It's impossible, and frankly naive, to think that we can change the grammatical structure of a language overnight. As French as a Second Language (FSL) educators, we will be faced with numerous challenges, such as:

• Difficulty implementing a truly gender neutral approach to teaching French

• Pushback from school administration, parents, community, etc.

• Lack of resources or support for this approach

But don't be discouraged! Our responsibility still remains to be providing equitable and inclusive education as well as ensuring that all of our students feel safe in our schools. 

But how can we do that, even with these challenges?

In traditionally taught French, there are only two main third-person singular pronouns: 'il' and 'elle.'  However, recent studies have begun to emerge with recommendations on using the gender neutral pronoun: 'iel' (Pilon, 2020). In English, the equivalent would be 'they/them.' 'Iel' would be conjugated the same as 'il' would be, remaining gender neutral by adopting the singular, masculine form. 

Another strategy, outlined by Pilon (2020), for the categorization for nouns and adjectives, could be to include all options/variations when speaking or writing. For example, "les étudiants/les étudiantes." The main issue with this, however, is that it still enforces a binary.

While both if these aren't perfect solutions, it is a step in the right direction to a gender inclusive FSL classroom.

An engaging and gender inclusive activity could be grammar based in which students explore different categorizations of nouns and verbs in French. For example, conducting a writing activity in which students rewrite a paragraph from a novel that utilises 'il' as its main subject into a paragraph that features 'iel,' or 'elle.' According to Moorhead's (2018) framework, this allows for a transformation of traditionally taught French and pushes students to critically analyze how grammar reflects societal expectations. 

Lori Saint-Martin, notable literary critic who specializes in gender studies, expresses a similar sentiment, discussing that language both impacts and reflects societal mentalities, expectations, and norms (Pilon, 2020). 

While we can't change the entire grammatical syntax of the French language, the best thing we can do for our students is to provide them with the skills to critically analyze and reflect on how gender norms are reflected in language. 

In FSL classrooms across Ontario, there has been a shift from teaching repetitive grammar drills to focusing on communication and a task-based approach. This is thanks to the CEFR (n.d.) model which calls for student-centred learning with an end goal of proficiency in French communication. 

In an ideal gender inclusive classroom, we are responsible for teaching students the complexities of both language structure and societal influence as it puts emphasis on the evolution of language in correlation to that of the culture and community (Kosnick, 2019). 

Following Moorhead's (2018) framework, particularly Level 4: Social Justice, and incorporating the CEFR (n.d.) model, we can create a task-oriented activity, lesson, or unit plan that features awareness surrounding gender neutral French as its final task. This not only helps all students feel like they belong in the classroom, but it provides them the opportunity to reflect on the past, present, and future of language evolution through a critical lens.