Gender Neutrality in English
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Gender Neutrality in English
Hello, thank you for such a great discussion that has been a significant issue in the English language. It is true that culture is not a single entity that has boundaries limiting its operations. As you have presented in the discussion, the word culture refers to a series of interactions between several social backgrounds. Zimmerman (2018) opines that culture is the character and knowledge of a specific group of people that includes language, social habits, and other arts that keep on varying according to the settings. If culture varies, the language that encompasses that culture will also experience the variations. In Jenkins’ Global Englishes, he alludes that defining what makes English standard is demanding. However, Fisher (1996) states that Standard English is the language that is different from other dialects of English because it is not associated with any accent. I am in total agreement with your views that culture and language are both dynamic components of life, and none of them can influence the other; that is, they cannot protect or damage each other. The relationship between language and culture is that they complement each other. They cannot operate as single entities; hence none has complete control over the other.
American society is flexing to accommodate all Americans due to the development of new ideas and experiences that need new terms to be explained. You have also indicated that it depends on the cultural context for a language to contain an ethical component. This is true because a culture encompasses morals. Finally, the use of gender-neutral pronouns in school is not an issue as long as the teacher’s primary goal is to create a conducive learning environment. In conclusion, therefore, I agree with what you have presented in the discussion that people shape culture and culture shape people.
References
Zimmermann, K. (2018). What Is Culture? Retrieved 15 May 2020, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livescience.com/amp/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-culture.html
Jenkins, J. (2015). Global Englishes: A resource book for students (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN: 9780415638449.
Fisher, J. H. (1996). The emergence of Standard English. University Press of Kentucky.