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This article presents a short overview of the field of language and sexuality since the mid-1990s and discusses two issues that have repeatedly played a role in my own work in the field during the last decade: the incompatibility of the termhomosexualwith non-heteronormative language use, and the question of what counts as queer linguistic work.

There have been linguistic studies on the gendering mechanisms of adjectives and psychological studies on the relationship between personality traits and gender, but the two fields have never entered into a dialogue on these issues. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting an interdisciplinary study that explores the gendering mechanisms associated with personality traits and personality trait-denoting adjectives. The findings of earlier work in this area and basic gendering mechanisms relevant to adjectives and personality traits are outlined. This is followed by a linguistic and a psychological analysis of the usage patterns of a set of personality trait adjectives. The linguistic section draws on corpus linguistics to explore the distribution of these adjectives with female, male and gender-neutral personal nouns in the Corpus of Contemporary American English. The psychological analysis relates the usage frequencies of personality trait adjectives with the nouns man, woman and person in the Google Books corpus to desirability ratings of the adjectives.

This article presents a case study of the discursive construction of sexual orientation obsessive-compulsive disorder (SO-OCD) as it surfaces in posts to an online mental health forum. SO-OCD is an anxiety disorder that involves having unwanted, intrusive thoughts as a consequence of conflict with normative sexual beliefs. The study focuses on the way normativity regulates communication about sexual identities, desires, and practices in a corpus of online posts by heterosexual men who pathologically doubt their sexual identity. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative corpus linguistic methods, we investigate how writers linguistically orient to normativity in their posts. More specifically, analyses of keywords, n-grams, and concordances are used to uncover linguistic mechanisms that play a central role in users’ orientation to normativity and in the obsessive-compulsive behaviours associated with SO-OCD. (Sexual orientation obsessive-compulsive disorder (SO-OCD), heterosexuality, masculinity, normativity, heteronormativity, critical discourse analysis, corpus linguistics)

This chapter contributes to recent research on sexuality-related representation in foreign language education. It discusses sexuality as a central dimension of linguistic inclusion and exclusion in this context and identifies sexuality-related representational linguistic barriers that may pose obstacles to learning success. Processes of sexuality-related exclusion and inclusion are illustrated through a multimodal critical discourse analysis of representational practices in a unit on “love and friendship” from the German EFL textbook series Navi Englisch. It is shown that, even though representation is fairly inclusive in certain passages on the linguistic level, it is in many instances the visual level of representation and/or exclusionary linguistic practices in the verbal co-text that stand in the way of reaching higher levels of inclusion. The concluding section discusses potential strategies for educators to increase sexuality-related inclusion and the role that language use in teaching materials can play in this process.

This study deploys a corpus linguistic approach to find authentic language texts for classroom use that can address issues of sexuality and culture. By focusing on articles discussing pop icons, this chapter provides a discerning analysis of textual constructions of sexuality, ethnicity, and fame and shows how these can be used to practice critical literacy skills in foreign language education.

This study seeks to shed light on discursive shifts in sexuality-related normativity that are associated with coming out. Subscribing to a queer linguistically informed type of critical discourse studies, it investigates the usage patterns of two labels that are commonly used to denote same-sex sexualities: gay and homosexual. The meanings and usages of these forms are first discussed more generally, based on evidence from an earlier study on a major English reference corpus. The analytical part studies the usage patterns of the two terms in a corpus of news reports on Ricky Martin more specifically, through a systematic inspection of concordance lines. For this purpose, the usages of the two forms are analysed in and compared across two sub-corpora, one with texts dating from before and one with texts dating from after the artist’s public coming out as a gay man. Besides a quantification of the terms in the two corpora, the main focus is on the qualitative analysis of the usage patterns that the terms exhibit in the data. The patterns thus identified are discussed in relation to the discursive construction of coming out as a central experience of nonheterosexual people and as discursive evidence for normative shifts associated with coming out.

This study seeks to shed light on discursive shifts in sexuality-related normativity that are associated with coming out. Subscribing to a queer linguistically informed type of critical discourse studies, it investigates the usage patterns of two labels that are commonly used to denote same-sex sexualities: gay and homosexual. The meanings and usages of these forms are first discussed more generally, based on evidence from an earlier study on a major English reference corpus. The analytical part studies the usage patterns of the two terms in a corpus of news reports on Ricky Martin more specifically, through a systematic inspection of concordance lines. For this purpose, the usages of the two forms are analysed in and compared across two sub-corpora, one with texts dating from before and one with texts dating from after the artist’s public coming out as a gay man. Besides a quantification of the terms in the two corpora, the main focus is on the qualitative analysis of the usage patterns that the terms exhibit in the data. The patterns thus identified are discussed in relation to the discursive construction of coming out as a central experience of nonheterosexual people and as discursive evidence for normative shifts associated with coming out. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE

Methodological overview

As an introduction to the special issue, this paper presents an overview of previous corpus linguistic work in the field of language and sexuality and discusses the compatibility of corpus linguistic methodology with queer linguistics as a central theoretical approach in language and sexuality studies. The discussion is structured around five prototypical aspects of corpus linguistics that may be deemed problematic from a poststructuralist, queer linguistic perspective: quantification and associated notions of objectivity, reliance on linguistic forms and formal presence, concentration on highly frequent features, reliance on categories, and highlighting of differences. It is argued that none of these aspects rules out an application of corpus linguistic techniques within queer theoretically informed linguistic work per se and that it is rather the way these techniques are employed that can be seen as more or less compatible with queer linguistics. To complement the theoretical discussion, a collocation analysis of sexual descriptive adjectives in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) is conducted in an attempt to address some of the issues raised. The concluding section makes suggestions for future research.

As an introduction to the special issue, this paper presents an overview of previous corpus linguistic work in the field of language and sexuality and discusses the compatibility of corpus linguistic methodology with queer linguistics as a central theoretical approach in language and sexuality studies. The discussion is structured around five prototypical aspects of corpus linguistics that may be deemed problematic from a poststructuralist, queer linguistic perspective: quantification and associated notions of objectivity, reliance on linguistic forms and formal presence, concentration on highly frequent features, reliance on categories, and highlighting of differences. It is argued that none of these aspects rules out an application of corpus linguistic techniques within queer theoretically informed linguistic work per se and that it is rather the way these techniques are employed that can be seen as more or less compatible with queer linguistics. To complement the theoretical discussion, a collocation analysis of sexual descriptive adjectives in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) is conducted in an attempt to address some of the issues raised. The concluding section makes suggestions for future research. Keywords: corpus linguistics, language and sexuality, queer linguistics, sexual descriptive adjectives, methodology, collocation

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This study investigates British and US gay men's comments on certain types of speech acts in their life narratives. This procedure yields folk linguistic evidence of the relationship between language and sexuality from a pragmatic point of view. At the theoretical level, the concept of “sexual speech act” (SSA) is introduced, distinguishing identity-related and desire-related SSAs. The analysis concentrates on gay men's comments on coming out as an identity-related SSA, and on seducing and flirting as desire-related SSAs. The narrated speech acts are analyzed quantitatively with respect to agency patterns, while a qualitative analysis of data extracts studies how narrators construct the illocutionary force and perlocutionary effects of SSAs, and how the SSAs are integrated in the contextual discursive construction of sexuality.

Prompted by the increased visibility of inclusive pedagogies, the present article discusses the concept of “inclusion” in relation to foreign language teaching from a linguistic perspective. The foreign language classroom constitutes a special environment that poses specific language-related challenges to inclusive education. In an effort to face these challenges, the present article elaborates how linguistic research and insights can contribute to an implementation of inclusive foreign language education. In terms of theorisation, the narrower and broader senses of educational inclusion are outlined, the notion of “linguistic barrier” is introduced, and various ways in which linguistic exclusion may manifest itself are identified. It is argued that purely cognitivist approaches to second language acquisition are insufficient for achieving higher levels of inclusivity, as they do not cater for the social and contextual aspects that shape practices of exclusion and inclusion. Alternative approaches such as sociocultural theory are shown to be better equipped for this purpose. Various prominent exclusion-related dimensions are discussed with respect to their repercussions in language and linguistic practices, among them exclusion related to learners with special needs, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and non-native language users. Suggestions are made of how to proceed methodologically in linguistic investigations of exclusionary practices, with the aim of creating effective, linguistically based inclusion strategies. It is suggested that typological, discourse analytic and ethnographic linguistic approaches are most promising in this respect. The concluding section recapitulates central aspects that have surfaced in the theoretical and methodological discussion, calls for inclusion-oriented changes in foreign language teaching and highlights conspicuous parallels between the inclusive EFL classroom and English as a lingua franca communication.

This article addresses the current marginalisation of structural gender linguistics within the field of language and gender. Traditional, structuralist-minded approaches to language and gender are briefly reviewed, and it is argued that a revitalisation of the study of gendered language structures can only be achieved when such analyses reflect recent theoretical developments within the field. More specifically, this necessitates a reconceptualisation of (gendered) language structures in the light of discursive or poststructuralist theories, namely as the result of processes of discursive materialisation in language use. Also discussed at a methodological level is how de-essentialisation as a central driving force of discursive approaches to language and gender can be operationalised in various types of structural linguistic analysis. Four basic dimensions of deessentialisation are distinguished for this purpose: first, the contrastive linguistic dimension (de-essentialisation across languages); second, the historical linguistic dimension (de-essentialisation across time periods); third, the lexicogrammatical dimension (de-essentialisation across linguistic gender categories); and fourth, the pragmatic dimension (de-essentialisation across usage contexts). A contrastive sample analysis of the complexities of pronominalisation in English and German complements the discussion.

This study uses corpus linguistic methods to investigate how the situatedness of pop song lyrics may affect their linguistic make-up. For this purpose, I compare a corpus of Eurovision lyrics (ESC-ENG) to a general pop lyrics corpus (G-Charts) which is used as a reference corpus. This is done to detect specificities of the Eurovision lyrics, which can be related to the contextual salience of Europeanness in the Eurovision Song Contest. The major focus is on semantic keyness analyses carried out with the help of Wmatrix. These analyses highlight semantic fields that occur unusually frequently or infrequently in the Eurovision lyrics in comparison to the general charts corpus. The semantic keyness analyses are further complemented by keyword analyses and a closer examination of lexical items within particular semantic fields. The results show that Eurovision lyrics construct a discursive world that differs in various respects from that of commercially successful pop songs.

Digital technologies play a fundamental role in facilitating and disseminating promotional discourse in ever more domains of public and private life, as software "structures and makes possible much of the contemporary world". Semiotic software – in contrast to earlier technologies such as the pen or the typewriter – enables users to select from a range of different semiotic resources, and incorporates and represents knowledge about what constitutes effective use of these resources in particular contexts. This chapter argues that to understand the power of semiotic software people need to adopt a holistic perspective, one that is multimodal and critical, and pays attention to the interaction between software design and use and its relation to broader semiotic and social practices. It focuses on the power of software to intervene in the ways people use language and other semiotic resources. This power rests, first of all, on the ever increasing necessity to use software in all spheres of post-industrial life.

The present paper aims to reinvigorate discussions of language policy within language, gender and sexuality studies. It provides initial considerations of a poststructuralist, non-heteronormative language policy for German and English—two languages whose structural make-up differs fundamentally with respect to gender representation. Gendered structure types (lexical, grammatical, social, referential gender; agreement patterns) and their relevance in the two languages are outlined. Three main strands of verbal hygiene in language, gender and sexuality studies (and their language policy strategies) are differentiated: non-sexist, LGBT-friendly and non-heteronormative language policies. The main focus is a specific type of non-heteronormative language policy, namely one which is guided by Queer Linguistic as well as applied linguistic principles. Gender neutralisation is found to be the most useful strategy in this respect. Whereas this strategy is usually unproblematic in English, the existence of a grammatical masculine–feminine contrast in German in some cases renders non-heteronormative language use impossible. It is argued that, in tune with a poststructuralist conceptualisation of language, Queer Linguistic intervention should not aim at changing the language system but at affecting the formation of gender and sexuality at the discursive level.

The present article explores how the concept of normativity can be used as a starting point for research on language and sexuality, such as Queer Linguistics. Recent language and sexuality research has demonstrated the prominent role that normativity plays in the discursive construction of identities and behaviours, but the theorisation of normativity as an analytical concept has so far remained limited. To change this state of affairs, this article discusses the theoretical underpinnings of normativity as they relate to language and sexuality studies. This discussion is then supplemented by a case study on how speakers orient to sexual normativities in talk on objectophilia, a clearly non-normative form of sexuality. The concluding section elaborates on the consequences that a focus on normativity in language and sexuality studies suggests for potential Queer Linguistic agendas and critical discourse studies more generally.

Kimie Takahashi's new book Language Learning, Gender and Desire provides a fascinating in-depth ethnographic study of the complex interrelationship between English language learning, learners' soci...

This introductory essay to the Discourse & Society special issue on Queer Linguistic Approaches to Discourse discusses the theoretical underpinnings of the connection between discourse studies and Queer Theory within Queer Linguistics – a strand of research that has recently gained great momentum. It outlines basic issues in Queer Theory and their repercussions in Queer Linguistic debates and research. The Queer Linguistic objective to provide critical heteronormativity research is then related to Queer Discourse Studies in its various forms and approaches. An overview of the contributions to the special issue and suggestions for future research conclude the article.

The present study focuses on word order patterns in English personal binomials and argues that conjunct order in this binomial type is partly subject to other factors than those shown in earlier research on binomials in general. On the theoretical level, mixed-gender personal binomials are discussed as linguistic instantiations of dominance and difference thinking in relation to gender. On the empirical level, the article presents an in-depth study of personal binomials in the written component of the BNC. The factor with the highest impact on conjunct order is found to be lexical gender. Moreover, the modifying influence of a range of other factors is tested. Among these are factors that have proven relevant in earlier research on word order in binomials (phonology, orthography, conjunct frequency) as well as factors that have so far not or only sporadically been tested (lexical field, morphology, sex of author, target audience sex). Finally, the findings are related to more recent theoretical discussions of the relationship between language and gender.

This article provides an ethnographically-based, in-depth discourse analysis of linguistic constructions of non-heteronormativity at Eurovision Song Contest press conferences. Contexts of high national salience have been found to largely support or even promote heteronormative discourses. The present study, by contrast, sets out to look at the construction of sexuality in a transnational community of practice of high European salience, in which macro-level heteronormativity has to face greater competition from the non-heteronormativity of the local context. The analysis identifies the following patterns of non-heteronormative construction: non-heteronormative talk about love song lyrics and performances, the construction of male same-sex desire, and the challenging of dominant gender discourses. Finally, it is argued that the European transnationalism of the context causes a normative shift from (nationally associated) heteronormativity to an expectation that non-heterosexual identities and desires be met with greater tolerance.

This article provides an ethnographically based discourse analysis of linguistic practices of heterosexual construction in a transnational media context, Eurovision Song Contest press conferences. It aims to shed light on how research on heterosexualities can contribute to the critical discussion of heteronormativity as commonly found in Queer Linguistics. The analysis identifies the following patterns of heterosexual construction: 1. talk about spouses, partners and family, 2. talk about heterosexual love song lyrics, 3. binary gender polarisation, and 4. the projecting of heteronormative desire onto participants. This order roughly corresponds to an increase in the heteronormative force of the constructions found. More blatant forms of heteronormative enforcement prove to cause negative reactions in this community of practice. It is argued that the sexual constructions documented incorporate aspects of both sexual identity and desire and that the transnational salience of the context facilitates a stronger confrontation of heterosexual construction with alternative discourses.