China’s internet regulator has launched a campaign to crack down on “unauthorized” use of language online, in a move experts say is a bid to stem the widespread use of slang and abbreviations by Generation Z on social media. The Cyberspace Administration of China will take steps to “rectify the chaos of the irregular use of Mandarin and other characters on the internet,” the country’s state news agency Xinhua reported last month. The move is part of a nationwide crackdown on language usage with the code name Clear and Bright, and will target expressions involving homophones—words that sound the same but mean different things—and distortions of “sound, form, and meaning.” The campaign will aim to erase “nonstandard and uncivilized language and written expressions in lists of trending searches, homepages, and curated selections,” the agency reported, citing the administration. Tip-offs will be encouraged, to enable the authorities to “clean up” unauthorized usages, it said. The Cyberspace Administration has targeted homophones before, largely because they’re used as code to evade censorship. “Once they block all of these slang expressions, it may only be possible to use official narratives and official definitions, so it’s a form of speech control,” Liu Lipeng, a former Sina Weibo censor who now lives in the US, told Radio Free Asia Cantonese. “It’s a complex form of manipulation of ideology, of the narrative.” According to Liu, part of the reason behind the campaign is that the government likely fears that if such code words are allowed to evolve and spread, there will come a point when the government itself doesn’t understand them. Such coded expressions also strengthen a sense of communication and identity within the groups who use them, he said. But it’s not always easy, because plenty of slang expressions are riffs on common words. One of Xi Jinping’s nicknames, “Personally Deployed,” appears in official documents all over the internet as well as being used as a slang reference to the party leader.
There is a growing proportion of transgender and nonbinary people worldwide, and the practice of addressing this group by they/them pronouns and using their as a singular possessive pronoun is becoming increasingly commonplace in today’s society.
As a Spanish college professor, I am fielding more and more questions from students about the preferences used in the Spanish language when referring to nonbinary (no binarie in Spanish) persons and how the Spanish language is developing relative to modifications in the English language.
This is where the differences and complexities arise: Spanish, unlike English, has masculine and feminine nouns. The modern Romance languages are among the most gendered languages in the world. As readers of this magazine are no doubt aware, almost half of the languages spoken around the world have masculine and feminine genders to describe nouns. However, for the purpose of this article, we will focus on Spanish.
Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world, and second as a native language, with almost 550 million speakers. There are 20 countries that state their official language as Spanish, and among these Spanish-speaking countries, a growing population—especially younger speakers—believes that nonbinary and gender-neutral grammar should be used in the Spanish language. Washington Post writer Sarah Schmidt has spoken and written about the “movement of teenagers in Argentina, but also in other parts of Latin America—that have started replacing vowels with the E. And it’s really come from both the desire to acknowledge and represent nonbinary identities.” Schmidt goes on to say that “it’s also used as a way to sort of protest the entire language. And that way, it really resonates with feminists who feel that Spanish in particular is extremely gendered and is inherently patriarchal.” In this comment, Schmidt is referring to Spanish rules like the fact that one male in a group of females can make the word for that group masculine.
Transgender, nonbinary, and supporting members of Spanish-speaking communities acting in solidarity use gender-neutral or nonbinary grammar in both social and professional settings. The language has evolved to signify a nonmasculine or nonfeminine pronoun, noun, or adjective. The most common way to modify the gender marker in Spanish is to exchange the suffixes o or a for an e. Therefore, the traditional pronouns él/ellos and ella/ellas would change to elle/elles (pronounced “eye/eyes”). Nouns and adjectives are also gendered and would be changed using the e. Below is a table of some examples.
Additionally, some groups use “@” and “*” instead of an o or a in written colloquial Spanish, for example L@s niñ@s (“the kids”). However, this variant is less frequently used as it is difficult to pronounce and can be confusing.
While the Spanish vernacular has developed, there has been significant pushback to allowing an official version of a Spanish transgender language by the Royal Spanish Academy (Real Academia Española, RAE). Founded in 1713, the RAE is best known for compiling the authoritative Spanish language dictionary and also acts as a sentinel for correct usage and linguistic changes. The RAE is based in Madrid and its mission is to protect the purity and clarity of the Spanish language under a global unified policy affiliated with national language academies in 21 other Hispanophone nations through the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language.
In 2020, the RAE ruled against the use of the neutral e to enable words to become transgender instead of the gendered vowels a and o. The Academy declared it “artificial and unnecessary,” as the masculine form can already be used to encompass both genders.
Furthermore, in 2023, Associated Press News reported that Santiago Muñoz Machado, the director of RAE, dismissed grammatical changes to be gender neutral as a political manifestation. “It is not part of the grammar, it is not orthodox, and probably in many places it will not be understood,” he stated. “It is an expression with no practical reality.” This created significant online discourse regarding the decisions and importance of the RAE. The reluctance isn’t just confined to Spain—in 2017, a young Argentinian activist, Natalia Mira, used the gender-inclusive language during an interview about abortion rights and was corrected by the male journalist on the live broadcast. Since then, the recently elected Argentine government led by Javier Milei has banned any gender-neutral language from being used in any “public documents, institutions, and processes.”
One of the criticisms often aimed at the RAE is that it has been extremely slow in adapting. The RAE tends to bias its linguistic decisions toward the Spanish spoken in Spain, and many people view the institution as archaic. Nicole Canchucaja, a Peruvian-American writer for Orgullo Latino, states, “Language is something that belongs to the people, and ultimately, it’s the speakers who decide how it is used. The RAE can make suggestions, but it cannot impose its views on the public. As such, Latinos are at liberty to continue to adapt and change the Spanish language as we see fit.”
Inclusive language is equally important in professional settings as it is in social settings. In 1977, the English address of Mr., Mrs., or Ms. was adapted to include Mx. On the opposite page are some examples of how to use gender-neutral language in Spanish-speaking work environments.
It is also worth noting the word Latinx, an all-inclusive term for Latin Americans, is believed to have emerged in 2004 from queer communities to describe a person of Latin American origin or descent living in the US. It was also created to challenge the traditional binary genders (Latino or Latina). More recently, Latine has been introduced as an alternative to Latinx.
As the Hispanophone social and political environment continues to change, we can expect the language to continue to alter in tandem, whether or not this is supported or ratified by the RAE and other institutions. As language teachers, we will need to be aware of the changing linguistic patterns and be able to explain to our students how the language is constantly evolving. As humans, we should continue to embrace inclusivity and support these changes as we head into the future.
Charlotte West is a Spanish college professor at the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston, South Carolina. Having grown up in the UK, Charlotte has always had a love for languages and speaks French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
In late September, Congress completed work on a continuing resolution (CR), a temporary spending measure that will keep the government operating through December 20. The House passed the CR with a vote of 341–82, while the Senate approved it 78–18. The president will sign it into law shortly.
With these votes completed, Congress now stands in recess until after the election and effectively defers final decisions on fiscal year 2025 spending until then. When Congress returns, it will begin negotiating in earnest on final overall spending levels for each of the federal government’s twelve annual appropriations bills, including the FY25 Defense and FY25 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bills, and then individual program spending levels.
The stakes for these decisions could not be higher for language education, as funding levels between current House and Senate spending bills are starkly different. Where the House would dramatically cut funds to the Department of Education and eliminate multiple programs like Title II-A, the $2.19 billion professional development block grant, and Title III, the $890 million Title III English Language Acquisition program, the Senate would increase or at least level fund nearly all education programs. Additionally, the House Defense Appropriations bill would restore the World Language Advancement and Readiness Program (WLARP) to $15 million, whereas its Senate counterpart would only provide last year’s level of $10 million. A one-third cut to WLARP would dramatically restrict the number of new WLARP innovative world language program grants next year.
All of these final decisions and others will now have to wait until at least when Congress returns after the election—or perhaps longer. Some House Republican members are arguing that, if former president Trump wins the presidency again, FY25 Appropriations decisions should be kicked into the new year to allow him and a new Congress to make final funding decisions.
Jon Bernstein of the Joint National Commmittee for Languages commented, “While we can collectively breathe a sigh of relief that the federal government will not shut down and federal education programs will continue to function for about the next three months, our work to secure adequate funding for programs like Title II-A, Title III, and WLARP continues. Stay tuned for JNCL requests after the election to weigh in with your senators and representatives about the importance of these and other key language education programs. We need to be a persistent presence this fall and perhaps into the winter to make sure that Congress understands the need and the value of language education.”
Michigan Implements New Literacy/Dyslexia Bills Two new literacy/dyslexia laws were signed last month by Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer at Gardner International Magnet School in Lansing. “Kids won today,” said state superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice. “This is the most consequential education legislation signed in Michigan in the past two decades, with the possible exception of historic state school aid budgets for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. In the coming years, Michigan children learning to read will benefit enormously.”
In September, the state Senate and House sent two literacy/ dyslexia bills to the governor in resounding bipartisan votes. The K–12 literacy/dyslexia legislation that now becomes law has been championed by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and the State Board of Education. Senate Bills 567 and 568 become law. The legislature has been working on various iterations of the bills for over five years.
“It’s encouraging to witness Governor Whitmer and our partners in the Michigan legislature joining together—across the aisle—to take action to ensure that Michigan children have the necessary tools to develop their reading skills,” said board president Dr. Pamela Pugh. “They recognize that literacy is a fundamental component of educational success. This investment in education benefits not only individual students but also fortifies communities and the state as a whole.”
MDE officials testified in support of the bills before the Senate Education Committee in February. They testified before the House Education Committee in June to encourage legislators to pass the bills. Improving early literacy achievement is one of the goals in Michigan’s Top Ten Strategic Education Plan. The law will strengthen the effectiveness of literacy instruction and intervention for Michigan students, MDE officials say. It will also provide for both preservice and in-service training to educators to learn or strengthen skills needed to identify Michigan students with characteristics of dyslexia.
“We at MDE recognize our role and responsibilities in implementing these new laws for the benefit of children. Now that the bills have been signed into law, we look forward to working closely with our partners, including local school districts, intermediate school districts, and institutions of higher education,” said Dr. Sue C. Carnell, MDE chief deputy superintendent.
Beginning in the 2027–28 school year, the new laws will require public schools to: • Screen, with a tool from a list of approved screening tools, all students in kindergarten through third grade for characteristics of dyslexia three times per school year. • Ensure that reading intervention is provided to all K–12 students who demonstrate characteristics of dyslexia as a result of screening assessment data. • Use a multitiered system of supports (MTSS) framework to organize evidence-based classroom and intervention instruction and materials to effectively meet the needs of all learners. • Provide literacy consultants, teachers, literacy coaches, and other instructional staff with professional learning on characteristics of dyslexia, instructional practices, and accommodations that have strong evidence for improving literacy outcomes and are consistent with the science of reading. • Select from a list of approved reading instructional materials.
MDE will provide guidance and support to public schools and institutions of higher education for required preservice and in-service learning and implementation strategies. Currently, Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling training, commonly known as LETRS, is professional learning that is accessible to Michigan elementary teachers and administrators and that is aligned to the new laws. MDE has strongly recommended this training for elementary teachers across the state. Approximately 2,600 Michigan teachers have completed the training, and another approximately 7,500 have begun the training.
PA Reading Curricula Bill Passes Pennsylvania may soon have a list of reading curricula designated by the state as “evidence-based,” under a bill that unanimously passed the House and Senate.
Unlike an earlier version of the legislation, the bill expected to be signed by Governor Josh Shapiro won’t force any school districts to use the curricula or change how they teach reading. Science of reading advocates say they’re still pushing to require schools to use the approved curricula and screen all young students for reading difficulties, but called the bill an important first step.
The bill directs the state Department of Education to select a council of 20 members with expertise in structured literacy to produce a list of approved evidence-based reading curricula, “aligned with the Commonwealth’s academic standards and the science of reading.”
It will also produce a list of approved structured literacy trainings for teachers, screening tests to assess children’s reading needs, and intervention approaches for children deemed in need of additional reading support.
The council must include public school elementary teachers—including reading specialists, literacy coaches, and special education teachers—and represent urban, rural, and suburban school districts.
The bill sets a deadline of June 1, 2025, for the Department of Education to develop the list of approved reading curricula and other materials.
Literacy Funding Withheld in Wisconsin Wisconsin state superintendent Dr. Jill Underly is calling on lawmakers to release nearly $50 million to fund a new school literacy program.
Last year, Wisconsin Act 20 passed with bipartisan support. The aim of the act is to increase reading proficiency in third graders by addressing curriculums and identifying struggling students in earlier grade levels.
The act calls for the hiring of literacy coaches to improve reading scores, but the agency has lacked the funding to bring on the staff.
Underly sent a letter to the Republican leaders of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, telling them the money is needed. “Now is the time to keep your promise to Wisconsin families,” she wrote. “Now is the time to take action and release the funding.”
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to build connections within itself, adapting to the surrounding environment. The brain is most plastic in childhood, forming new pathways in reaction to stimuli such as language. Past research has shown that learning a second language may positively affect attention, healthy aging, and even recovery after brain injury. A new study from the Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) of McGill University, the University of Ottawa, and the University of Zaragoza in Spain elaborates on bilingualism’s role in cognition, showing increased efficiency of communication between brain regions.
Scientists recruited 151 participants who either spoke French, English, or both languages and recorded the age at which they learned their second languages. The participants were scanned using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record whole-brain connectivity, rather than focusing on specific regions, as was done in previous bilingualism studies.
fMRI scans revealed that bilingual participants had more connectivity between brain regions than monolingual participants, and this connectivity was stronger in those who learned their second languages at a younger age. This effect was particularly strong between the cerebellum and the left frontal cortex.
The results mirror previous studies, which have shown that brain regions do not work in isolation but interact with others to understand and produce language. Research has also shown that whole-brain efficiency aids cognitive performance.
This latest study reveals more about how bilingualism influences the brain connections we use to think, communicate, and experience the world around us.
“Our work suggests learning a second language during childhood helps build a more efficient brain organization in terms of functional connectivity,” says Zeus Gracia-Tabuenca, the paper’s first author. “The results indicate that the earlier the second-language experience, the broader extent of brain areas involved in neuroplasticity. That’s why we are observing higher connectivity of the cerebellum with the cortex in earlier exposures to a second language.”
The research was published in the journal Communications Biology on Oct. 10, 2024.
International Education Week (IEW), a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, is November 18-22, 2024.
According to the U.S. Department of State’s website, IEW is “an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.”
Higher education institutions across the U.S. are celebrating with art exhibits, concerts, food tastings, movie screenings, sporting events, and more.
Many students also have the opportunity to attend information sessions about studying abroad and applying for scholarships.
Institutions that are interested in hosting international exchange participants are encouraged to contact their local Global Ties office.
The 2024 Open Doors Report, which includes international student data for the 2023-2024 academic year, is now available at https://opendoorsdata.org/.
The federal funding allocation for Indigenous language programs in the Northwest Territories (NWT) has stalled at CAN$5.9 million per year for the next three years. The figure has not changed since 2016, so, when inflation is factored in, it represents a cut of 20% in real terms. The federal government claimed it was instead sending more money directly to Indigenous governments and organizations.
In a statement to Cabin Radio, Canadian Heritage, which supplies the NWT government with language funding, said its agreement with the territory was “ongoing, predictable funding” and a “sustained commitment,” despite not having increased in eight years. Canadian Heritage said it had more broadly agreed new investments nationwide worth more than $1 billion for the decade spanning 2019 to 2029, but did not say how much of that has been directed to Indigenous language programs in the NWT. The annual $5.9-million allocation is generally sent to Indigenous governments and organizations.
While some of the money goes to education bodies, communications societies, and community radio stations, around $4.9 million—more than 80%—is reserved for Indigenous governments to fund programs including the Mentor–Apprentice Program, an initiative that has been hailed for its positive effect on Indigenous language use in the NWT. In a joint press release, NWT education and culture minister Caitlin Cleveland called the funding a “critical agreement” that supports language initiatives across the territory.
“Through our collective commitment and sustained funding for language revitalization and language access, we will continue to work with Indigenous people and governments to ensure Indigenous languages are protected, promoted, and celebrated,” Cleveland was quoted as saying.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced over $7 million in new funding awards for Native language projects. In 2024, ACF’s Administration for Native Americans (ANA) will fund eight projects under the Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance program and one project under the Esther Martinez Immersion program. These new awards are in addition to $10,218,134 for 37 continuing language projects, for a total ANA FY 24 investment of $17,316,599 in Native languages.
This fall, Wisconsin’s Bayfield School District is launching an Ojibwemowin immersion program for kindergarten students in collaboration with the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
The district of just over 400 students is one of the few in Wisconsin where the majority of kids—69.2 percent— are Native American.
“I can’t [overstate] how significant this is—not only for our community in our area, but for our children and their future,” Paap, who is a Red Cliff Tribal member, told Wisconsin Public Radio. “Cultural identity has been something that the federal government has worked really hard to strip away from Indigenous people, and the fight continues to reclaim identity and lifeways.”
Binesiikwe Edye Washington, the Tribe’s Education Division administrator, said the district intends to expand immersion programming to K–5 students at the classroom level by adding a grade each year. “Students would be learning all content areas through Ojibwe language—anywhere from reading, math, singing, games, all of those things,” Washington said. As of 2010, census estimates show almost 8,400 people could speak the Ojibwe language across North America. Officials with Bayfield Schools and the Red Cliff Tribe have been working with the Minnesota-based Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network on efforts to revitalize language.
Gimiwan Dustin Burnette, the group’s executive director, first began working with the Bad River Tribe as an instructor for its adult language-training program in 2020. In late 2021, the Red Cliff Tribe announced the creation of a three-year adult language-learning program with the goal of training teachers to be fluent in Ojibwemowin. For the past two years, Burnette has worked with a cohort of trainees from both Tribes.
Western Kentucky University’s (WKU’s) Department of Modern Languages’ Chinese Flagship Program has renewed its four-year $1.5 million grant with The Language Flagship, an initiative of the National Security Education Program within the Defense Language and National Security Education Office.
The federally funded program offers students an affordable, high-quality undergraduate education that combines the study of Mandarin Chinese with rigorous academics in an engaged honors community setting. Founded in 2009, it is the only one of its kind in the state of Kentucky. All students participating in the program are affiliated with the Mahurin Honors College and pursue a secondary major. Students may start the program with no prior knowledge of Chinese and will engage in language classes five days a week, receiving weekly one-on-one tutoring with native speakers.
Upon reaching the advanced-mid level of proficiency, students apply for participation in a capstone year in Taipei, in Taiwan, or at the domestic capstone year location in Monterey, California. The capstone year includes advanced-level Chinese coursework, direct enrollment courses in a student’s field of study, and a professional internship. Students who complete this requirement and test at the superior level will become Certified Global Professionals through the National Security Education Program.
Operating in a cohort model, students will complete a full four years in the program. Additionally, freshmen have the opportunity of living in the Chinese Flagship Living–Learning Community (LLC), a unique housing option where residents will deepen their knowledge of and immerse themselves in Chinese language and culture through a variety of exclusive events.
“Being part of Chinese Flagship has been a transformative experience and a defining aspect of my time in college,” says Carolyn Brueggemann, a 2024 graduate of the program. “Before starting Flagship classes, I knew nothing about the Chinese language, culture, and history. Now, I can discuss complex topics, including Chinese and Taiwanese history and culture, in Chinese. Apart from growing academically and professionally, I have made incredible memories and lifelong friendships with other Flagship students and friends from abroad.”
The Chinese Flagship Program is currently accepting applications for their 2025–26 cohort.
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