Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-fv566 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T23:30:25.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

In their own voices: Development of English as a gender-neutral language

Does learning English promote gender equity among Asian international students?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2017

Janina Brutt-Griffler  and
Sumi Kim
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This study explores how learning English among one subset of English learners, Asian female international students at US colleges, contributes to the larger project of advancing gender equality. Using their narratives, we ask why Asian female international students invest so much of their identities and effort into learning English. We discuss the ways in which their endeavours may even silently promote the development of English as a gender-neutral language. The population of Asian students offers a compelling case of how the English language is potentially transformed via its spread to this English learner population and how it presents new avenues for identity formation for the growing number of female English users worldwide (cf. Brutt-Griffler, 2010: 232).

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 12 - 19
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bamber, M. 2014. ‘What motivates Chinese women to study in the UK and how do they perceive their experience?’ Higher Education, 68(1), 47–68.Google Scholar
Bolton, K. 2006. ‘World Englishes today.’ In Kachru, B. B., Kachru, Y. & Nelson, C. L. (eds.), The Handbook of World Englishes. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 240–69.Google Scholar
Brutt-Griffler, J. 2002. World English: A Study of Its Development. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Brutt-Griffler, J. 2010. ‘Bilingualism and English language teaching.’ In Wyse, D., Andrews, R. & Hoffman, J. (eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of English, Language and Literacy Teaching. London: Routledge, pp. 228–41.Google Scholar
Brutt-Griffler, J. & Kim, S. 2016. ‘Closing the gender gap: The role of English.’ In Pitzl, M-L. & Osimk-Teasdale, R. (eds.), English as a Lingua Franca: Perspectives and Prospects. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 245–57.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. 1998. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Goldsmith, J. & Shawcross, V. 1985. It Ain't Half Sexist, Mum: Women as Overseas Students in the UK. London: World University Service.Google Scholar
Gordon, D. 2004. ‘“I'm tired. You clean and cook”: Shifting gender identities and second language socialization.’ TESOL Quarterly, 38(3), 437–57.Google Scholar
Habu, T. 2000. ‘The irony of globalization: The experience of Japanese women in British higher education.’ Higher Education, 39(1), 43–66.Google Scholar
Institute of International Education. 2015. Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Online at <http://www.iie.org/opendoors> (Accessed July 10, 2015).+(Accessed+July+10,+2015).>Google Scholar
The Japan Times. 2015. ‘Conference highlights need to empower women, embrace diversity in the workplace.’ Online at <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/14/national/conference-highlights-need-empower-women-embrace-diversity-workplace#.WNb7fxiZOgR> (Accessed June 24, 2015).+(Accessed+June+24,+2015).>Google Scholar
Kachru, B. B. 1996. ‘World Englishes: Agony and ecstasy.’ Journal of Aesthetic Education, 30(2), 135–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, S. 2016. ‘The paradox of gender in a transnational space: Persistence and resistance of gender identity among Asian international undergraduate students in the English learning context.’ Unpublished Doctoral dissertation. Buffalo: The State University of New York at Buffalo.Google Scholar
The Korea Times. 2016. ‘Drama characters heighten ‘girl crush’ syndrome.’ Online at <http://www.koreatimesus.com/drama-characters-heighten-girl-crush-syndrome/> (Accessed January 4, 2017).+(Accessed+January+4,+2017).>Google Scholar
Kramsch, C. 2009. The Multilingual Subject: What Foreign Language Learners Say about Their Experience and Why It Matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lebra, T. S. 1998. ‘Confucian gender role and personal fulfillment for Japanese women.’ In Slote, W. H. & DeVos, G. A. (eds.), Confucianism and the Family. Albany: SUNY Press, pp. 209–27.Google Scholar
Mufwene, S. S. 2010. ‘Globalization, global English, and world English(es): Myths and facts.’ In Coupland, N. (ed.), The Handbook of Language and Globalization. Malden, MA: Wiley, pp. 31–55.Google Scholar
Norton, B. 1997. ‘Language, identity, and the ownership of English.’ TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 409–29.Google Scholar
Norton, B. 2013. Identity and Language Learning: Extending the Conversation. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, A. 2001. ‘“How am I to become a woman in an American vein?”: Transformations of gender performance in second language learning.’ In Pavlenko, A., Blackledge, A., Piller, I. & Teutsch-Dwyer, M. (eds.), Multilingualism, Second Language Learning, and Gender. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 133–74.Google Scholar
Schieffelin, B. 1990. The Give and Take of Everyday Life: Language Socialization of Kaluli Children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. 2011. Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. & Corbin., J. 1998. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
The Sunday Times. 2015. ‘Now pick Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms … or Mx for no specific gender.’ Online at <http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article1551885.ece> (Accessed May 24, 2016).+(Accessed+May+24,+2016).>Google Scholar