Gender-sensitive Language Research Articles

Trans* Youth and Young Adults in Healthcare: A Qualitative Study About Experiences, Challenges, andWishes

The number of adolescents who present themselves to the healthcare system due to the aspect of trans* is rising internationally as well as nationally. Studies, especially from the international area, point next to appropriate treatment situations increasingly to aversively experienced situations.These are characterized by lack of knowledge of the professionals, incorrect naming and pronoun naming as well as inappropriate questions and comments. In order to shed light on the situation in Germany, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten adolescents and evaluated using qualitative content analysis. Overall, a balanced ratio of positive, appropriate and negative, aversive experiences emerged. Themes were gender-sensitive language, ways of interacting, support/networking and knowledge. The adolescents named parental support and connection to self-help groups as supportive instances in dealing with the healthcare system, but also mentioned structural hurdles such as long waiting times. Overall, the adolescents had a positive outlook on the future and would like to see a sensitization of healthcare workers. Educationalmeasures and further training should be implemented in order to meet these wishes and to ensure needs-based care for trans* adolescents.

THE USE OF FEMALE NOMINA AGENTIS IN JOB ADVERTISEMENTS – A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SERBIAN AND MODERN GREEK LANGUAGE

Language, apart from being a means of communication, is also an important medium for conveying meaning and shaping social and cultural patterns. Additionally, language plays an important role in defining notions such as gender and gender equality (Filipović, 2009; Cameron, 2003). In an era of active participation of women in the labour market, it is important to examine the impact of language on their position in society and their access to various fields (Stout, Dasgupta, 2011). The way in which employers advertise open job positions gives us a great insight into this topic. The aim of this paper is to examine the use of gender-sensitive language in job titles on four search engines in Serbia and Greece. This paper seeks to investigate the extent to which titles of female positions are represented, bearing in mind that the choice of linguistic elements has an impact on the perception of the market reality and the motivation of future employees. Specifically, the focus of the paper lies in the areas of accounting, customer support, translation, insurance, management, marketing, economics and science. Тhe findings are compared within two culturally and socially close contexts, in order to draw conclusions about the position of women in the labour market. The results of the analysis confirm the hypotheses, that is the examined job titles are rarely in line with gender-sensitive language. It was also found that the use of nomina agentis exclusively in the masculine gender is more common in the case of higher positions, especially in the field of management. The paper provides insights into the current situation with which women come into contact when searching for jobs in certain areas. Moreover, the study provides a basis for further research on the relationship between language and gender in the social Serbian and Greek context, respectively.

Gender – Fair Language in Teaching Basic Education

Education aims to create equality and respect through its components. One of those components is the learning delivery of any subject matter wherein language is mainly utilized. The study aimed to determine the usage of the gender sensitive language in teaching basic education at Don Honorio Ventura State University. It specifically sought to answer on the level of familiarity of the teachers on the gender-fair language; the frequency on the teacher’s usage of the gender-fair language; the common gender-fair terminologies used in motivation, discussion, performance tasks, assessments, and assignments; and the difficulties that the teachers encountered in using gender-fair language. The study used sequential explanatory type of research. It used questionnaires and interviews in gathering data. There are 65 participants who answered the survey and 11 of them participated in the focal group discussion. Based on the findings, the teachers are familiar with the gender-fair language but they sometimes use them in various areas of teaching such as in motivation, discussion, performance task, assessment, and assignment due to the topic pertinence and student ability. With those findings, the conduct of wide dissemination through capability building on the use of gender-fair language is still needed.

Geschlechtersensibler Sprachgebrauch im Wahlkampf? Eine diachrone Analyse von TV-Duellen in Deutschland

AbstractIn the last years, gender-sensitive language use has become an important issue of public debate in Germany and many other countries. The generic use of masculine forms in particular has been widely criticised. How, for example, public figures and politicians, both in government and of the opposition, refer to groups comprised of diverse genders is therefore scrutinised by the general public and routinely commented on in the media. In this paper, we analyse the language use of candidates for German chancellor and federal state prime minister, respectively, in televised pre-election debates – i. e. the most important single campaign event – from 1997 to 2020. Focussing on references to voters (Wählerinnen[FEM] orWähler[MASC]) and to citizens (Bürgerinnen[FEM] orBürger[MASC]), we quantitatively investigate the following research questions: Has the use of gender-sensitive expressions increased over the years? Are female candidates more likely to use gender-sensitive language than male candidates? Is there a preference for gender-sensitive language (as opposed to using the generic masculine) among candidates on the left of the political spectrum compared to conservative candidates?

Teaching Gender-Sensitive Language And Gender-Biased Terminology

This article will define gender sensitive language and illustrate its importance in communication, especially business writing. In addition, this article examines the reasons for gender sensitive language and gives some examples to gender biased terminology.

Język wrażliwy na płeć w edukacji. Analiza wybranych dokumentów uniwersyteckich

The purpose of the article is to discuss issues related to the gender-sensitive language used in education, as well as how feminine forms function in Polish language. In particular, the documents analyzed are those used at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. The basic question that underlies the discussion here refers to gender-specific asymmetry in language and its impact on shaping reality.

Development and Validation of a Criterion-Referenced Test in Qualitative Research for 11th graders

Classroom teachers - from basic, secondary, collegiate to graduate levels - are not only authorized, but are capable of improving processes and products necessary for the delivery of their instruction. This study aimed to develop and validate through pilot-testing a criterion-referenced test in qualitative research for 11th graders through series of revisions based on readability index, index of difficulty, and index of discrimination. Findings revealed convincing evidence that the summative test final draft could be adopted for use by target end users in Senior High Schools. Recommendations include several other tests to measure its response to gender-sensitive language and distracter analysis.

A gendered academy – women’s experiences from higher education in Cameroon

Abstract Women make up less than 20% of the faculty in Cameroon and continue to work in male-dominated workplaces against a context of patriarchal gendered ideologies. This paper explores women’s experiences in the academy in Cameroon, highlighting the way they navigate these challenges to position themselves in higher education. Through autoethnography and critical discourse analysis, it examines literature within the area of gendered discourse and texts on higher education, and the author’s personal experiences as a female academic in Cameroon. It is argued in this paper that the challenges of women are higher and include rendering content of teaching and research gendered, appropriating gendered identities as women, and asserting themselves in research, publication, and administration. Language is considered as the vehicle for disempowering women in the academy. Thus, women are called upon to demystify stereotypes about femininity and women’s place in the academy through language use. That deconstruction of roles must start with gender-sensitive language use.

Divlja gradnja u sferi jezika

Stating that social action aimed at achieving a higher degree of equality between men and women is necessary and useful, the author questions the validity of the approach in the recently adopted Law on Gender Equality that tries to establish gender equality, among other things, by forced intervention in the language sphere, through imposing the application of the so-called "gender-sensitive language". Despite the fact that such an approach could hardly contribute to actual equality, this forced intervention in the language sphere is the violation of the language as a segment of intangible cultural heritage, which is contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and a number of international acts. Fortunately, the provisions of the Law on Gender Equality regarding the application of gender-sensitive language are inaccurate, unclear and full of internal contradictions to such an extent that it can be said that they are not applicable.

LINGUISTICALLY JUSTIFIED USE OF GENDERED FEMININE NOUNS OF THE CATEGORY NOMINA AGENTIS ET PROFESSIONIS CREATED BY SUFFIX -KINJA

This paper is considering scientific well-foundedness of arguments in favour of the use of generic forms and against the use of gendered feminine nouns from the word-formation semantic category of professions and ranks, using examples of the nouns derived by suffix -kinja (psiholog/psihološkinja, vodič/vodičkinja i dr.). Following the introductory part displaying her motives for choosing this topic, the author reminds us that the investigations so far have shown that the main reasons against the feminine gender nouns quote their more restricted range in comparison to their generic forms, thier complex sound structure and problematic word-formation model as well. Linguists supporting these attitudes find certain feminine forms impermissible because of their forms being derived according to unaccredited wordformation pattern. The possibility of having homonymy and double meaning happen, considering semantic heritage of certain feminine gender nouns (nouns like ministarka, trenerka), sometimes makes them unsuitable and inefficient. The arguments listed here are particularly related to the abstract communication, i.e. competitions, printed forms and so on, whereas it is more suitable to use generic forms due to their more extensive semantic range and eligibility to refer to persons of both gender, being considered gender-neutral. The author is also reminiding us of completely opposite views according to which, in the mass media, by the predominanted use of generic names for professions and ranks for feminine persons, it is clear the tendency to make women invisible in the social and political field. Supporters of such approach find it necessary, when it comes to the question of gender sensitive language, to implement codification aiming to provide humane and tolerant communication, and visibility of women in the society as well, i.e. her gender equality The author gives advantage to the pragmatic and balanced approach in resolving this problem, according to which in concrete situations the feminine forms are found necessary, i.e. situations when with a feminine personal name ought to be used a feminine gender noun indicating her profession. On the other side, in situations when neutral or common use is necesseray, generic forms can be a tool for language efficiency (for example in competitions, printed forms and so on). The author in a latent manner debates with the opinion that the generic, i.e. common forms are gender-neutral, reminding us of the morphological features of the masculine gender nouns of the first category being their charateristic, supporting it with the example: Vodič nam je davala uputstva. The author emphasises that the necessity of the existence of the feminine gender forms for professions and ranks is unquestionable for both – from the point of view of ensuring equality of genders in the society, and respecting principle of congruency point of view as well, focusing on the central part of her research afterwards. On the basis of all aforementioned in the paper it can be finally concluded that the profession nouns of the feminine gender appeared when the need for them came up and also that the tendency of their expansion is evident and proportional with the enhancement of the position of the woman in the society. The use of the feminine gender nouns denoting professions and ranks, as well as those with the suffix mentioned earlier, is necessary and practical in concrete situations. If we bear in mind that there are no liguistically justified arguments against the use of gendered feminine nouns with the suffix -kinja the categories nomina agentis et professions, it is to be expected the continuation of their expansion.

Gender in Slovenian Monolingual General Explanatory Dictionaries

In this paper, we focus on gender as a grammatical and social category in Slovenian monolingual general explanatory dictionaries and explain how the category of gender influences the selection and presentation of data included in Slovenian explanatory dictionaries, as well as their structuring at macro- and microstructural levels. We focus on the analysis of the changes that have occurred in dictionary description at the beginning of the 21st century due to the growing awareness of gender-sensitive language use, and point out some of the editorial dilemmas related to the category of gender that we face in the preparation of the eSSKJ: Dictionary of the Slovenian Standard Language, Third Edition.

Feminism and Gender-Neutral Language: Between Systems and Effects

The debate on language and gender in Slovenia raises the issue of gender-sensitive language use, which goes far beyond mere equality and inclusiveness in language use. While the establishment of (gender) identity in language is related to the theoretical question of the social construction of gender, ensuring gender equality in language is also a matter that requires social engagement in various fields, especially including various segments of the education system. As the first public debate on this issue – organised by the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, on 23 October 2018, following attempts to reduce gender inequality in legal documents adopted by the Faculty – showed, the approach to language and gender will necessarily be interdisciplinary. Linguistic considerations call for a shift in emphasis from vocabulary and address code (available resources) to arguments of morphosyntactic form and, in particular, to the symbolic structure of linguistic signs, taking into account relevant contributions from other research areas that have understood the attribution of gender – even sex – as a socially determined decision (e.g. Butler, 2001 /1990/, 1993). Since we are, at this point, particularly interested in the impact of gender-sensitive language use on the discursive level, we argue that the essence of the effort to make language more inclusive – with an emphasis on discourse in education – is not to offer, authorise and institutionalise individual solutions and strategies under the auspices of the language authorities, but to understand gender-sensitive language use as a multiplicity of micro-politics and as a continuous process that leads us to re-examine linguistic “facts” in relation to a given social context.

Gender Responsive Language Use and Students’ Participation in Learning in Tanzanian Secondary Schools

The study investigated teachers’ level of knowledge on gender responsive language and how they apply in teaching and learning process to enhance equitable participation in learning. The study was conducted in Monduli district and Mbulu town council from Tanzania mainland. The study adopted a mixed methods research approach following concurrent embedded design. Eight schools were selected from which 146 teachers and 220 students were sampled to participate in the study. Data were collected through questionnaire, interviews and classroom observations. Then, thematic content analysis technique was used for qualitative data while descriptive analysis was conducted for quantitative data. The findings show that secondary school teachers had limited knowledge on gender responsive language which constrained their ability to use gender responsive language in classroom. Teachers were observed to use gender neutral language and sometime they used phrases which perpetuate superiority and inferiority between boys and girls respectively. The study recommends for extra efforts to raise teachers’ knowledge on gender responsive language so that none of the student would be denied learning chances because of the gender irresponsive language. Keywords: gender sensitive language, gender inequality, students’ participation in learning DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-26-04 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

Gender Sensitive Language in the Media

Gender Sensitive Language in the Media

Does the UN Speak German? Yes, Since 1975

German is not an official UN language. However, since 1975, a small translation service, established on the basis of a UN resolution, has produced German translations of key UN documents. This service has been financed by the German-speaking Member States and has been fully integrated into the UN Secretariat in New York. Over the years, the service has had to adapt its working methods to deal with a dramatic increase in its workload. Linguistic challenges are posed by concepts such as governance, gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment or race as well as the use of gender-sensitive language for which the service tries to follow a pragmatic approach that also takes readability into account.

Izazovi u standardizaciji jezika - teorijska promatranja

Monitoring and evaluating changes in standard languages, especially in Serbian, in the twenty-first century are the focus of this work. In order to determine the situation in the current norm, it is necessary to consider the Serbian language within the context of contemporary European languages. Challenges arising in the process of standardisation of the Serbian language (such as the language democratisation stemming from the democratisation of society, modernisation, rapid establishment of a gender-sensitive language and insisting on its use, social network terms, etc.), but likewise the needs that such a language should cover, are common with those in other European languages. The principal aim is to shed light on changes in the traditional Serbian language generating a parallel norm, which we refer to as ʻneo-standard', and whose formation is predominantly influenced by the media. The second objective is to exactly and thoroughly determine the reasons for the emergence of neo-standard, which, as previous research have shown, are common in all European languages.

Ohranjen-/a/o v prevodu: spolno občutljiva raba jezika na slovenskem oddelku Generalnega direktorata za prevajanje Evropske komisije

Na slovenskem oddelku Generalnega direktorata za prevajanje Evropske komisije se s spolno občutljivim jezikom ukvarjamo od leta 2016, ko smo opazili vse pogostejšo rabo spolno nevtralnega jezika v angleških izvirnikih. Tak jezik štejemo za namerno izbran način pisanja in torej za pomembno prvino izvirnika. Vendar pa spolno nevtralnega jezika običajno ni mogoče neposredno prevesti v slovenščino, in če spolno nezaznamovane oblike prevajamo z generičnim moškim spolom, je jezik prevoda seksističen. Večinoma je treba spolno nezaznamovanost v prevodu izraziti neodvisno od izvirnika. Slovenski oddelek Generalnega direktorata za prevajanje Evropske komisije je smernice za spolno občutljivo rabo jezika razvil v sodelovanju s strokovnjaki in strokovnjakinjami iz slovenske javne uprave in akademske skupnosti. Nekatera sredstva spolno občutljivega jezika so relativno neproblematična, za mnoga vprašanja pa so potrebne nadaljnje raziskave in izkušnje.

Spol in jezik na robu pameti: Med slovnico in ideologijo

Pričujoče besedilo je povzemanje in analiza javne razprave, do katere je prišlo po sprejetju 41. sklepa Senata Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani z dne 25. aprila 2018 o novi spolni dikciji v fakultetnih pravilnikih in ki je nato ob zanimanju medijev potekala več mesecev, vrhunec pa dosegla pred približno enim letom, 23. oktobra 2018, na Okrogli mizi Jezik in spol na Filozofski fakulteti UL. Obenem je ob ponovnem vrednotenju izraženih stališč z nekoliko časovne distance prispevek poskus nadaljevanja razprave o spolnih kategorijah in ospoljenih identitetah ter androcentričnosti v jeziku. Poleg osvetlitve teoretskega ozadja, ki je (ali bi moralo biti) gonilo razprave, smo opravili tudi preprosto statistično analizo odzivov glede na zastopanost v medijih in zastopanost po spolu. V kvalitativnem delu analize nas je zanimalo predvsem, katere strokovne in ideološke (navidezne) opozicije so napajale posamezne retorike in diskurze, ki so obarvali razpravo.

Gender Sensitive Language in Media Practice in Serbia

Gender sensitive language as a part of non-discriminatory speaking and writing is an important aspect of language planning. There is no such official policy of language planning in Serbia, and the whole process in public goes with resistance and disputes of individuals or groups. At the same time, the argumentation and importance of language planning are not considered when it comes to its gender dimension. Given the strong media influence on public opinion, speaking and writing, I decided to research proofreaders’ attitudes to the use of gender sensitive language in Serbian daily newspapers. The proofreaders have a power of linguistic knowledge to direct language policy in media, but their professional power could be reduced by the attitudes of editors and authors. On the other hand, given the relation between the prescriptive norm and the language practice, proofreaders are often influenced by individual attitudes of Serbian philologists who prescribe that norm. The attention here is to show an interdependence of professional power and linguistic knowledge in the processes of standardisation of the Serbian language in the case of proofreading services in daily newspapers in Belgrade and Novi Sad printed in 2016.

Rodna ideologija u diskursu mladih

While gender order is defined as a social system of divisions based on gender-class rules, tasks, obligations, freedoms and limits (Eckert&McConnell-Ginet, 2003: 34), gender ideology is defined as a cluster of beliefs that manages the participation of people in gender order (Eckert&McConnell-Ginet, 2003: 26). Gender stereotypes that have an influence on the creation of gender ideologies can also have an immense influence on the communicative approach of both speakers and interlocutors (Eckert, McConnell-Ginet, 2003: 197). Therefore, this paper defines the impact of gender ideology on language usage, with specific reference to the discourse of the youth. Having in mind that gender division is involved, the paper analyses the usage of gender sensitive language. After the theoretical introduction to gender ideology and the division of egalitarian and traditional gender ideology, the paper also includes a research regarding the usage of gender sensitive language in the discourse of the youth, based on their gender ideology. The paper confirms the main hypothesis that those students who cherish traditional gender ideology do not use gender sensitive language, while those students who cherish egalitarian gender ideology use gender sensitive language in everyday communication.