scholarly journals TO DISCLOSE A LESS GENERIC PRONOUN: ADDRESSING NON-BINARY "THEY"

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Izzatia Nabila ◽  
Slamet Setiawan ◽  
Widyastuti Widyastuti
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Similar Theme ◽  
Examination Methods

Since the 13th century singular they have been used freely to account to the lack of gender-fair pronoun in the English language.  Singular they that is normally employed as a pronominal non-possessive indefinite singular pronoun, in contrast to an expression on he/she generic. This study aims to provide a linear timeline that accounts to the usage of singular they from 13th century to date. Discerns through the scope of Diachronic studies. This study offers an analysis of context with diachronic relevance. The study uses argumentative cross-examination methods, by combing previous findings conducted by researchers who had undertook and attempted to write under similar theme .The results of this study show periodical changes from 13th century to the next, implying that sociocultural changes may be reflected in linguistic changes. The article postulates some that can be interpreted as lenient acceptance for the application of singular they. This study concludes despite the constant rejection singular they are a proper substitute for the gender-neutral pronoun in the English language due to two major advantages for singular they could afford neutrality and naturalness element in comparison to neologism.

Forensic Pluralism and the Dead Body in Early 20th-Century China

2021 ◽  
pp. 192536212110025
Author(s):  
Daniel Asen
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Forensic Medicine ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
The Qing Dynasty ◽  
Forensic Practice ◽  
Local Officials ◽  
Examination Methods ◽  
Death Investigation

Modern forensic medicine was introduced into China during the first decades of the 20th century. The members of China’s first generation of medicolegal experts were soon advocating that medical expertise play a greater role in police and judicial officials’ investigations of suspicious death and homicide cases. While forensic reform in China had parallels with developments in other contemporary societies in which physicians were pushing for a greater role in the law, this process unfolded in China in unique ways, against the backdrop of an older tradition of forensic science that had developed under the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Central to this tradition was the Records on the Washing Away of Wrongs, a handbook of forensic practice that was written in the 13th century and saw numerous editions and expansions over subsequent centuries. Death investigation in early 20th-century China was defined by “forensic pluralism,” a situation in which the different body examination methods and standards of forensic proof associated with the Washing Away of Wrongs and modern forensic medicine were both accepted by officialdom and society. This article untangles the complexities of forensic practice during this period through the rather unexceptional exchange over a case of suspected drowning that occurred between local officials in Hebei province and Lin Ji (1897-1951), director of the Beiping University Medical School Institute of Legal Medicine. This case reveals the different regimes of forensic knowledge and practice that were used in China during this period as well as the sites at which they interacted.

Language and Its Everyday Revolutionary Potential

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Mallinson
Keyword(s):  
Gender Bias ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Reform Movement ◽  
Language Reform ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Third Gender ◽  
Linguistic Practices ◽  
Naming Practices

Centering on the English language reform movement, this chapter describes three main strategies through which feminists have targeted language, both as an object to reform and a platform for revolution. First, it describes the strategy of challenging man-made language forms, exemplified in debates over masculine generics. Second, it discusses the strategy of creating and institutionalizing egalitarian naming practices in order to reclaim the power to name and define. By tracing such forms as Ms., it becomes evident that even small shifts in language use can contribute to cultural change. Third, it describes the strategy of linguistic disruption, illustrated through such neologisms as herstory and womyn, gender-neutral forms such as singular they, and third-gender forms such as zie and zir. By using language creatively and sometimes radically to reject patriarchal language, respond to gender bias, and empower women, feminist activists and everyday speakers alike can employ linguistic practices to promote equality.

The Legacy of Federal Constitutional Court President Jutta Limbach

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
English Language ◽  
German Language ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Public Figure ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
Female President

April marked the end of two, intertwined eras at the Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutional Court). Not only did Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jutta Limbach conclude her distinguished service as the Court's President and the Presiding Justice of the Second Senate; significantly, President Limbach's retirement also marked the end of the tenure of the first female President of the prestigious and powerful Federal Constitutional Court. It is, however, difficult to decide whether it does Ms. Limbach's legacy more honor to refuse to remark the later of these points, treating her tenure as President from a gender-neutral perspective and thereby giving life to the issue of gender-equality that is so important to her. This question is made somewhat less perplexing for an English-language commentator, who must not employ the gendered forms of nouns as required by the German language. While Ms. Limbach served as a Richterin and Präsidentin (the female forms of the German words Richter and Präsident – judge and president) in the German language, in the English language she was simply and fully (fully neutral with respect to gender) Justice and President. Nonetheless, if only at the level of pronouns, the issue persists in the English language as well: does President Limbach's retirement merit reflection as the conclusion of the tenure of a remarkable Jurist and public figure or the conclusion of the tenure of a remarkable female Jurist and public figure?

In their own voices: Development of English as a gender-neutral language

English Today ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janina Brutt-Griffler ◽  
Sumi Kim
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Asian Students ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Neutral Language ◽  
Learning English

This study explores how learning English among one subset of English learners, Asian female international students at US colleges, contributes to the larger project of advancing gender equality. Using their narratives, we ask why Asian female international students invest so much of their identities and effort into learning English. We discuss the ways in which their endeavours may even silently promote the development of English as a gender-neutral language. The population of Asian students offers a compelling case of how the English language is potentially transformed via its spread to this English learner population and how it presents new avenues for identity formation for the growing number of female English users worldwide (cf. Brutt-Griffler, 2010: 232).

Gendered Language

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca S. Bigler ◽  
Campbell Leaper
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Gendered Language ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Gender Biases ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Behavior

The language used to describe concepts influences individuals’ cognition, affect, and behavior. A striking example comes from research on gendered language, or words that denote individuals’ gender (e.g., she, woman, daughter). Gendered language contributes to gender biases by making gender salient, treating gender as a binary category, and causing stereotypic views of gender. In our review, we first summarize some of the major ways that language marks individuals’ gender, focusing on the English language but noting patterns in other languages as well. Second, we describe research on the relation between gendered language, on one hand, and gender-related cognition, affect, and behavior (e.g., gender salience, categorization, stereotyping, and prejudice), on the other hand. Third, we review past and contemporary efforts at changing gendered language, including calls for the use of gender-neutral nouns (e.g., “Good evening, folks” instead of “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen”) and pronouns (e.g., ze instead of he or she). Finally, we highlight the role of values in shaping views of language policies that may mitigate the pervasiveness and consequences of gendered language.

scholarly journals Why shall I call you ze?

2021 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-45
Author(s):  
Natalia Borza
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
One Year

It was the Oxford University’s Students Union (OUSU) which first promoted the use of gender-inclusive pronouns to avoid gender-binarism in the English-speaking European academic life. OUSU finds it supportive if students declare their chosen pronouns by which they wish to be addressed at meetings (he, she or ze). Public attention turned to the emergence of the new pronoun. The present study aims to explore the social perception of the newly appearing gender-neutral neologism by mapping public attitude towards the idea of institutionally introducing a neopronoun (ze) in the English language for the sake of celebrating gender diversity. The discourse plane investigated in the research was comments given to online newspaper articles. The genre of comments provides insights into the opinions and feelings of the general public. A near-thousand comments of online dialogues displayed on the websites of six British newspapers (three broadsheets and three tabloids) during a one-year timespan (December 2016 – December 2017) were analysed qualitatively. Arguments on either discourse position were studied, hidden premises were uncovered. The results of the exploratory study reveal that there is a notable imbalance in the voicing of opinions: the promotion of the gender-neutral English pronoun is markedly underrepresented in the public (1.32%) while the set of arguments against its introduction is versatile. The findings of the analysis indicate that the voice of the people does not consider pronoun-binarism as a sign of exclusion or the marginalizing of gender-diverse people; however, the novel pronoun tends to excite shock and refusal in the public.

GENDER NEUTRALITY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: TEACHER TALK AND COURSEBOOKS

2021 ◽  
pp. 40-53
Author(s):  
А.И. Колушкина ◽  
А.А. Коренев
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Teacher Talk ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Gender Neutrality ◽  
Neutral Language

Постановка проблемы. В статье рассматривается феномен гендерной нейтральности при обучении английскому языку и представлены результаты анализа речи учителей и содержания учебников. Целью данного исследования является выявление степени осведомленности учителей английского языка в России о гендерной нейтральности в английском языке и существующих стратегиях гендерно нейтрального речевого поведения на занятиях по английскому языку, а также выявление того, насколько содержание учебников по английскому языку соответствует принципам гендерной нейтральности. Результаты. Результаты исследования демонстрируют, что многие учителя и авторы учебников используют гендерно нейтральные лексические и грамматические стратегии, но при этом им не удается избегать гендерных стереотипов и неравной репрезентации персонажей, персоналий и прецедентных имен. Таким образом, предположение, что учителя английского языка используют в своей речи гендерно окрашенные лексические и грамматические средства, а также гендерные стереотипы на занятиях по английскому языку, частично подтвердилось: более 60% учителей не владеют гендерно нейтральным речевым поведением в достаточной степени. В отношении содержания учебников гипотеза также частично подтвердилась: 60% учебников содержат гендерные стереотипы, а в 90% проанализированных учебников встретился дисбаланс мужских и женских персонажей, персоналий и прецедентных имен (в сторону мужских). Выводы. Представляется целесообразной разработка особых рекомендаций по гендерно нейтральному речевому поведению на занятиях по английскому языку для учителей английского языка в России, в которых были бы учтены некоторые аспекты гендерной нейтральности в английском языке. Данные рекомендации должны соотноситься с российским социокультурным контекстом и включать в себя все необходимые объяснения о специфике гендерной нейтральности и ее важности в англоязычном контексте. State of the problem. The article explores the phenomenon of gender neutrality in language education and presents the results of classroom discourse analysis and coursebook content analysis. The purpose of the study is to reveal to what extent teachers of English as a foreign language (L2 teachers) in Russia use gender-neutral language and gender-neutral behaviour strategies in the classroom and how gender neutrality is presented in the English coursebooks (created both by Russian and international authors). The novelty is determined by the fact that this is the first attempt to analyse teacher talk and English coursebook contents in terms of their gender neutrality in the Russian socio-cultural context. Results. Results show that many lessons and coursebooks analysed use some gender-neutral vocabulary and grammar strategies, but contain gender-stereotyping and unequal representation of personalia and case names. The proposed hypothesis that English teachers in Russia use gendered lexical and grammatical means, as well as gender stereotypes in the classroom was validated to a certain extent. The overall result demonstrates that more than 60% of teachers are not gender-neutral. As for the coursebooks, most of them seem to be gender-neutral in terms of grammar, and half of them seem to be gender-neutral in terms of vocabulary. At the same time, 60% of coursebooks contain gender stereotypes and 90% do not represent males and females equally (with male superiority in number). Conclusion. Special guidelines on gender-neutral English in the classroom for English teachers in Russia should be created to provide some recommendations on the use of gender-neutral language and the use of coursebooks. These guidelines should refer to the Russian socio-cultural context and contain all the necessary footnotes for teachers to explain to them the importance of gender neutrality in the English language and to help them to explain the phenomenon to the students, who might experience certain challenges while acquiring the concept of gender neutrality that is only minimally represented in the Russian language.

Ryle, Gilbert (1900–76)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
English Language ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Major Work ◽  
Language Philosophy ◽  
Cartesian Dualism ◽  
Middle Period ◽  
Similar Theme ◽  
Physical Phenomena

Alongside Wittgenstein and Austin, Ryle was one of the dominant figures in that middle period of twentieth-century English language philosophy which became known as ‘Linguistic Analysis’. His views in philosophy of mind led to his being described as a ‘logical behaviourist’ and his major work in that area, The Concept of Mind (1949), both by reason of its style and content, has become one of the modern classics of philosophy. In it Ryle attacked what he calls ‘Cartesian dualism’ or the myth of ‘the Ghost in the Machine’, arguing that philosophical troubles over the nature of mind and its relation with the body arose from a ‘category mistake’ which led erroneously to treating statements about mental phenomena in the same way as those about physical phenomena. For Ryle, to do something was not to perform two separate actions - one mental, one physical - but to behave in a certain way. Much of Ryle’s work had a similar theme: philosophical confusion arose through the assimilation or misapplication of categorically different terms, and could only be cleared up by a careful analysis of the logic and use of language. He later became preoccupied with the nature of reflective thinking, since this stood as an example of an activity which seemed to evade the behaviouristic analysis that he recommended. Ryle was also a considerable Plato scholar, though his work in this area has been less influential.

scholarly journals Professional Titles for Women Seafarers in the Croatian and Montenegrin Media

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Dževerdanović Pejović
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
English Language ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Professional Titles ◽  
The Republic ◽  
And Gender

This paper aims to present a comparative view of the English and Croatian female maritime ranks aboard ship in the language of media. Regarding the English language, male/masculine forms have also been normative and gender-neutral; in other words, they refer to both genders (pilot, lawyer, captain). However, changes in the society and “embarkation” of women on board masculine professions have been reflected in language changes as well. The female professional titles are derived from the masculine forms. Social changes and gender awareness politics simultaneously took place in both countries, resulting in the rise of women seafarer number on board ships. This paper presents a review of the comparative analysis of Montenegrin and Croatian texts. The results show that Croatian media use the female titles more frequently and regularly, while in Montenegrin texts their use is somewhat sporadic. The reasons for this are also found in the ethnical picture of the two countries. Montenegrin society still rests on patriarchal values and the authors of the texts prefer using masculine forms as gender-neutral. What is more, the Republic of Croatia accessed the European Union in 2013, and it was undoubtedly required to implement institutional regulations relating to minimizing gender discrimination in the society and public discourse. Finally, it was concluded that linguists and language planners have to differentiate between justified and non-justified use of female forms as they can assume the pejorative meaning.

scholarly journals Van typiste naar ingenieur?

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-269
Author(s):  
Dietha Koster ◽  
Chiara Iding
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Pictorial Representations ◽  
Do So

Abstract Studies on English language learning materials indicate that women are underrepresented and often appear in low-status professions, though gender equality increases within the last decade (Sunderland, 2015). To what degree does this finding apply for textbooks for learners of Dutch as a Second Language (DSL)? To our knowledge, there are no studies into gender and profession in DSL materials. Dutch however, constitutes an interesting case as both female, male and ‘gender neutral’ professional role nouns exist, while their use is not formally regulated. We systematically analyzed textual and pictorial representations of female and male professionals in textbook chapters about work in fifteen DSL textbooks published within the last 50 years. We drew on quantitative (e.g., number of fe/male and ‘gender neutral’ professional names; instances of male generics and firstness; number of depicted wo/men) and qualitative (e.g., nature of the most frequent professional names; categorization of textbook images) methods to do so. Results show that women are not underrepresented in dialogues and pictures, but that dialogue themes are unequally divided over women and men. Moreover, women are backgrounded through male generics and male firstness and female professional names appear less frequently than male names. Women are also described in gender typical roles, whereas men are not. This holds for both older (1974–2009) and recent textbooks (2011–2017). Overall, more ‘gender neutral’ nouns refer to men in the corpus, but they are used more frequently to refer to women within the last decade. Future studies should address the present theme from psycholinguistic and classroom discourse perspectives and consider additional analytical domains (e.g. chapters about family) and foci (e.g. analyses of verbs associated with wo/men). We discuss pedagogical implications (e.g., screen materials for male firstness; describe women in a greater variety of roles; reverse gender roles in class) for those with concern for gender equality in language education.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document