Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gigijones]

my middle school girls are beginning to test their english. i know how to handle this with adults, but little kids are a different story! any advice?

do i give the taboo language lesson?
do i let em practice?
do i just say that its not appropriate and move on?

how have you dealt with it?
was it effective?

[Ya-ta Boy]

My view:

There are two factors here.

#1. You have non-native speakers who are using 'questionable' language. When it happens, I calmly let them know it isn't acceptable in school, church, with 'your mother'. (No need to let them know just how 'bad' it is. That might encourage it.)

#2. You have teenagers pushing the boundaries. Same advice as above.

Don't over-react, but clearly let them know what is acceptable language for a school setting and what isn't.

[oneofthesarahs]

Agreed. Make it clear that it is "bad" language, but don't make too big a deal of it unless it becomes a chronic problem. I once had a middle school boy who constantly said "damn," but he spelled it "demn." I pulled him aside on day, and said, "Okay, this is how you spell it. But you're going to say thank you to me for teaching you how to spell it correctly by not saying it in class." I haven't heard him say it again since.

[buster brown]

One older elementary kid at my unigown used 'sh**' in class one day. I let him and the rest of the class know that it wasn't acceptable language and that I'd remove him from the class premanently if I heard it again. That was the beginning and end of the problem.

[oskinny1]

I am having the same problem. I am a bit divided on how I should handle this due to where I teach. My students are all boys and they will all be working in the shipping industry when they are finished with school. I feel that they should know what all these terms mean since they will be sailors and hearing it from all their colleagues but then again, this is a high school and they should also respect that.

I am somewhat following Sarah by explaining that it is bad, but also letting them know what it means. For example SOB. I told them exactly what it was and as soon as they learned that it was an insult to a mother they instantly stopped using it, just as a "puk you" could get a swift punch to the face if said to someone other than a Korean.

Just let them know that it isn't proper and if they use it again they will be punished.

Of course it is hard to punish when one of the good students tells the prig student to "STFU", so you just have to use discretion.

[Mr. BlackCat]

Whenever one of my kids says a swear word I just ignore it. If they say it again I say, "Good job, Johnny! Using that word makes me soooo happy!" And then I never hear it again.

Seriously, I tell my students who are old enough that if you use swear words no one will respect you, they will think you're too dumb to think of good words. So its up to them how they want to be percieved. I have even told them some (based on their questions). After that I have never once heard profanity pass their lips again. The younger ones, I really do ignore it. The more you react to it, the more they use it. Most of the time they don't even know what it means. Kind of like me and my Korean profanity.

[passport220]

From the laughing that usually surrounds it, I think the kids know it is not polite language. If you spend any time around kids where English is the native language, they are also testing out these words.

Generally, I just ignore it and move on. I am usually just glad they are expressing a thought or feeling in English.

[CasperTheFriendlyGhost]

If a word isn't an insult directed at someone, screw it, English is English. I don't care what language my kids speak, as long as it's English.

[gigijones]

thanks everyone for your replies, very helpful and insightful. you are really helping me think this one out.

but this brings up another question for me...see, i cuss like an mf and i personally love these words. they provide weight to sentences that could otherwise be dismissed, and sometimes make me heard in situations where i might be dismissed. i don't believe in "bad words" - appropriate yes, profane no - like calling your boss by their first name and not mrs. xxx...it seems like we all have our own feelings about the taboos and we bring this into the classroom. ya-ta, onesara, oskinny, & blackcat illustrated this, essentially teaching that they are weighted words and reenforced their negativity. pp220 and casper say let it flow, happy their students are speaking english at all.

i agree, they do know its taboo. i asked the students to write up and submit what they wanted to learn from me this year. many responded with grammar and eff usage. they know what they are doing and would not have written the same to their korean english teacher. but these words mean nothing to them, so i'm not even sure if they are testing boundries. i guess i am leaning more towards pp220 and casper in technique, i want my girls to know these words have a power that other words do not. but i also want them to know about appropriateness, kind of like how you adjust your accent depending on whom you are speaking.

7 ppl out of the 171 who read my post responded...anyone else? have you ever spent 5, 10 minutes on the taboos in your classroom? what was the result? do you teach kids? i don't want to instate punishment for usage, like casper says - at least they are speaking english and expressing themselves! did addressing the topic lead to a lesson on expressing feelings in appropriate language?

[Odannyboy]

my favorite day was teaching my middle school girls the meaning of "orgasm"

opened a few eyes that day... bwahahahaha

[teachingld2004]

Yes I have. I have talked about how when we are angry we some times come out with words that we should not use. I have come out with a couple of doozeys myself, and have said "oops, sorry" I have talked about how some words are totally acceptable with friends, but not at school or work.

The kids have told me tht they hear these words in American movies all the time! I did not know what to day at that point. I think I told them how that is a movie, but it is not polite to talk that way in business or school. I have talked about how people loose respect for you. (kids here can deal with that.

I have taught them the correct names for body parts. I have answered most of their questions.

Do not make a big deal outof it, just ignore it if possoble. If it gets too "out of hand", just say that this kind of talk will not be allowed in your class room. Send them out. Keep a written log of why you have sent them out.

SOme thngs may work, some will not. Just tell them that you want to be respected, and talking trash is not going to be good for them.

[Novernae]

I don't make a big deal out of it in class. I simply tell them that it's not appropriate for school. My husband had a student blurt out "shut the fvck up" in class on day when another student was bothering him. He used it perfectly. Right situation, right amount of expression in his voice, perfect pronunciation, however, it was inappropriate for class. He explained to the whole class that this language was not ok in class and took the student aside after class to explain more in detail and tell him he had used it correctly, just not in the right place. Never had a problem with it again.
There are times when I will explain less than appropriate words when they come up, but carefully and selectively since I work at a hagwon. Words are words, and they all have to be explained and contextualized, but unfortunately the parents won't always see it that way.

In Argentina, teaching in a translation program, I had my husband and his friend come in and teach a profanity class. They talked for a few hours with me translating some of the more difficult concepts. It was with the permission of my boss, who, as a regular user herself, felt it was important for the students to know and understand these words properly lest they get into trouble later in life. Case in point, one of my student's boyfriends, who was studying at the university and therefore felt oh so superior to us lowly college folk, refused to come to the talk. I constantly heard him misuse things, and he told me once that he felt is was perfectly appropriate for him (a rich white Argentine) to walk into a ghetto in the states and start calling everyone a n*gger... I wonder how he's doing?

For most of our kids, who will for the most part never go to the west or do anything more with their English than pass the university entrance exams, I think there are more important things to teach, so I wouldn't bring it up myself and I address it quickly when it does come up. oskinny1 is probably one of the only ones who should go out of his(?) way to make the kids truly, but intelligently fluent in these words.