Attitudes towards the Use of Foul Language : A Comparison of Native and Non-Native English Speakers' Attitudes
Lundström, Jenna (2019)
Lundström, Jenna
Åbo Akademi
2019
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201903026867
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201903026867
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of and general attitudes towards foul language, comparing two nationalities: American and (Finland) Swedish. Different background variables such as age, gender and education are considered and included. The aim lies in finding out how different so-called bad words are perceived and which words are generally considered to be the worst and why.
The data for the study was gathered through an online questionnaire where the respondents answered a fixed number of questions about ten words chosen to represent different categories of foul language. A total of 196 answers were collected and the analysis is quantitative.
According to the results, shit and goddamnit are the most common and inoffensive words, while shit and fuck are most frequently used. Racial slurs and gender-coded words are considered most offensive and generally Americans appear to tolerate less religion-based words than their Swedish counterparts. Respondents report using foul language for evoking different kinds of feelings, such as anger or surprise, but also using it spontaneously. My study supports the hypothesis of a narrowing gap between men’s and women’s language as no marked difference in gender and foul language was found and the words appeared equally offensive for both genders. Code-switching using foul words among Swedish speakers is rather common, especially among the youth. These findings suggest that although foul language may not be socially desirable, people generally recognize it as a valuable source for communication purposes.
The data for the study was gathered through an online questionnaire where the respondents answered a fixed number of questions about ten words chosen to represent different categories of foul language. A total of 196 answers were collected and the analysis is quantitative.
According to the results, shit and goddamnit are the most common and inoffensive words, while shit and fuck are most frequently used. Racial slurs and gender-coded words are considered most offensive and generally Americans appear to tolerate less religion-based words than their Swedish counterparts. Respondents report using foul language for evoking different kinds of feelings, such as anger or surprise, but also using it spontaneously. My study supports the hypothesis of a narrowing gap between men’s and women’s language as no marked difference in gender and foul language was found and the words appeared equally offensive for both genders. Code-switching using foul words among Swedish speakers is rather common, especially among the youth. These findings suggest that although foul language may not be socially desirable, people generally recognize it as a valuable source for communication purposes.
Kokoelmat
- 6121 Kielitieteet [144]