Singular &lt;i&gt;they&lt;/i&gt; in context

Moulton, Keir; Han, Chung–hye; Block, Trevor; Gendron, Holly; Nederveen, Sander

doi:10.5334/gjgl.1012

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In his comparative study, Abudalbuh (2012) found that while native English speakers used the singular they most often, the non-native speakers, Arabs, preferred the generic he. Currently, two studies are regarded as the most comprehensive on the epicene; Stormbom (2020) and Conrod (2019) (Moulton et al, 2020). Stormbom (2020) examined 1003 research papers on the epicene pronouns and confirmed that the singular they was the most frequently used epicene while the generic he and the binary he/she had equal representation in the data, suggesting that they are equally preferred, i.e., neither is preferred over the other.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Politics in English Language: Exploring the Factors that Affect the Use of the Epicene Pronoun in Esl Context

Fenyi¹,

Arthur²

2023

JLLS

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The English language lacks a pronoun for a singular genderless nominal antecedent. Due to that, different schools of thought have emerged in language studies over what item to be considered appropriate for such role. The pronouns that are used to play the role are collectively known as epicene pronoun. Over the years, the debate has lingered on three epicenes- generic he, coordinated he or she and the singular they, with recent debates tilting towards the singular they. The APA’s (2019) style manual, in its latest edition, i.e. the 7th edition, instructed scholars to use they/them/their pronouns for situations where gender is unknown or irrelevant. While several studies have confirmed that the singular they has become the most preferred epicene in L1 context, minimum studies have been conducted in L2 contexts. This study explores the factors that affect the use of the epicene in the L2 context, in Ghana precisely. 20 English major tertiary students were recruited for the study and data were collected using questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The outcome of the analysis confirms that the coordinated he or she is the most preferred epicene in the L2 context. However, it is revealed that when the singular antecedent evokes a plural ‘sense’, the singular they is the most preferred. The study also reveals that three factors account for the use of the epicene- socio-cultural factors, input/amount of exposure factor and grammaticality factors. It is recommended that, as the concept of gender evolves and expands beyond the simplistic binary male and female, the singular they becomes more gender responsive and should be introduced into the language curricula of L2 contexts.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Politics in English Language: Exploring the Factors that Affect the Use of the Epicene Pronoun in Esl Context

Fenyi¹,

Arthur²

2023

JLLS

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“… Shhh! The person on the phone with me has lost their voice. In these scenarios the gender of the referent may be unknown or indeterminate (Bodine 1975, Bjorkman 2017) or irrelevant to the communicative goals of the speaker (Moulton et al 2020). For stage 1 speakers, referential singular they is not possible with referents where a form expressing binary gender is both appropriate and known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processing bound-variable singularthey

Han

Moulton

2022

Can. J. Linguist.

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The pronouns they/them/their are readily available with a singular interpretation as bound variables (Balhorn 2004, Bjorkman 2017). Referential interpretations are possible, but subject to pragmatic considerations and changes in progress (Bjorkman 2017, Conrod 2019, Konnelly and Cowper 2020). In a series of experiments, we tested differences between bound and referential singular they in acceptability and incremental processing, asking whether bound they is sensitive to the gender of its antecedent, as referential they is (Doherty and Conklin 2017, Ackerman 2018, Ackerman et al. 2018, Conrod 2019). We found that bound singular they has an advantage over referential singular they in acceptability, even when the antecedent is gendered. In processing, however, bound-variable singular they showed a reading time advantage over referential singular they only with gendered antecedents. We evaluate these results against existing formal linguistic theories of singular they implemented within psycholinguistic models of pronoun processing. We submit that none of the theories fully captures the range of evidence we uncover, in particular the interaction between gender and quantification. We suggest a formal account that does: we propose, using representations from Kratzer (2009) and Sudo (2012), that gender and number features are differentially represented in referential versus binding dependencies. We speculate how this representational difference relates to the processing mechanisms of antecedent retrieval and to the limited processing advantage for bound singular they that we found.

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He/She/They - gender inclusivity in developing and using health-related questionnaires: a scoping review

Scott,

Derrett,

Rupel

et al. 2024

Qual Life Res

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Purpose To ensure the recognition and participation of all potential respondents in health research, surveys and care, including LGBTQIA + broadly, and trans people, specifically, the use of inclusive language should be considered. This scoping review aimed to identify and describe strategies considered for gender inclusivity in development and use of health questionnaires and Patient Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs). Methods A systematic search of peer reviewed publications between January 2000 and September 2022 was conducted in Scopus, ProQuest Central, Ovid Medline (PubMed and EBSCO). Two reviewers independently screened identified publications titles and abstracts, followed by full text screening and data extraction from eligible articles. Results The search of over 5000 publications, retained 18; most acknowledged gaps in representation and advocated for gender-inclusive language. Eight articles discussed exclusion from health care and health research for gender minority groups due to the use of gendered language. Improved reliability, validity and response rates were associated with the use of gender-neutral language in seven articles. Only one article reported finding irritation among cisgender males when non-binary gender response options were used. One paper, focussing on instruments for Rheumatoid Arthritis, discussed gaps in representation if diverse gender identities were not considered when developing PROMs. Conclusion This scoping review points to the importance of adopting gender-inclusive language in health questionnaires and surveys to reduce the risk of excluding gender minority groups. Despite finding very few specific examples of how others have used gender-inclusive language in health questionnaires, many strengths of gender-inclusive language usage were identified.

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Singular <i>they</i> in context

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Gender Politics in English Language: Exploring the Factors that Affect the Use of the Epicene Pronoun in Esl Context

Gender Politics in English Language: Exploring the Factors that Affect the Use of the Epicene Pronoun in Esl Context

Processing bound-variable singularthey

He/She/They - gender inclusivity in developing and using health-related questionnaires: a scoping review

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