Sauntson, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0373-1242 (2021) Language, sexuality and inclusive pedagogy. In: Language Education for Social Justice conference. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Motschenbacher (2016) highlights the need for a greater examination of concepts such as ‘inclusion’ and ‘social justice’ from a linguistic perspective and discusses how linguistic research is well-placed to offer insights into how to develop and implement sexuality-inclusive language education. Linguistic injustices are not just about language – they also relate to social dimensions such as gender and sexuality. This paper examines linguistic practices of inclusion and exclusion relating to sexuality and gender as they surface in the context of UK-based English classrooms and education more broadly. I draw on a queer linguistics framework (Motschenbacher and Stegu, 2013) for examining how normative and non-normative constructions of gender and sexual identity are inscribed in language practices in classrooms, and how these language practices may effect particular discourses of gender and sexuality. I specifically examine extracts of interview data with LGBT-identifying young people analysed using APPRAISAL analysis (Martin and White, 2005). The APPRAISAL framework enables a systematic analysis of the research participants’ deployment of affective and evaluative linguistic resources to describe their school experiences and opinions of school practices. These deployments constitute a social practice in which discourses of inclusion/exclusion, with relation to gender and sexual identity, are made relevant, reinforced or challenged in the context of the English school classroom. A key finding of the research is that the subject of English emerges as having transformative potential and is recognised by participants as a key site for establishing and developing socially just and inclusive pedagogy in relation to gender and sexual diversity. This paper should be of interest to both academic researchers, teacher educators and teachers with an interest in promoting gender and sexuality-based equality and inclusion in their classrooms. It speaks to the conference’s theme of diminishing social inequalities in education through increasing awareness of linguistic practices of inclusion and exclusion.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Status:	Submitted
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics > P40 Sociolinguitics
School/Department:	School of Education, Language and Psychology
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/5380

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