heteronormativity / diversity in foreign language pedagogy

[Melissa Smith]

As I read this message, NPR's All Things Considered was playing a story 
about a black Russian politician and the racial issues he considered:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130102777

Melissa Smith
 
On 9/24/10 2:07 PM, Anna Ronell wrote:
> Hi, just thought to add my two cents to this discussion. Growing up in
> the USSR and later being part of the Russian-Jewish communities both
> in Israel and the US has taught me that me that Russian culture in
> general (and its Soviet variant specifically) are extremely
> homophobic, racist, and misogynist. The level of intolerance I have
> encountered is mind-boggling, which is what I usually honestly tell
> the students. It is especially important to warn the students who plan
> to travel to Russia that the tolerance towards sexual difference they
> take for granted in the US should not be expected in Russia.
> 
> 
> On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 12:43 PM, Kevin Moss <moss at middlebury.edu> 
wrote:
> > My colleagues at Middlebury have begun addressing issues of
> > heteronormativity in language pedagogy both at Middlebury and the 
schools
> > abroad. If Seelangers out there have any thoughts on this, I'd love 
to hear
> > them. We're now expanding the discussion to include other kinds of 
diversity
> > as well (race, class, disability, where appropriate).
> >
> > Here were our original questions and the feedback from the first 
meeting:
> >
> > Some topics we should address:
> >
> > 1. How to make space in dialogues / roleplay for non-normative 
gender and
> > sexuality, family structures, romance.
> >
> > 2. How can we teach terms / concepts in the target language for 
sexual
> > identity: slang, in-group language, pejorative terms.
> >
> > 3. Textbooks: which textbooks actually allow this to happen and how 
can we
> > supplement those that don't?
> >
> > 4. Cultural context in the target country(ies), including what not 
to say.
> > What is the legal and social status of queers?
> >
> > Feedback from the first meeting last year:
> >
> > Several students commented on skits, videos, or activities that 
seemed to
> > reinforce gender/sexuality archetypes. Some faculty did not allow, 
for
> > example, two male-identified students to participate in a dialog 
between
> > marriage partners. Some class activities were described as 
“appallingly
> > normative.” In most cases, if the students themselves took the 
initiative to
> > point out these situations to faculty, they later became more open. 
The
> > general impression is that faculty are worried that other (presumably
> > heterosexual and normatively gendered) students would feel 
uncomfortable
> > with queering activities, that it’s more a case of “harmless 
ignorance” than
> > an intentional policy. But should the burden of correcting the 
erasure of
> > queerness be on the students? Some students also commented that while
> > occasionally students did perform the “other” gender in dialogs, 
this often
> > became an object of exaggerated gender performance and humor.
> >
> > Some suggestions / best practices / things to consider:
> >
> > 1. Faculty can acknowledge discomfort or ignorance about the topic, 
rather
> > than merely remaining silent.
> >
> > 2. Make space in dialogs, skits, videos for non-heteronormative 
families and
> > romance.
> >
> > 3. We should find and share any resources out there, for example in 
ESL
> > pedagogy, that can serve as a model for addressing gender and 
sexuality in
> > an inclusive way. Invite language departments to think about how 
their
> > curriculum addresses these issues.
> >
> > 4. Some textbooks have been updated, and we would like to see 
inclusion of
> > queer gender and sexuality as well as race / ethnicity / disability 
in any
> > new materials we produce, including addressing these issues in the 
K12
> > language initiative.
> >
> >  5. Gender segregation in dorms both during the academic year and in
> > Language Schools naturalizes gender in a way that may make some 
students
> > uncomfortable.
> >
> >  6. Gender and queer issues should be addressed in the preparation of
> > students for study abroad, both in upper-level courses and in the
> > orientation sessions run by the study abroad office (this happened 
last year
> > already and should be continued).
> >
> > Kevin Moss
> >
> > 
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> >
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------------------------------------

Melissa T. Smith, Professor
Department of Foreign Languages and 
Literatures  
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH 44555
Tel: (330)941-3462

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