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Radio National: Gender convergence in teenager swearing

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Radio National: Gender convergence in teenager swearing

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  9–10


Explore how the use of swearing by teenagers is changing.

Maria Zijlstra talks to Mike Thelwall, Professor of Information Science at the University of Wolverhampton, about the upsurge in swearing on social networking sites, especially among girls.

He contends that, in the UK in particular, swearing is losing its shock value and is becoming a normal aspect of teenage culture.

If you like this clip, listen to the full ABC RN documentary by clicking 'Download Audio' at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/linguafranca/gender-convergence-in-teenager-swearing/2914492


Things to think about

  1. 1.Consider how swearing is used in your social group. Who uses swear words and to what effect? Is there any difference in the use of swear words between males and females? What differences, if any, do you notice about who uses swear words on social networking site and the reasons they are used?
  2. 2.What is it about social networking sites that leads to a greater amount of swearing than with other written forms? What are the four reasons given for teenagers using 'offensive language' so much? What has taken the place of swearing on social networking sites when teenagers want to be offensive?
  3. 3.The common view of swearing is that it is offensive, shocking, strong language. How does this interview challenge this common perception? Having listened to the interview, what generalisations can you make about how teenagers are using swear words today?
  4. 4.Mike Thelwall says, 'It almost seems as if we've come full circle, with swearing being positive and love being negative.' What examples of popular vocabulary or idiom can you find that have reversed their original meanings? For example, 'bad' meaning 'good'.



Date of broadcast: 11 Jun 2011


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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