By Katrina Scalise (COM’24)
In October 2023, the French Sénat voted for an extensive ban on gender-inclusive writing, asserting that French pronouns should continue to be masculine or feminine and that gender-neutral references should continue to take on the masculine form.
If passed by the French Parliament, the new law would uphold the use of the two gendered subject pronouns — il and elle — and would not acknowledge non-binary third-person pronouns such as iel (singular) and iels (plural), which are already in use.
But in French Lecturer Maria Bobroff’s classroom, students are already intermixing the non-binary iel and iels pronouns with feminine and masculine pronouns and sharing their pronouns — in both English and French.
“Showing students how to express themselves outside of the feminine/masculine binary is essential,” said Bobroff, who has taught French language and Francophone literatures and cultures at multiple institutions. “This is just another way of expressing yourself, of demonstrating that everyone is welcome, and has a voice, and has a means to use their voice in the classroom,”
Romance languages are traditionally gendered—with nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and participles connected with either female or male articles. For instance, une table (a table) is feminine and un arbre (a tree) is masculine. But, in recent years, non-binary pronouns to refer to people have been emerging more and more in French conversation.
During the 2022–2023 academic year, Bobroff (she/elle) created a working group on this topic — made possible by a Learn More Together grant from BU Diversity & Inclusion, which supported faculty and student efforts to create community and conduct research related to LGBTQ+ topics.
Bobroff has been experimenting with the usage of these in the classroom since she arrived at BU in 2021. She said she applied for the grant with the idea in mind that “language is always evolving,” and she felt it was important for language instructors to “stay well informed and aware of trends.”
“Even for students who use feminine or masculine pronouns, hearing and practicing nonbinary pronouns is becoming more and more critical for successful communication in francophone regions,” she said. “As for the formal gatekeepers of ‘standardized’ French, their refusal to embrace nonbinary usage offers an interesting topic of conversation, but they won’t prevent the language from evolving among its speakers.”
After receiving the grant, Bobroff extended an invitation to fellow French faculty members, as well as graduate students, to have “intellectual conversations” on the changing landscape of nonbinary usage in the Francophone world.
The grant allowed Bobroff to purchase copies of Devenir non-binaire en français contemporain, an anthology that delves into modern, French nonbinary pronoun usage. Throughout the 2022-2023 academic year, she and several other faculty members and graduate students met monthly to discuss chapters, real-world applications of a nonbinary subject, and how to implement nonbinary pronouns such as “iel” in a classroom setting. Bobroff also invited one of the book’s editors, Vinay Swamy, a professor of French and Francophone Studies at Vassar College, to speak to the group.
Senior Lecturer in French Paula Hennessy said studying the nonbinary subject made her more confident in introducing “iel” to her students. “It’s such a timely topic because of the nature of inclusivity. [The group] was a welcoming environment,” she said. “We’re trying to get some type of recommended practice.”
Lillie Webb, lecturer in French and director of Global House said the reading group was a wonderful experience to be involved in as a language educator and she has brought what she learned to the classroom. “Our LGBTQIA+ students deserve to be able to express themselves with language that fits their identities,” she said. “In my own classroom, I now consistently integrate non-binary language, and all students have responded positively to this shift.”
Bobroff said that in her classrooms, she integrates all pronouns without drawing attention to them, thereby normalizing their use. If students seem confused, particularly at the start of the semester, she will “give a quick explanation of the seemingly new pronoun and move on.” When she reviews students’ work, she does not correct errors relating to their gender; rather, she “comments on how they have expressed their gender at different moments in their speaking or writing and leaves it to them to make changes, if desired.”
Bobroff hopes to carry on the group’s work and create lesson plans for future French language courses by the end of 2024. The proposed recommended practices will broadly cover common French nonbinary pronouns and how to utilize them in the language.
Bobroff is also working to build more inclusive classrooms in other ways. As part of her work with the Inclusive Pedagogy Institute, organized by BU’s Center for Teaching & Learning, CAS Diversity & Inclusion, and BU Diversity & Inclusion (BU D&I), she studied course design and classroom techniques that create inclusive and supportive learning environments.
This year, she is participating in the Antiracist Curricula Fellowship Program, organized by BU’s Center for Anti Racist Research (CAR), the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), and Diversity & Inclusion (BU D&I). Together with Webb, she is writing new units to substitute in the common textbook used in LF 111-LF 212 (Défi francophone 1) that will highlight French-speaking cultures outside of Europe and Canada.
“I want all of my students to succeed, and to achieve that goal, I try to anticipate and remove obstacles that could impede their growth,” Bobroff said. “For many students, simply speaking aloud in a second language provokes anxiety. That stress is exacerbated when the student must also navigate gendered pronouns, adjectives, participles, etc. that do not reflect their identity. My goal remains the same: to provide students an inclusive environment in which to grow real-world communication skills.”