Family Language Use - Do Children Mimic or Adopt Their Parents' Language of Using Bad Words?



Abstract

The paper discusses the family language use and the impact of parental use of dirty and profane language on children. It discusses the various types of behavioral issues that the parents face in this context and the way parents should deal with it. The use of language in family has lifelong implications for the children in the family. This implication can be both positive and negative depending on how the family uses the language. Child swearing has become very common and children as young as 5 year old can be seen calling each other names and using foul language. This is so because either the parents do not establish rules on foul behavior or they do not want to admit that it is their fault. The bad language behavior in children takes grip over a period of time.

Taunting time, gross talk, and curse words are all examples of behavioral and language issues faced by children. When kids are young they are very naughty. They even label one another with different names and develop a habit of making fun of one another. At this early stage they do not understand that their behavior is not very nice. They do not call each other names because they want to offend one another but they do it only for the fun. Children have often been found to use words that are purely gross. For parents who cannot refrain to use the four letter word at home, it should be no surprise that their children know it too. Parents should realize that children pick up very soon. Guidance off children and the management of their behavior by parents through becoming a role model themselves is imperative for making these children well behaved and responsible citizens.

Table of Contents

Introduction4

Statement of Problem4

Context5

Research Questions5

Research Methodology5

Research method6

Research approach7

Literature search7

Rationale for a qualitative Study8

Profile of sample subjects9

Sampling technique10

Implementing the sampling procedure10

Findings and Analysis11

Children's mimicry of parental use of foul language11

Types of offensive behavior12

Taunting Time12

Gross Talk12

Curse Words13

Media and dissemination of foul language in children13

Dealing with Swearing - A Role of Parents13

Conclusion14

References16

Family Language Use - Do Children Mimic or Adopt Their Parents' Language of Using Bad Words?

Introduction

The use of language in family has lifelong implications for the children in the family. This implication can be both positive and negative depending on how a family uses language. The use of a native language may make the children bilingual or multilingual while at the same time, the use of bad language by parents and other adults in the house can have a very bad influence on children (Charter, 2006). In addition, parents have the most important role to play in the children's learning of language. The language development in children is not the product of children's efforts alone. It is something that is influenced by multiple factors. For instance, other than the languages used at home, children learn from the language used in school, the language used ...