Stephanie D. Salazar's CU

Cursing and the English Language

Stephanie D. Salazar

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Academic Setting

This curriculum unit has been developed for students at Whittier Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Whittier is located in a low socioeconomic area of the city. Many of the children in this area live in apartment buildings. Many of these children are dependents of transients. The educational environment is a means by which to provide some stability in their lives. These children come from families who move around a lot within the city and from city to city. There are children of all races and ethnic groups, but the majority of students are from families of local Hispanic and Mexican descent. Many do not speak English.

This curriculum has been developed for the special education population, specifically D Level Primary (Grades 1-3). The students are in the special education classroom all day and then mainstreamed into other classes. The other classes into which they are mainstreamed are science and social studies.

This curriculum unit is developed to help kids become more conscious of their language, and provide them with the necessary English language skills that will bring about positive change that include reduced use of slang and profanity in appropriate settings. It is also an effort to expand their vocabulary so that they can communicate better in society.

Context and Background

According to McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil, it is the “non-linguistic” forces -- cultural, social, economic, and political -- that have made English “the first world language in human history and instilled its driving force” (29). They state further that language is neutral, passive: only the uses to which it is put make it active. Therefore, English can be seen as evolving throughout the history of the United States in various forms. Nowhere is this “evolution” more prevalent or influential than in the use of profane language or “cursing.” In addition, the use of “slang” has further influenced the use of profane language as more people are swearing, cursing, and using slang than ever before.

According to Anderson, there exists a difference between private profanity and public profanity. However, he points out that linguists and scholars of popular culture agree that the “amount of private profanity has stayed about the same,” but enough change has occurred to bring about the “proliferation of public profanity” (1). Although there has been a growing tolerance for its use in public settings, Americans appear to like it less. Many Americans agree that the use of the English language has changed, and that the use of profanity in public settings has gotten worse. In a recent poll conducted by the Chicago Sun-Times, 89% of the respondents said that swearing is a problem (Leenhouts 1).

Swearing and cursing are everywhere. On television and in the movies, from the boardroom to the classroom, from the grocery store to our churches, Americans of all ages and socioeconomic groups are cursing more. This influence has even worked itself into the consciousness of the youngest and most vulnerable members in our society -- our children. This paper will address the language of “cursing,” and more specifically, it will investigate the use of slang and its causes and effects on children. Additionally, I will consider ways in which the educational system and parents can work together in order address these changes, teach standard English to students, and reduce the use of slang and the language of cursing.

Properties of Language

Our ability to communicate through language distinguishes us from all other forms of life on earth. It is what determines our “humanness.” As we have moved through history, we have changed and adapted the English language to suit our particular needs. Our ability to communicate through cursing, however, serves to distance us from civilized society.

How did language arise in the first place?   Many historians, scholars and linguists believe that humans first started using language thousands of years ago. However, there was no one there to record it! According to the theory of creation set forth in the Bible, both the creation of the universe and language came together in the grand formula set forth by St. Johns Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word with God, and Word was God.” Thus it would appear that the first humans were born speaking their “native” tongue, or with an “innate” ability to communicate (Bolton 4). What was this language?   No one knows for sure.

Modern linguists, on the other hand, have adopted an evolutionary approach to the development of language. According to this theory, as our brains have developed, we have developed the ability to communicate in new and sophisticated ways. Whatever theory we accept, the English language, like all human language, does have certain properties or features that distinguish it from animal communication systems. First of all, language is productive because it meets our expressive needs virtually without limit. For example, one does not have to say “I’ve heard that one before,” in order to be able to say, “I see what you mean” (Bolton 4). As the need arises for new language forms, human language easily accommodates.

Language is also arbitrary: the word for something seldom has any necessary connection with the thing itself. For example, in the English language we say one, two, three for counting, whereas the Chinese say yi, er, san. In other words, neither language has the “right” word for the numerals being used. Even the sounds of language are arbitrary. For example, English can be spoken using only 36 significantly different sounds, and these are not at all the same as the sounds needed to speak other languages. These 36 sounds are in turn “arbitrarily represented by 26 letters, some standing for two or more sounds, and with others overlapping (consider c, s, and k).   The patterns into which these sounds, and sometimes words, may be arranged are also arbitrary in nature” (Bolton 6-8). For example, in the Spanish language, an adjective is placed after the noun, but in English the adjective is usually before its noun. In Spanish, a fat man would be un hombre gordo.

          Human language is culturally transmitted because we speak the language of our culture, not our genetic endowment. Children grow up speaking the language of their parents, whether the parents are related to them by blood or not. For example, if an infant is born in China, but is then adopted by an Italian couple living in Italy, he or she will grow up speaking perfect Italian (Bolton 5). And, unless he or she is also taught Chinese, the child will probably never learn to speak it. The same concept applies to the English language and the use of profanity. Adults are formed through the experiences of their childhood. The way a person speaks and acts is often determined at a young age. If a child hears bad language at home, and accepts it as “standard” English, that child will speak that way outside the home, and accept it as normal (Jay 2002 2).

Animals learn language according to their genetic makeup. For example, a cat living with either a Chinese or Italian couple will not learn their language. It will only produce “meow.” These three aspects of human language are important in the creation and use of slang and cursing as they ensure that each generation will develop its own set of slang/cursing specific to its time and place (Bolton 6).

Children and Cursing

Children are swearing earlier than ever before. Many are cursing right along with their parents. How many times has one been in a public place or visited a public school and heard harsh, vulgar and obscene language spoken by both the parents and the child? How many times has a teacher called in a parent to discuss the child's cursing in class, only to find out that the parent curses more? How many times has one heard parents and children cursing at each other?

Is there a decline in family values in this country? Parents play an important role in their children's upbringing. If children are forced to grow up without good role models, they turn to other sources to imitate. Television has provided these role models, even though sometimes they are not the right ones. Television reaches more than 190 million viewers in America. Almost 100 million are children (Leenhouts 3).   According to Weintraub, television (via MTV and cable programs) is forcing our society to re-examine the most political of all phrases: “family values.” According to the president of MTV Entertainment, Brian Graden, family values and love are now determined by “how honest and loving you are” (7).

The macho tough boy stance is in. Ozzy Osbourne’s new series is the most popular new series in MTV history. As the anti-hero of The Osbournes, apparently Ozzy (and his tough love stance) can relate with millions of fathers when he tells his children, “I love you more than life itself, but you’re all f___ing mad.” When talking with his children about the dangerous effects of illegal drugs, Ozzy tells them: “I may have lost half of my f___ing brain cells and most of my f___ing hearing to drugs and rock n roll, but I’ll be f___ing crazy if I let the same f___ing thing happen to you!” (Weintraub 7).

Where did the “F” word (f*ck) come from, and how did it work itself into the English curse word vocabulary? Although language values vary from one community to another and are determined by the culture in which they are found, the “F” word has been around for a long time in one form or another.

According to McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil, this word came out of the Renaissance when sailors were the “messengers of language.” It probably appeared in the English language in the fifteenth century.

Part of their vocabulary “would have been “Low Dutch” words like:   fokkinge, kunte, krappe (probably derived from Latin), and bugger originally a Dutch borrowing from the French, words that are sometimes inaccurately said to be “Anglo-Saxon” (77).

    The word, fokken (which meant to thrust) probably originated from      “Middle Dutch.” The word, fukka, means to copulate in the
     Norwegian language, and the Swedish word focka, means to
     copulate. In the French language foutre and in the German language        ficken both mean “to strike” (78).

According to Leenhouts, there is a popular joke about a 7-year-old who decides one morning to try out some of the language that he has heard on television. He and his 4-year-old brother are sitting in the kitchen waiting for their mother. As the mother walks into the kitchen, she asks her older son what he wants for breakfast. His response is: “Aw, #%*# mom, I guess I’ll have some %#@* Cheerios.” The mother reacts in an angry and offended manner and the 7-year-old is instantly whacked on the head by the back of her hand. He flies off the chair, and runs upstairs crying his eyes out. The mother then looks at her younger son and asks, “And what do You want for breakfast, young man? I don’t know,” he blubbers from fear,” but it sure as #%*# won’t be any of those %#@* Cheerios@ (1).

Although this story is only meant to be humorous, it is a reflection of our societal impression that very young children are cursing more in more situations. According to Jay, hearing racist, sexist, or offensive language has become the common experience of a large majority of children (2002 2). According to a reporter on a syndicated program, teachers now claim that the most common word used on the playground is the word fag (Couric 2002). Children use this word on each other for the express purpose of embarrassing and humiliating one another.

Types of Cursing

The terms cursing, dirty language and profanity are used broadly to refer to several categories of offensive speech: name calling, insulting, profanity, slang, vulgarity, obscenity, epithets, slurs, blasphemy, and scatology (Jay 31). Each of these categories represents a different speaker intention, and each intention presents a different problem for early childhood professionals and others who are charged with teaching children about the appropriateness of such language.

According to Webster’s dictionary, a curse is:

(1)         an appeal to a supernatural power for great evil to befall someone or something;

(2)         a scourge; or

(3)         any profane oath.

Bad language or cursing

�                     Blasphemy: a contemptuous or profane act, utterance, or writing             concerning God or a sacred entity (the act of claiming for oneself             the attributes and rights of God)

�                     Curse: a profane word or phrase; a swearword

�                     Epithet: an abusive or contemptuous word or phrase

�                     Insult: an offensive action or remark

�                     Name-calling: verbal abuse; insulting language

�                     Obscenity: indecency, lewdness, or offensiveness in behavior, expression, or appearance

�                     Profanity: abusive, vulgar, or irreverent language

�                     Slang: a kind of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically of short-lived coinages and figures of speech, that are deliberately used in place of standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other effect

�                     Slur : a disparaging remark; an aspersion

�                     Scatalogy: obscene language or literature, especially that dealing pruriently (marked by restless craving) or humorously with excrement and excretory functions

�                     Vulgarity: something, such as an act or expression, that offends good taste or propriety

�                     Taboo: forbidden to profane use or contact because of supposedly       dangerous supernatural powers, banned on risks of morality or taste     or banned as constituting a risk (Webster 1980).

Cursing in America

According to Leenhouts, America is now living in a “golden age of profanity.” In fact, it is suffering from an “epidemic of potty mouth that has turned America into one big locker room, with an addiction to swearing” (3). Why is cursing on the rise in this country? Why do Americans feel the need to curse at each other on a regular and prolific basis? Why have Americans become addicted to swearing?

Blasphemy has become commonplace in our society. God’s name is routinely, and “sometimes unconsciously used profanely in casual conversation, on the news, and almost any situation” (Dooling 40). Why do Americans feel the need to claim for themselves those attributes and rights of God? This can be seen as the lessening of taboo words or phrases, or those “which are designated as having some sort of dangerous supernatural power” (Dooling 41). To utter them is to risk danger for the self or one's cultural group. In many religions it is considered a sin or taboo to utter the Lord's name in vain.

Various explanations have been put forth for the epidemic rise of swearing or cursing or profane language among Americans. Many social institutions are responsible for the acceptance of profanity and slang in the English language. For example, many language “taboos” have fallen away from television, radio, and movies. Television is a prime example of “society's moral slide or cultural loosening-up, depending on your point of view” (North 1).

Today’s youth relate to a different kind of idol. The rapper known as Eminem has become the “authority” to millions of young people on what it means to be white in this culture, thus posing a “question that is difficult, central and dangerous” (Sartwell 5-6). This rapper is famous for his foul-mouthed tirades that usually get only chuckles from his critics.

According to Tyrangiel, a hostile person such as Eminem is able to influence people of all ages, especially the way in which today's youth relate to the English language. Eminem’s albums sell in the millions. His curses against police and other groups of people have alienated many, but many others relate to his deep hatred of these groups. Whatever the case, his influence on the English language has been great, and many call his bad language a “metaphor for the American white guy” (67).

Right of Free Speech

In an attempt to control cursing or bad language, many attempts have been made by those within a particular era to censor it.   According to McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil, bad language has been subject to censorship since the reign of Elizabeth I (73). The reigns of Elizabeth I, beginning in 1558, and her successor, James (which totaled about seventy years) are referred to as the Elizabethan “golden age.”

The greatest censorship trial in the 20^th century, however, was over the publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence in 1960. The appearance of the “F” word several times in the book caused much distress at the time. The prominent social commentator, Richard Hoggart, who appeared at the trial and defended the book, now looks back at this trial and is surprised by how the “F” word was viewed then (North 2). Is this an indication of how tolerant society has become of this word?

The United States Constitution guarantees Americans the freedom of speech. In today’s society, however, how do we, as American citizens, determine the “true” definition of speech? How do we protect the most vulnerable in the system, our children, from being harmed irrevocably by what they hear others saying? Unfortunately, the government has been unable to determine the limitations of this right. In early America, “when our forefathers wrote the Constitution, profanity was not accepted” (Shoeder 72). Today, even though many in our society have come to accept that profanity is an acceptable form of language, many others recognize that government officials should regulate its use, at least in certain areas, especially in those areas that affect children and youth.

And, so while teaching a unit about slang/cursing may, on the one hand may offer children alternative ways of expressing themselves generally, it may also teach them to be more sensitive about what such words mean and how they may be harmful.

Jay informs us that:

Profanity is based on a religious distinction. To be profane means
            to be secular or behaving outside the customs of religious belief. To be profane               means to be ignorant or intolerant of the guidelines of a particular religious order (3).

Attempts to regulate the use of profanity in public for certain groups of people are still being pursued and enforced today. For example, laws have been placed on the legal books that call for the punishment of those who use profanity or curse in public or in front of small children. According to a report in the Albany, New York Times Union (August 24, 2001), Timothy Boomer of Standish, Michigan, was sentenced to four days of community service and either a $75.00 fine or three days in jail for violating a state law -- passed in 1897 -- that prohibits cursing in front of children. While out canoeing in the summer of 2000, Boomer’s boat tipped over. Annoyed by this action, he shouted a series of vulgarities (including “What the f___ is this?”) within earshot of a woman with two small children. Deputy Kenneth Socia of the Arena County Sheriff’s Department also heard the tirade and issued Boomer a ticket for swearing in front of children! In a landmark decision that surprised the entire country, Boomer was tried and convicted of using of obscene language in front of small children (Rowe 1).

Boomer will be appealing (with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union) this decision because he contends that his freedom of free speech was violated. He, and his attorneys, claim that there is no place in the Constitution that “prohibits one from swearing in front of children” (Rowe 1).

The Entertainment Industry and Its Influence on the Use of Profanity

The movie industry is also very influential in determining what types of values and language that children and young adults adhere to. According to Rowe, prior to 1966, the movie industry did not produce today’s abundance of films that contain some type of profanity (Rowe 1). Since then, however, many movie producers have increased the use of profanity in their movies. For example, the movie, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, made in 1975 had 69 swear or cuss words compared to the movie, Rocky, which was made in 1976 and contains 36 swear or cuss words. By 1984, when the movie, Scarface, was made, however, the use of profanity had increased substantially. In Scarface there are 299 curse words (Jay 231-233)!

Are movies imitating life or is it the other way around? The majority of moviegoers in this country are ages 12-17 and make up 11% of the population, but they represent a powerful proportion of those attending the movies -- 19% of the movie-going audience (Rowe 2). It is obvious that the issue of profanity must be addressed. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is responsible for regulating profanity and violence on television and on the radio. It requires the movie industry to devise a rating system that addresses the issue of what movies are proper for what age group to watch. These ratings are:

�        G: suitable for children

�        PG: used for movies that do not have cursing or violence and that are suitable for children accompanied by adults

�        PG13: used for movies that have some cursing and limited violence and are not suitable for children under the age of 13 (the PG-13 rating was implemented in response to an outcry from parents after two movies made in 1984, Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, received PG ratings -- each contained some cursing, but much graphic violence)

�        R: used for movies in which there is an abundance of cursing, violence, and sexual content suitable for viewers 17 and older

�        NC17: used for movies in which there is a abundance of cursing, graphic violence, and sexual activity, and is geared for mature viewers 17 and older

�        X: used for movies that contain detailed sexual content and are not suitable for viewers under 21 (Levee 1-8).

Many changes have occurred in movies for young children. Educators agree that liberal ratings such as today’s current “PG13” would have been “R” about ten years ago. For example, although “PG”-rated movies like Stuart Little (a movie about an animated mouse) are supposed to set the moral standard for parents to follow, the producers of these movies have started to slip in bad language into the script. One of the cats utters a mild profanity a couple of times toward the end of the movie. The use of profanity in this manner ends up “becoming a crutch for the writers of the movie” (Hostetler 1). Compare the movie Stuart Little with Gone With the Wind, a movie classic which was made in 1939, it got an R rating because it had one curse word in it (Shoeder 73).

This use of profanity is meant to convey frustration, tension, and anger, but is in no way necessary to get the message across. It is universally accepted that it is better to yell at people rather than hit them. According to Jay, “expression of anger is the primary emotional use for cussing” (55). In fact, about two-thirds of our cussing is done in anger (56).

Personalities on radio have also contributed to the proliferation of profanity in our society. Talk-show host Howard Stern is an especially salient example. His behavior exemplifies that of a classic bully with a bad mouth. Attempts to censure him proved effective only when the FCC went as far as to fine a California radio station that broadcast his show $105,000 (Levee 8). Eventually his bad behavior and profanity were seen as liabilities and his show was canceled.

Profanity has also been proliferated on video games that children and young adults have access to. With the advances made on CD ROM, players have more access to unacceptable ways to view and play a game. The Software Publishers Association has also had to institute a ratings system for its games. These are:

�        Violence: this video contains graphic violent material and is not suitable for children under 17

�        Nudity: this video contains nude scenes that should not be viewed by those under 21 years of age

�        Profanity: this video contains profanity (Golansk 53).

Reading is an important developmental step for children. One of the forms of literature that they enjoy reading is that of the comic book. Marvel Comics usually puts out comics books geared for young children, but a recent comic book had 12 curse words in it (Shoeder 73).

Slang and the English Language

Why do people use slang as a manner of expressing themselves? According to Burke, slang has always been around, and was invented as “an antidote to grammar” (7). As early as 1939, when Burke made this statement, it was recognized that the “rigid formalism of the schools was tempered by the gay and sometimes ribald democracy of street slang, that unconventional and undisciplined language of irreverent youth.”

According to Burke, some of these expressions (or slang) eventually found their way into the dictionary, “thus creating a blending with the formal English that contributes to the maintenance of a healthy and sturdy democracy.” He believed that the use of “slang” language terms promote the mechanism which keeps a language “fresh and flexible” (7).

A distinction is made between covert (hidden) and overt (open, public) prestige. The conversation in overt prestige is very obvious – such as that which is used in educational circles, television, and newspapers. A formal form or Standard English is used, and anyone who understands the English language is able to decipher its meaning. The authors, McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil, tell us that “the establishment in Britain in 1922 of the first radio broadcasting service, the BBC, was a milestone in the English language” (8). The BBC (British Broadcasting Company) made it their goal to promote the “right way” when it came to Standard English (10).

            In defining covert prestige, on the other hand, one must take into consideration the fact that the meaning of the conversation is known only to those who belong to a certain sub-culture or group. For example, in the hip-hop culture, a certain kind of slang or code is used to communicate within the group, and only the group is aware of the true meanings of the words used. Students in a class, for example, can carry on a conversation in class without the teacher or others not part of the group being able to grasp its meaning. Members of gangs also communicate in their own language -- a language that is “foreign” to non-members (Smith 2002).

The Irish writer, James Joyce, contradicted the “correct” form of Standard English. He is credited with transforming the ideas of English from the “outside.” In Finnegan's Wake (1923), Joyce created an “everyday collision between Irish sensibility and the English language.” Joyce used a commonplace form of Hiberno English phrases that were common to the Irish slang or accent (McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil 175-176).

According to McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil, during the Elizabethan Age, English would have sounded, “to twentieth century ears, a mixture of West Country and Irish” (88). For example, William Shakespeare, who wrote plays and poems, would have sounded slightly Irish when he spoke (160). He gave the English language many new slang words such as in the mind's eye, and not budge an inch. The King James Bible of 1611, also written during this period, gave us many slang expressions such as apple of his eye, the salt of the earth, and eat sour grapes (90).

Language Values: Social, Religious, and Regional Variation

Is the slang of today’s youth contributing to or taking away from the appropriate use of the English language in the United States?   It is true that language values can vary from one community to another, and from one region of the United States to another. They can also be influenced by social and economic forces, and the role that religion plays in one’s life. For example, parents in some religious communities may want more restriction on profane language than parents from non-religious communities.

Rural dwellers will differ from city dwellers which will cause them to resent city speakers’ slang. Residents of the Northern areas may disparage southerners’ dialects. In-groups may make ethnic and racial slurs about out-groups’ members. For example, racial namings such as “you black bastard,” have become the most explosive cursing words of our times.   They have the ability to promote hatred and division between the black and white races (Jay 2002 2).

According to Marckwardt and Dillard, the “melting pot” theory has been an ideal in the United States rather than a reality (477). There is a large number of minority subcultures found in all parts of the country for whom English is by no means the only (or even the first) language. In the Story of English by McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil, the authors tell us that the Indianization and the Africanization of English, for example, is introducing a multicultural dimension to the English language. Other examples include the language of Krio of West Africa, the “nation language” of Jamaica, the “Singlish of Singapore, and the pidgins of Hawaii and Melanesia. Their influence on the English language is proof that English is getting “recharged” as it continues to evolve (31). They also tell us that:

English is probably finding more variety of expression and more local color than at any time since the Elizabethan “golden age.” When the language was confined to English and North American shores, it became progressively schooled by generations of grammars and dictionaries. Although that tradition lives on, its influence is counberbalanced by the sheer teeming diversity of the language in the age of mass communications, from the “Spanglish” of Miami and Los Angeles, to the “Slanguage” of the Antipodes, even the jargon of astronauts and computer hackers (31).

          In a language writings book edited by Clark, Eschholz, and Rosa, the authors Marckwardt and Dillard, claim that socio-economic and racial factors, as well as environmental factors such as topography, climate, and plant and animal life, play a key role in the slang used in various regions throughout this country (485). For example, American Blacks have their own individual way of expressing themselves through their language. African or Afro-Creole survivals of the language around the 1920's were expressed through the vocabulary of jazz and blues musicians. White musicians, and later white teenagers, spread the use of Black-associated slang, and groups such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones influenced English youth (482).

Language can signal social and political change. In Oakland, California, the local school board took a bold step when it voted unanimously in 1996 to recognize Black English, or “Ebonics,” as a second language and the primary language of its African-American students. In this manner, the system believed that it could apply for state and federal funds in order to teach bilingual education to its students. Whether this funding actually comes through remains to be seen. In 1981 the United States Department of Education rejected the argument that Black English is a separate language and eligible for funding (Knapp 1-3).

Some prominent writers and poets disagree with the idea that a Black English (a form of slang) exists and should be taught separately. It worries people such as Maya Angelou, the famous poet, because the idea of a separate “foreign” language can be threatening and because it “can encourage young men and women not to learn Standard English” (Knapp 1-2).

According to McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) believed in writing about the American people using common speech.

Twain was influenced by the American Civil War, a war that
            brought the people and economy of the pioneering Midwest into
            play for the first time in the history of their country. In his most
            famous books, Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom
            Sawyer, Twain wrote in a way that was “neither parody nor a
            caricature but literature.” These two books “celebrate the lost
            worlds of childhood, the space and mystery of the American
            Midwest, and the rich variety of American society.” Slang phrases that were               introduced in his books are: dead broke, take it easy, to get even, gilt-edged,              and a close call (249-252).

Social and political changes have also impacted other ethnic groups or cultures, and their use of the English language. Certain world events such as World War II brought many changes to the United States, and especially New Mexico. While New Mexico, especially northern New Mexico, was virtually isolated from the rest of the world for many centuries, after World War II it became the center of important developments that affected its people and changed their lives forever. For example, the development of the atomic bomb in Los Alamos changed the lives of the entire world. The bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, thereby bringing World War II to an end. Changes in socio-economic and demographic factors changed the lives of many New Mexicans forever. Many Hispanic youth were drafted to join the war effort. Many of these youth had never left their small towns in their entire life, and although many faced a cultural shock upon leaving their vecindades (neighborhoods), many returned and made a positive contribution to their communities (Alarid 74).

Not only was there a transformation in the rural villages and towns, but in the language and everyday vocabulary of the younger and future generations. The assimilation of colorful words into the language of northern New Mexico led to the embellishment of conversations, “sometimes mixing Spanish and English, reminiscent of their youth (Alarid 75). Many northern New Mexicans today still speak a non-standard English which is referred to as “Spanglish.” Many of the words are derived from an archaic Spanish (that of Cervantes in the 17^th century) and a mixture of contemporary Spanish and English which have become embellished with the slang or “Spanglish” spoken in California by Hispanics in the post war era.

Rebellion among youth in some parts of the country can also bring about social and political change, which in turn, leads to “slang” being introduced into the English language. For example, the “Spanglish” spoken in northern New Mexico contains words that can even be traced to Mexico, with “some pachuco interjected” (Alarid 75). For example, the word chava (meaning a young girl) is believed to have come from the Zoot Suit era (in 1942 the phrase “Zoot Suit” was coined for the for the suit worn by pachucos -- a rebel similar in his rebellion to the famous James Dean) of California (Alarid 74).

Insensitivity to Children

The influence of cursing or unacceptable slang can be very damaging psychologically to children. Our culture has become insensitive to the feelings of small children. This “insensitivity” or lack of empathy for children’s feelings creates an atmosphere in which children are exposed to profanity because there are those among us who believe that they are entitled to speak however they wish. They carry their “freedom of speech” rights too far (North 1).

Swearing or cursing has developed the power to hurt, offend, and insult. Thus, cursing and swearing can be demeaning, embarrassing, and humiliating for children, and its effects contribute to a negative and unproductive environment both in the homes and in the schools. Most of us recognize that this is improper language for children to hear. Parents, teachers, and other adults must be positive role models, or children will learn to use profanity to express themselves. For example, a child sees a man standing on a street corner harassing another person. This child hears profane words used by the man, and from this incident, the child relates anger with profanity. The next time that the children encounters a situation in which he feels anger, he will use profanity as a means in which to express it. He will have learned to deal with anger in an unproductive manner (Jay 2002 1).

It is important for parents and teachers to determine why a child is cursing. They could just be repeating language that they have heard at home or in the playground. According to an article that Jay referenced by Frick, some children, on the other hand, may “exhibit cursing as a symptom of underlying, severe psychological problems such as child abuse or physiological disorders” (Jay 2002 2).

Implementation

Jay references Salend & Meddaugh (1985), and states that there are several traditional behavior modification techniques and teacher behaviors that “eliminate cursing problems and replace them with acceptable forms of speech” (2002 3).

Developing a Plan for Change in Behavior

Traditional behavior modification techniques and teacher behaviors are:

�        Promote Good Character Traits: reinforce good language skills (within the context of lesson plans that have been developed which teach respect, reason and responsibility)

�        Be a Good Role Model: children model the behavior and language of their parents, teachers, and siblings

�        Reward the Use of Good Language

�        State Your Expectations: children must be taught those words which are acceptable and unacceptable

�        Separate Disruptive Playmates

�        Adapt the Physical Environment: control the physical environment so that the behavior within it is controllable

�        Facilitate the Transition from One Level of Education to Another: children going from pre-school to kindergarten and from kindergarten to elementary school should be prepared to exhibit good behaviors at these different levels (Jay 3-4).

The goal of parents and educators should always be the preparation of the child to make the necessary adjustments and adaptations at different times throughout his/her lifetime. This includes being able to speak English properly, and not employing inappropriate slang or “cuss” or curse words. The proper usage of the English language should be taught in the early grades in schools. The use of proper English will enable the child to make adjustments to life and their environment early. The child should be taught to make good decisions on a daily basis. Most people feel that the preparation they received as early as the pre-school and primary grades enabled them to function throughout their lifetimes. One important goal is the teaching of proper formal English using acceptable language standards. Standards and benchmarks set up by the State of New Mexico will be specifically addressed for purposes of this paper.

Standards and Benchmarks

This unit will cover many New Mexico standards and benchmarks for elementary language arts in Grade 3, but will focus primarily on the following:

Strand I: Reading Listening for Comprehension -- Content Standard I: Students will apply strategies and skills to comprehend information that is read, heard, and viewed.

Benchmark I-A: Listen to, read, react to, and retell information

I-D: Grade 3 performance standards:

(i)          Interact with text before, during and after reading, listening viewing by: setting a purpose, previewing the text, making predictions, asking questions, locating information for a specific purpose, making connections, using story structure and text organization to comprehend.

(ii)             Summarize main idea(s) from written or spoken text succinctly

(iii)             Employ active listening skills.

(iv)             Increase vocabulary through reading, listening and interacting.

Benchmark I-B: Locate and use a variety of resources to acquire information across the curriculum

I-D: Grade 3 Performance Standards:

(i)          Use reference materials (e.g., dictionary, glossary, thesaurus) to confirm decoding skills, verify spelling, discover the meaning and content of words.

(ii)         Use encyclopedias, dictionaries, and electronic resources to gather information.

Benchmark I-C: Demonstrate critical thinking skills to comprehend written, spoken, and visual information

I-D: Grade 3 Performance Standards

(i)          Draw conclusions, make generalization, gather support by referencing the text.

(ii)         Explain choice of reading materials congruent with purpose (e.g., solving problems, making decisions).

Benchmark I-D: Acquire reading strategies

I-D: Grade 3 Performance Standards:

(i)          Apply phonics and structural analysis to decode words (e.g., less common vowel patterns, syllable breaks).

                        (ii)             Apply text clues to decode unknown words.

                                                (iii)       Use reference materials (e.g., glossary, dictionary, thesaurus) to confirm decoding skills, verify spelling, and discover and extend meaning of words.

                                                (iv)       Use a variety of strategies to comprehend text (e.g., reread, read ahead, asks for help, adjust reading speed, question, paraphrase, retell).

                        (v)             Read aloud with fluency and comprehension grade-level text.

                        (vi)             Increase vocabulary through reading, listening, and interacting.

Strand II: Writing and Speaking for Expression -- Content Standard II: Students will communicate effectively through speaking and writing.

Benchmark II-A: Demonstrate competence in speaking to convey information

II-D: Grade 3 Performance Standards:

                        (i)             Present information in a logical manner with a clear main point.

                        (ii)             Sustain conversation on a topic.

                        (iii)             Answer open-ended questions.

                        (iv)             Explain own learning.

                        (v)             Read aloud with fluency and comprehension grade-level text.

Benchmark II-B: Apply grammatical and language conventions to communicate

II-D: Grade 3 Performance Standards:

(i)             Use correct subject/verb agreement.

                        (ii)             Use correct capitalization and punctuation.

                                                (iii)       Use a variety of complete sentences (declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory) in writing and speaking.

(iv)             Compose two or more paragraphs with: topic sentences, supporting details, appropriate, logical sequence, sufficient elaboration.

(v)             Use strategies for spelling (e.g., sound patterns, visual patterns, silent letters).

(vi)             Proofread own writing for spelling and edit (with assistance) for language conventions and format.

                        (vii)             Create readable documents with legible handwriting.

                                                (viii)      Write compositions that have few significant errors in: use of pronouns, adjectives, adverbial forms, coordinating conjuctions.

                                                (ix)       Create and deliver recitations and presentations about familiar experiences or interests that are organized around a coherent statement.

                        (x)             Demonstrate a command of Standard English when speaking.

Benchmark II-C: Demonstrate competence in the skills and strategies of the writing process

II-D: Grade 3 Performance Standards:

(i)          Compose a draft that conveys major ideas and maintains focus on the topic by using preliminary plans.

(ii)         Compose a variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama selections using self-selected topics and multimedia forms (e.g., poems, simple narratives, short reports, learning logs, letters, notes, directions, and instructions).

(iii)        Suggest and implement reflection and revision (with assistance) on target elements by: clarifying ideas, adding descriptive words and phrases, sequencing events and ideas, combining short, related sentences, strengthening word choice.

(iv)        Begin to incorporate literary words and language patterns in writing (e.g., elaborate descriptions, use figurative wording).

(v)         Combine information from multiple sources, using technology as a tool, in writing reports and stories.

(vi)        Write stories and essays that show an awareness of an intended audience and purpose.

Strand III: Literature and Media -- Standard III: Students will use literature and media to develop an understanding of people, societies, and the self.

Benchmark III-A: Use language, literature, and media to gain and demonstrate awareness of cultures around the world

III-D: Grade 3 Performance Standards:

(i)         Use language and media to make connections between own experiences of others (e.g., local stories, stories about local culture and history).

(ii)         Create and participate in responses to a variety of literature and media (e.g., dramatizations, presentations, fantasy plays).

(iii)        Identify and discuss similarities and differences in events and characters across examples of literature and media.

(iv)        Make informed judgments about the purpose of media productions.

Benchmark III-B: Identify and use the types of literature according to their purpose and function

III-D: Grade 3 Performance standards:

(i)         Read and create a variety of text, including: fiction (short stories, novels, fantasies, fairy tales, and fables), non-fiction (biographies, letters, articles, essays), poetry, drama (skits and plays).

(ii)        Respond to fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by: considering the differences among genres; relating plots, settings, and characters to own experiences and ideas; considering main character's point of view; participating in creative interpretations; making inferences and drawing conclusions about characters and events.

Unit Plan

Unit Overview

The culminating activity for this unit will be a play created by the students. This play will serve to illustrate the power of words. It will show how words can hurt and can make someone feel happy or worthy. The students will create characters, story lines, costumes, and develop scenes. The students will act out the play they have created.

Words will be created with symbols and the students will not use the inappropriate words in the play. Signed permission slips will be required from every student. Parents or guardians will be made aware of the nature of the subject matter and the purpose for its presentation. The students will learn to communicate appropriately and find substitute words to express themselves. Discussions will focus on how words have power and how the words can affect all aspects of their lives. The students will learn how to code switch as needed.

Lessons

Day One

Material:

*Book: The Journey of English by Donna Brook. Maps will be provided in order to outline where the different forms of English originated, where they shifted, and how these shifts came about.

Instruction:
*Teacher will ask students what they know about the history of language.
*Teacher will brainstorm ideas with students.
*Students will write ideas on a piece of paper.
*Teacher will read The Journey of English to students.

Guided practice:
*Teacher will give students handouts of maps on pages 6, 7, 14, 21, 33, 38, and 39.
*The teacher will guide students through the reading each of the maps and the stages of language shifts.

Independent practice:
*Student will put together a timeline of the sequence of events and stages of language shifts.
*Teacher will put timelines on wall.

Day Two

Material:
*Copy of Greek, Roman, and Modern English alphabets.
*List of words from Greek, Roman, and Modern English texts.
*Dictionaries

Instruction:
*Teacher will teach the students the differences between the three alphabets.

Guided practice:
*Students will try to figure out which words are Greek, Roman, or Modern English.
*Students will look in dictionaries for the given words.

Independent practice:
* Students will look up words in dictionaries and determine what language derivative the words are from.

Day Three

Material:
*Book: Elephant Never Forgets

Instruction:
*Teacher and students will brainstorm ideas about the book and what types of words would be used in the book.
*Teacher will read the book aloud to students.
*Students will listen as the teacher reads the book.

Guided practice:
*Teacher and students will discuss the book and then talk about the ways in which words hurt can hurt those to whom they are directed.
*Teacher and students will brainstorm ways in which to use other words to communicate effectively without hurting other people's feelings.

Independent practice:
*Students will rewrite new words into the story so that the elephant's feelings in the story do not get hurt.
*Teacher will read to the class the new version of the story.

Day Four

Materials:
*List of mixed slang and symbolized curse words.
*Will discuss the different histories of slang words and cussing or cursing.
*Book: Frindle: The Power of Words.

Instruction:
*Teacher will write slang and symbolized curse words on the board.
*Teacher will let the students have an open discussion about the words on the board.

Guided practice:
*Teacher will then open up a discussion about what the words are about.
*Students will then brainstorm in order to determine what words are appropriate and that can be substituted for slang and curse words.

Independent practice:
*Students will then write sentences with substitute words.
*Topic will be about, “What I will say when I am having a bad day.”
*Students will then share the paragraph that they have written with the class.
*Teacher must be careful not to reinforce any negative behavior such “cussing” or “cursing” that may be taking place in the classroom, playground, or even at home as the child will continue to use bad or dirty language if this cycle of negative behavior is not broken.

Day Five

Materials:
*Journal books and dictionary books.

Instruction:
*Students will keep a running record of slang and curse words they use on a daily basis.
*The words will be divided into two columns. One column will contain the appropriate words and the other one will be for the slang and curse words.
*Students will write in journal about the words they used during the week. The words will come form their personal dictionary. This will be free writing. Students are free to draw if they choose. There are no boundaries to what or how they write in their journals.

Day Six

Materials:
*Costumes that represent the different cultures and languages.
*Written play created by students and teacher.

Instruction:
*Teacher and students will practice play for about an hour for about five days. Note: This lesson plan is for third grade special education students, which accounts for the extra time needed in order to complete the play or at least two days per lesson.

Independent practice:
*Students will invite other parents and other teachers and their classes to watch them perform the play entitled the Journey of English.

Assessment
*Assessment is based on how closely the students' performance of an assignment aligns with the expectations set forth in the standards and benchmarks.
*Each student should have a grading scale that is based on his/her Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). A grade will be given for the assignments for each lesson. A point system will be developed so that the students can be successful and stay motivated. A check mark will be given for participation. The teacher will guide the student so that effective participation will be based on attendance, using appropriate listening and reading skills, asking questions when needed, showing an understanding of ideas and context, the ability to pay attention, contributing input that shows effort to both the discussion and the play, etc., respectfully responding to fellow students, and the ability to show respect for teacher's and peers' feelings and ideas. The student should be able to discuss the meaning of the play.

Documentation

Bibliography

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Levee, Michael. In the Cursed 90’s, Expletives are Seldom Deleted. Chicago Tribune, November 6, 1992: Sec.1:14.

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North, Matthew. Speak Now. 25 August 2002. 7 June 2002 <http://www.flakmag.com/opinion/speech.html>.

“Profanity and Associated Bullying Behavior in our Elementary Schools: A National Trend.” Rept. by Katie Couric.