The introduction and spread of Ms as the courtesy address title for women is a cornerstone of feminist linguistic planning for English. Its introduction aimed to eradicate the discriminatory inequity in the address system that exposed women through their (non)marital relationship with men. The… read more
The concurrent trends of globalisation and ‘indigenisation’ affecting the English language (varieties) around the world pose some interesting questions for language planning and reform issues (e.g. Phillipson, 1992; Pennycook, 1994; Crystal, 1997). With this project we examine the impact of these… read more
In this paper we address the issue of the evaluation of feminist language planning in Australia. Through case studies of some self-identified linguistic reformers and non-sexist language users we present a ‘trajectory’ framework for the exploration of evaluation as part of the language planning… read more
1.Feminism and language
1.1 Feminism and linguistic reform
1.2 Evaluating feminist linguistic reform
1.3 Eliminating gender bias in courtesy titles: The options
2. Spreading the feminist word: The case of Ms in Australia
2.1 A profile of Ms- users in Australia:… read more
This paper explores changes in the use of generic pronouns in Australian English. We examine a database of public non-scripted speech to establish to what extent generic pronouns promoted through non-sexist language reform have become part of public speech. The results show that the use of… read more
This paper deals with the phenomena of linguistic sexism and non-sexist language reform (feminist language planning) in the Australian context. It surveys Australian work on linguistic sexism and discusses various aspects of non-sexist language reform in Australia. Particular emphasis is placed on… read more
This paper is a first report on an interdisciplinary project dealing with cross-cultural communication in health and medicine undertakebn by the Centre for Community Languages in the Professions. In this paper health professionals’ perceptions of communication difficulties are examined, especially… read more
In this article research on the relationship between language and gender in Australian society Is surveyed. Three main areas are discussed: gender differencies in the use of Australian English; the issue of sexism in Australian language use; and the role of gender in the maintenance of languages… read more