Swearing in class: institutional morality in dispute

Doherty, C. , Berwick, A. and McGregor, R. (2018) Swearing in class: institutional morality in dispute. Linguistics and Education, 48, pp. 1-9. (doi: 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 conceptualize 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.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was funded by a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE120100569) from the Australian Council of Research.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Doherty, Prof Catherine
• Authors: Doherty, C., Berwick, A., and McGregor, R.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: Linguistics and Education
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0898-5898
• ISSN (Online): 0898-5898
• Published Online: 24 September 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc.
• First Published: First published in Linguistics and Education 48:1-9
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher