Acknowledgment
I would like to thank the following people for helping me with this article. Red Tobin for posting the initial video and my students Adeli Molina Pastor, Jesus Lopez Carreño, Patricia Gonzalez Sanchez, Francisco Cruz Guevara, Diego Dominguez Lagares, Maria Egea Galera and Eduardo Sánchez Masegosa for being my guinea pigs. I would also like to thank Vicky Harris and Holly Goodwin for grading the swear words.
To Swear or Not to Swear
Roger O’Keeffe, Spain
Roger O’Keeffe owns and teaches at Valley Language Centre Macael in Spain. He has worked in Poland, the UK, China and Spain. His interests include Hummanistic Approaches to Language Teaching, and Multicompetence Theory. He has an MA in TESOL from Sheffield Hallam University. E-mail: The_okeeffes@yahoo.co.uk
Menu
Abstract
Note
Introduction
Why bother teaching them?
How I went about it
Conclusion
References
Videos used
Swearing and taboo language is rarely taught in the language classroom. This omission can result in students having difficulty when interacting with native speakers and some authentic materials. This article discusses some of the reasons why I think this language should be incorporated into the language classroom. I argue that it is necessary to sensitise students to swear words and their meaning to better prepare them for more real world language. I go on to describe how I have approached the subject in the classroom with a series of classes that I used.
I have purposefully not defined swear words, profanities, bad language or taboo language as it would have made this article too academic which is not my intention. Therefore I have used all the above definitions interchangeably.
The reason I am writing this article is that a friend of mine posted a video to my Facebook timeline and it was all about the word ‘fuck’ and its varied uses. I had a good laugh at the video as I am a great ‘swearer’ myself and then it struck me that the video was a bit narrow in its definitions of the word ‘fuck’. Well, maybe not narrow but certainly not really getting to terms with it. In the past I have always taught swear words in the same way as they were done in the video, you know, fuck as a verb, an adjective, a noun and pretty much the same for all the other swear words and usually with the same unsatisfying results, a lot of fun at the beginning but ending up with a lot of people looking at their feet in embarrassment. As I was thinking, I came to the conclusion that I was doing my students a disservice! Learners are perfectly capable of looking up the words in a dictionary themselves and for a lot of students this is the first thing they do when they start learning another language. I, as a native speaker, hold the key to the mouthwatering collocations of these swear words, their hidden meaning, the snigger inducing loveliness of these lexical chunks. So, I had a trawl around the internet to see how others taught these swear words and found that there was not much difference to how I had been doing it. That led me to reading a few articles on the subject, of which there are very few, and from my reading I decided to plan a series of classes to give my students a better grasp of swearing and help them to really get their tongues around the beautiful velvety lusciousness that a good swear can provide.
I wanted to avoid classes where there would be gratuitous swearing, not because I am a prude, but because I wanted the classes to have substance just the same way my other classes have. I decided that the best way to approach the subject was to think of it as I would any other vocabulary related issue, where learning involves the process of meeting vocabulary, manipulating and putting that vocabulary to work so as to pass the words from short term memory to long term (Thornbury, 2002). While I was thinking along these lines I noticed that swear words are very good at mingling, that is, they can collocate very well and can be very similar to phrasal verbs and idiomatic phrases, for example, “shut the fuck up” which is a rather strong way of asking someone to be quiet or the wonderful if somewhat confusing “the dog’s bollocks” which means the best.
It would seem to me that to not teach swear words is akin to burying our heads in the sand and pretending they do not exist, but swear words have “been basic to our linguistic behaviour for as long as we have been competent speakers” (Dumas and Lighter, 1978: 16). If native speakers can choose whether to use taboo language or not, should our students not have the same right? And that is the crux of my argument: not to teach swear words seems to me to be a moot point, that is, the people who argue against teaching swear words are usually native speakers who already know the swear words and choose not to use them and this is fine. But my argument is that we have to allow learners the choice to learn them and then they themselves can choose whether to use them or not.
But why do native speakers of all languages baulk at teaching swear words when, after all, they have been around as long as language has and, it could be argued, can convey emotions in a much more evocative way than ‘good language’? For example, if I want to say that a certain person is upsetting me, I have a few choices. I can say “oh, he’s making me angry”, or in a more colloquial way “He’s doing my head in” or if I really wanted to get a good mouthful of linguistic fervor I could shout loudly “that bloody asshole is pissing me right off” (of course there were other expletives I could have used there if I wanted to show more emotion!). In different situations all can be used. So it would seem to me that the use of ‘bad language’ is a sort of members only club and a way for native speakers to keep non native speakers out. It is an extension of the idea that native speech is the preserve of the native and we will not have our language sullied by non natives being as linguistically competent as we are. It used to be done with more conventional forms of language, but now it is through non-conventional language, slang, colloquialisms, swear words etc, that we assert our linguistic dominance. Orwell highlighted traditional linguisticism in his book Burmese Days. The following interaction is a telling example of this ‘keeping non-native speakers in their place’ as the native speaker (NS) does not allow the non-native (NNS) the same linguistic rights:
‘And Butler!’
‘Yes, master?’
‘How much ice have we got left?’
‘’Bout twenty pounds, master. Will only last today, I think. I find it very difficult to keep ice cool now.’
‘Don’t talk like that, damn you – “I find it very difficult!” Have you swallowed a dictionary? “Please, master, can’t keeping ice cool” – that’s how you ought to talk.’ (23)
In this example the NS does not want the ‘inferior’ NNS to use correct English, in fact the NS is quite angry and uses the swear word ‘damn’ to put the NS in his place. In this example the NS is aware of both insults: he knows he should not use proper English and he also knows that he has been ‘damned’! This is something that Brogger notes: “lexical and stylistic uses may, for example, serve as a means of social control - a way in which elite groups may underscore their authority and assert their power” (Brogger, 1992: 48).
Swear words can also be used to ridicule NNS (although this is more telling about the NS). Take this example given by a student who overheard this in a shop between a native Spanish shopkeeper and a NNS client: “Buenos días, gilipolla” (Hello, wanker), all done with a smile on his face. The poor NNS in this context was blissfully unaware of the insult and replied, smilingly, “Hola” (hello). In this instance the NNS was at a linguistic disadvantage and this was exploited by the NS. Crooks opines “by neglecting to address Taboo English, students are ultimately put at a disadvantage … They are not being sufficiently prepared as empowered communicators in their target language” (Crooks, 1999: 27).
Another reason to think about allowing swear words into classrooms is their cultural significance. Indeed, “[T]aboo language is an integral part of popular culture, and one cannot understand popular culture without knowledge about unconventional language” (Jay, cited in Crooks, 1998). This idea is furthered by Horan (2013) who states that ‘[G]iven that the cursing and swearing play an important role in communicating emotions and attitudes and can be found not only in casual spoken utterances, but also in song lyrics, literature and theatre, their absence from FLL would seem to constitute a glaring omission’.
I would suspect most teachers have had the experience of a young student coming into class and asking what ‘motherfucker’ meant. The reason for the question usually comes from a song that they have heard. Swear words are also ever present in films, television, social networks etc. In this case it is necessary to equip the students with the tools necessary to use or react to swear words properly. As, Claire (1990: 1) puts it, there is “little opportunity for students to receive information as to the meaning behind, the power of, and the appropriate (and inappropriate) use of such language”.
Also by teaching bad language we can help our students through the minefield of idiomatic language. An example of this would be with native use of ‘shit’ as a noun and a verb. A definition of shit as noun is ‘solid waste matter from the bowels’ and as a verb to ‘defecate’. However, ‘he’s a shit’ means he’s not a nice person whereas ‘it’s the shit’ means it’s very good. Here it would seem that only knowing the dictionary translation would put someone at a disadvantage because by changing the article from definite to indefinite we create a whole new meaning.
If we look at them in more idiomatic phrases the shift away from semantic meaning becomes even more confusing. For example, ‘I’ve got shit to do’ does not mean I have to hurry to the nearest toilet, but rather that I am a bit busy, ‘I’m shitting myself’ does not mean that it is now too late to go to the toilet as I have already relieved myself somewhat embarrassingly, but that I am afraid. To get the ‘shitty end of the stick’ means to be unfortunate or have bad luck, to ‘not give a shit’ does not refer to constipation but that you do not care about something/ you have no opinion. ‘To beat the shit out of somebody’ is a very graphic way to say beat somebody up and if you did that you might very well be ‘in the shit’ which means you would be in trouble and then you might be ‘shit scared’ or even ‘scared shitless’ that the police might come looking for you!
These examples are examples of fluent native or native like speech and are a long way from my students’ repertoire. How then could I help my students on the way towards this native like knowledge/usage?
I decided that I would introduce this language through a series of classes based at B2 level of the Common European Framework for Languages (upper intermediate). The reason for this choice was simple and somewhat cowardly; my students were adults therefore no complaints from parents. Furthermore, they were at a stage in the curriculum where they had finished studying the topics of ‘society and living standards’ and were about to start on the next topic of ‘personal values and ideals’.
As a lead in I gave the students all the quotes from this article and we discussed swearing in terms of society in general and their own personal values. I then gave them this list of swear words and we translated them; however, they knew most of them already! I then asked them to rank the words from 1 to 10 whereby 1 was the least offensive and 10 was the most. This is in keeping with Horan (2013) who when citing Anderson and Trudgil (1990) states ‘[I]t is these ‘strong emotions and attitudes’ that language learners need to express, and this involves an awareness of the lexical fields from which swear words are drawn, as well as understanding of the severity of the expressions used. Furthermore, the process of ranking and manipulating vocabulary can help with the students’ acquisition of lexical items (Thornbury, 2002)
I had previously asked some native speakers to do the same and we compared findings. I did this to sensitise the learners to the potential power of the words and the differences between L1 and L2.
We then labelled these words and phrases as insults, exclamations or other and discussed when and where they could be used within the framework of ‘in front of your grandmother, by children, at work, with friends’. Clearly there are other situations but these served our purposes well.
I then gave the students the following poem by Philip Larkin, This Be The Verse
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.
We translated the poem and looked at the chunks in the text including to ‘fuck something up’ which lead into a discussion of roles in the family and how they have changed over time.
At the end of this series of classes the student feedback was very positive and I think that some of them are hypothesizing about their use and are trying them out within the safe confines of the class. One of them in particular is making great headway in correct usage as he called me a ‘wanker’ when I misspelled a word on the board!
The next series of classes will be to watch a compilation of videos of the chef Gordon Ramsey using swear words to insult people and see where it goes from there.
By writing this article and using it to look objectively at my own teaching of swear words I have opened the door and welcomed swear words into my class. This means that I can use all of those lovely authentic materials (from Shakespeare to Gordon Ramsey and lots of stuff in between) that I did not use in the past because I was worried that I would upset my students. It has helped both my students and I to see the value of incorporating bad language into our classes as a means of helping them towards fluency and understanding culturally bound language.
In conclusion, I would like to ask this question, which seems to get to the heart of the matter, are we only interested in academic success or do we want our students to be able to function in a social setting as well?
Andersson, L. G., & Trudgill, P. (1990). Bad Language. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Brogger, F.C. (1992). Culture, Language, Text: Culture Studies within the study of English as a foreign language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Claire, E. (1990). An indispensable Guide to Dangerous English! For Language Learners and Others. Illinois: Delta Systems.
Crooks, A.P. (1999). Warning! Cussing may be important to your students’ education. American Language Review, 3(5), 27-30.
Dumas. B., & Lighter, J. (1978). Is Slang A Word For Linguists? American Speech, 53 (1), 5-17.
Horan, G. (2013). ‘You taught me language; and my profit on't/Is, I know how to curse’: Cursing and swearing in foreign language learning. Language and Intercultural Communication, 13(3), 283-297.
Orwell, G. (2001) Burmese Days. London: Penguin Classics.
Thornbury, S. (2002). How to Teach Vocabulary. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K2e7TTdeMo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Kp4mDRcSs
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