Swearing in class: institutional morality in dispute
Article
Article Title | Swearing in class: institutional morality in dispute |
---|---|
ERA Journal ID | 8945 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Doherty, Catherine (Author), Berwick, Adon (Author) and McGregor, Rowena (Author) |
Journal Title | Linguistics and Education |
Journal Citation | 48, pp. 1-9 |
Number of Pages | 9 |
Year | 2018 |
Place of Publication | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
ISSN | 0898-5898 |
1873-1864 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2018.09.003 |
Abstract | This paper explores how swearing in classrooms is variably construed and managed as a moral problem, and how classroom settings can demand higher standards than broader society. We review sociolinguistic understandings of Anglophone settings regarding what constitutes ‘bad’ language, the pragmatics of swearing across society, and trends over time, to trace a growing tolerance in public settings and media, particularly in Australia. We then review literature regarding swearing in schools. Using Douglas’ (1966) theory of purity, hygiene, taboos and moral boundaries, we conceptualise schools as strongly demarcated ‘purified’ sites that undertake the moral work of imbuing social standards in the future citizen. Students’ choices to swear in class despite teachers’ repeated corrections can thus be understood as more than inappropriate lexis. The paper then draws from an ethnographic study of prevocational classes catering for 16 to 17 year olds created under Australia's ‘earning or learning till 17’ policy. Illustrative episodes where students swear in class are analysed to exemplify differently pitched responses. The conclusion reflects on the tension between an increasingly secular society more tolerant of swearing, and teachers’ work to purify the moral climate in schools, to consider what the practice of swearing in class and its regulation achieves. |
Keywords | swearing, classroom discourse, morality, purity, sociolinguistics |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 390308. Technical, further and workplace education |
390306. Secondary education | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | University of Glasgow, United Kingdom |
Queensland University of Technology | |
Library Services | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q4yw2/swearing-in-class-institutional-morality-in-dispute
259
total views14
total downloads3
views this month0
downloads this month