengua española: Según la norma panhispánica. Espasa.

Reali, C., Esaulova, Y., Öttl, A., & von Stockhausen, L. (2015). Role descriptions induce gender mismatch effects in eye movements during reading. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01607

Rosati, F., Lorusso, M. M., Pistella, J., Giovanardi, G., Di Giannantonio, B., Mirabella, M., Williams, R., Lingiardi, V., & Baiocco, R. (2022). Non-binary clients’ experiences of psychotherapy: Uncomfortable and affirmative approaches. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(22), Article 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192215339

Schneider, J. W., & Hacker, S. L. (1973). Sex role imagery and use of the generic “Man” in introductory texts: A case in the sociology of sociology. The American Sociologist, 8(1), 12–18. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27702068

Sczesny, S., Moser, F., & Wood, W. (2015). Beyond sexist beliefs: How do people decide to use gender-inclusive language? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(7), 943–954. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215585727

Slemp, K. (2020). Latino, Latina, Latin@, Latine, and Latinx: Gender inclusive oral expression in Spanish (29247791) [Master’s thesis, The University of Western Ontario (Canada)]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. https://www.proquest.com/openview/917facff59ec416f1d066839c766125b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Slemp, K. (2021). Attitudes towards varied inclusive language use in Spanish on Twitter. Working Papers in Applied Linguistics and Linguistics at York, 1, 60–74. https://doi.org/10.25071/2564-2855.6

Spender, D. (1985). Man Made Language. Routledge.

Stetie, N., & Zunino, G. (2022). Non-binary language in Spanish? Comprehension of non-binary morphological forms: a psycholinguistic study. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 7(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.6144

Stewart, D. (2022, October 25). Giorgia Meloni stirs controversy in Italy by announcing she wants to be called «the prime minister». MSN.

Stout, J. G., & Dasgupta, N. (2011). When he doesn’t mean you: Gender-exclusive language as ostracism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(6), 757–769. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211406434

Teresa-Morales, C., Rodríguez-Pérez, M., Araujo-Hernández, M., & Feria-Ramírez, C. (2022). Current stereotypes associated with nursing and nursing professionals: An integrative review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137640

United Nations. (n.d.). United Nations gender-inclusive language. Retrieved August 14, 2023, from https://www.un.org/en/gender-inclusive-language/

Vervecken, D., Hannover, B., & Wolter, I. (2013). Changing (s)expectations: How gender fair job descriptions impact children’s perceptions and interest regarding traditionally male occupations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 82(3), 208–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.01.008

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2011). The understanding by design guide to creating high-quality units. ASCD.

Author Bios

Federica Goldoni, Georgia Gwinnett College

Federica Goldoni is a Professor of Spanish in the Department of Political Science, Criminal Justice and International Studies at Georgia Gwinnett College. Her Ph.D. is from the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. Her interests are identity issues in second language, foreign language pedagogy, and study abroad.

Kristina Watkins Mormino

Kristina Watkins Mormino is a Professor of French in the Department of Political Science, Criminal Justice and International Studies and an associate dean in the School of Liberal Arts at Georgia Gwinnett College. She earned her Ph.D. from the Department of French and Italian at Emory University. Her interests are medieval studies, women’s writing, and issues in foreign language pedagogy.

Creative Commons Attribution icon

Pedagogy Opened: Innovative Theory and Practice is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.