Toward trans multilingualisms: student attitudes toward and experiences with trans linguacultures in French

Abstract

There is increasing recognition of the imperative of gender justice in language education. Despite this momentum, reflected as it is in ongoing calls to resist cisheteronormativity and in a growing body of literature on the benefits of gender-just pedagogies, movement toward a distinctly trans approach to applied linguistics and toward trans multilingualisms remains woefully uneven and often entirely absent. One of many contributing factors is anecdotal speculation about student resistance that has persisted unchecked, particularly given limited data on student experiences with developing trans-inflected multilingualisms. To respond, this study explored the attitudinal stances taken by 59 undergraduates in a fifth-semester French course in the United States toward trans people, knowledges, and linguistic practices using a pre-course/post-course mixed-methods survey design. Results indicated that most students had no prior experience with trans linguacultures in their French-language coursework, contrasting with broad interest and readiness to learn about these topics. Although students varied in their attitudinal stances, results also demonstrated that an overall openness to, interest in, and valuing of developing their own trans multilingualisms was only enhanced by the 16-week course experience, adding to the robust body of evidence urging scholar-educators to work toward increasingly gender-just forms of language education.