In recent years, gender-inclusive language policy (GILP) reforms have gained significant attention across various national contexts as societies grapple with the intersection of language, identity, and equity. These reforms in the Spanish language have been shaped, on the one hand, by the language reform movement, and on the other hand, by Spanish language authorities’ rejection of gender-inclusive language forms. Teachers, who occupy a central role in language policy implementation, are caught in the middle of this conflict, and may struggle to navigate these divergent positions. The present study explores Spanish language instructors’ appropriation of GILP reforms at a major public U.S. university. It offers an in-depth understanding of the way foreign language instructors in an Anglophone context appropriate language policy in ways that intertwine with their everyday contextual realities and specific pedagogical needs and experiences.

Drawing on a sociocultural approach to policy (Levinson & Sutton, 2001), data were collected through 14 instructor interviews to shed light on their views of the reforms and their implementation. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data (Strauss and Corbin, 1994).

The present study reveals how instructors make policy enactment decisions grounded in the language and communication needs of their students which may be different from those that drive implementation in Spanish-speaking countries. Policy appropriation is represented as a spectrum with varying degrees of policy rejection, avoidance, and engagement across and within participants. Policy rejection was based on language as an inappropriate arena for LGBTQ+ rights, prescriptivists views of language, and language authorities’ rejection of GILP; policy avoidance was based on lack of authority and prescriptive views of language; policy engagement was rooted in ideas related to identity, representation, and inclusion. The study demonstrates the necessity for further examination of how gender-inclusive language policies impact the teaching of foreign languages in global contexts and what role instructors play within this process.

References:
[1] Levinson, B. A. U., Sutton, M., & Winstead, T. (2009). Education policy as a practice of power. Educational Policy, 23(6), 767–795. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904808320676
[2] Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1994). Grounded theory methodology: An overview. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 273–285). Sage Publications.

Keywords: Language policy, gender-inclusive language, Spanish, appropriation, U.S. higher education.