Inclusive and Gender-Inclusive Language in the Classroom: Use of They as the Singular Gender-Neutral Pronoun for the English Language

Abstract

[eng] Generally speaking, Spanish students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) tend to use expressions like “he or she”, “himself or herself”, etc. when they do not know the gender of the person they are referring to; in contrast, native speakers are more likely to use the neutral form they in these contexts. Although the former form is not ungrammatical, constantly repeating “he or she” in an essay, dissertation… may become a bit awkward for the reader. Moreover, nowadays they is also used as the neutral form when someone does not want to give information about their gender or for those people who not identify themselves as being male or female. The focus of the present dissertation will be the second context explained here. In other words, this dissertation aims at reducing gender stereotyping and discrimination through the implementation of they as the gender-neutral pronoun by presenting an educational proposal for EFL in a secondary school. After an analysis of the evolution of gender-fair language in society, this study will be divided into two parts, an empirical study, and a didactic proposal. Firstly, an experiment will be conducted in which a group of secondary education students will be tested on their knowledge of this pronoun for gender-fair purposes. Afterwards, the educational proposal will introduced; it will consist of a project to make students aware of the importance of using gender-fair language and rejecting gender prejudices.