Shayna Greenley/University of Michigan
Learning a language involves much more than vocabulary and grammar; language learners must also uncover the cultural values and ideologies embedded within the language itself. In the case of Romance languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Catalan, one of the most fundamental aspects of grammar is gender. Nouns, adjectives and pronouns are typically categorized as masculine or feminine, clashing with our more complex, 21st-century understanding of gender identity. This rigid linguistic structure can alienate students whose identities may not fit within the traditional gender binary. It is difficult for them to feel fully seen or respected in the classroom, where they often feel pressured to misgender themselves or prematurely out themselves due to their limited descriptive options.
In a world increasingly aware of the fluidity of gender, this issue is becoming more pronounced. According to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center, approximately 5 percent of young adults in the U.S. identify as non-cisgender; at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where I teach, almost a quarter of students identify as LGBTQIA+.
Recognizing the mismatch between students’ identities and the way gender is traditionally taught in the classroom, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Michigan took action in 2019 by establishing the RLL Gender Diversity Committee. Composed of linguists, gender studies experts, language instructors and trans and nonbinary faculty and students, the committee’s mission was to reframe how gender is approached in Romance language courses. This initiative has resulted in curriculum revisions, public awareness campaigns and the creation of new online resources, all with the goal of making language learning more inclusive and affirming.
Principles for an Inclusive Classroom
As the chair of the department’s Gender Diversity Committee from 2019 to 2024 and a long-term member of Michigan’s LGBT Faculty Alliance, I saw firsthand how transformative these efforts can be. Here are five principles that have guided our team’s work and can serve as a model for other institutions looking to create more inclusive language classrooms.
- Take Action
Every great journey begins with a first step. Ours was to bring together a group of committed individuals who could approach this issue from multiple perspectives. In our committee, the diversity of voices was key to addressing our topic in a well-rounded way, and our motto, “All identities are RLL identities,” reflected this inclusive approach. The input from each member was essential in shaping the inclusive and comprehensive framework we sought to create.
One of our first actions was to create an online presence, making our mission statement, syllabus statements and morphology tables available to members of the department. By providing these resources early and inviting feedback throughout the process, the team demonstrated its commitment to change while offering faculty and students tangible tools to implement more inclusive practices.
- Bring Trans and Nonbinary Individuals to the Table
No initiative aimed at fostering inclusivity can succeed without the active involvement of the communities it seeks to serve. In our case, trans and nonbinary departmental members were instrumental in helping us understand the unique challenges they face in the language classroom. Through surveys and direct involvement in the committee, these members of the RLL community provided invaluable insights that shaped our approach.
It’s crucial to listen and learn from firsthand experiences. Misgendering, for instance, can be profoundly painful for students, signaling a lack of recognition or respect for their identity. By ensuring that trans and nonbinary students have a voice in the conversation, we can better meet their needs and create spaces where they feel seen and valued.
- Don’t Expect Textbooks to Do Your DEI Work
One of the most significant challenges our department encountered was that most Romance language textbooks don’t account for nonbinary identities. While these textbooks provide valuable grammatical instruction, they often conflate grammatical gender with gender identity, perpetuating a binary understanding of gender.
As our team investigated the evolving linguistic landscape, we found that many cultures where Romance languages are spoken have integrated nonbinary pronouns and gender-neutral options into their languages. However, these innovations are rarely reflected in the textbooks used in U.S. classrooms. As a result, instructors must be proactive in supplementing textbook materials with more inclusive language content. We ended up creating a website for our department, which adapts current course content to include nonbinary language. Recognizing the additional work required, we applied for an instructional grant from Michigan to support this important step toward making our classrooms more inclusive for all students.
- Teach Gender-Diverse Language Within a Gender-Diverse Cultural Context
Creating an inclusive classroom goes beyond modifying textbooks. It’s also about equipping students to use gender-diverse language in real-life communicative contexts. Through the committee’s work, we’ve incorporated nonbinary pronouns and gender-diverse language into reading, writing and speaking exercises that reflect the diversity of situations that students might encounter in real life. These exercises not only meet curriculum requirements but also provide a space for students to engage in critical discussions about gender identity and inclusivity.
Language is more than just a tool for communication; it reflects and shapes the worldviews of its speakers. By encouraging students to explore the cultural implications of gendered grammar, we can foster greater empathy and understanding both in and outside of the classroom.
- Go Public With Your Support and Efforts
Public awareness is a powerful tool for inspiring change. At Michigan, we launched a public awareness campaign that prominently displays nonbinary pronouns in the five Romance languages that are taught on campus. These visuals have sparked conversations among faculty, students and even parents, broadening the scope of our work and extending its impact beyond the classroom.
Public awareness campaigns like these serve not only to educate but also to normalize the use of inclusive language. When students and faculty encounter nonbinary language in hallways and public spaces, it helps to reduce the discomfort some feel around this evolving aspect of language. The feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing gratitude for our department’s efforts to foster a more inclusive environment.
Moving Toward a More Inclusive Future
Language learning should be an inclusive, enriching experience for all participants. However, the binary gender framework that underlies the Romance languages presents unique challenges for trans and nonbinary individuals. By forming an innovative committee, collaborating with stakeholders, providing supplemental information, adapting course materials and launching public awareness campaigns, we’ve begun to dismantle these barriers and create classrooms for all students, no matter how they identify or present in private and/or public spheres.
The steps we’ve taken at the University of Michigan are just the beginning. There is still much work to be done, but these guiding principles can inform efforts to make similar changes in other language departments. Other institutions can join in creating more inclusive models for teaching languages and cultures—models that fully reflect the diversity of our student body and the complexity of gender in the modern world.