Rigor and accessibility: Attitudes towards syntax pedagogy in higher education

We report on early stages of a large study on syntax pedagogy, and particularly

on perceptions of “gatekeeping”. We present the results of a pilot study to

explore this theme and others that arose, such as inequality and discrimination in

the classroom, as well as the results of an ongoing program survey. Together, these

results show that there are widespread experiences of bias in syntax classrooms, that

syntax occupies a privileged space within linguistics, and that syntax is perceived

to be a particularly difficult subject which some people have an innate talent for and

others do not. The findings, especially in the context of current work on social justice

in linguistics, have serious implications for inclusivity in the field and on how we as

syntax educators can make changes for the benefit of future syntax scholars.