Gender-Neutral Language: Awareness, Usage Patterns and Sociocultural Influences among English Language Students
Authors
1. Kristine Joy E. Francisco, Bukidnon State University, Philippines
2. Dr. Beverly P. Taga , Bukidnon State University, Philippines
Publication Details
Journal: Vijoriya International Journal for Research & Innovation
ISSN: 3107-9806
Volume: 2 Issue: 1
Year: January – June 2026
Published on: 26 April, 2026
Pages: 39–50
DOI: https://doi.org/10.65595/vijri.v2i1.004
Abstract
This study examined the frequency of gender-neutral language (GNL) use in the academic outputs of third-year Bachelor of Arts in English Language students at Bukidnon State University. Moreover, it explored the sociocultural factors influencing student use of GNL in academic contexts. The study utilized a convergent-parallel mixed-method design. It analysed students’ use of gender-neutral generic nouns, job titles, and pronouns across three written outputs (reflective essay, feature writing, and hard news writing) per participant. Guided by Linguistic Relativity and Social Constructionism Theory, the quantitative data consisted of frequency of corpus data, short checklist scores, and interview codes, which revealed the levels, patterns, and correlation of GNL use and awareness. Whereas the qualitative data were derived from interview excerpts, which clarified why these patterns occurred and how students made sense of GNL in authentic academic contexts. Findings revealed that students frequently used gender-neutral generic nouns and job titles, while gender-neutral pronouns were the least used due to hesitancy in restructuring sentences. Furthermore, this study revealed four sociocultural influences: awareness and knowledge, personal beliefs and values, cultural and societal norms, and globalized media. During the integration, the findings mostly converged when high awareness aligned with more accurate GNL use, while some findings diverged when students had positive attitudes but low grammatical accuracy. Overall, despite inconsistencies influenced by religious beliefs, traditional upbringing, and pronoun confusion, students demonstrated growing awareness of gender-neutral language. The merged findings provide a holistic basis for guiding gender-sensitive communication policies in academic contexts.
Keywords: Gender-neutral language; usage pattern; awareness; sociocultural influence; academic writing