Second Language Speakers’ Perception of Swearing as a Socio-Pragmatic Device

Mohammadi, Ariana

doi:10.22077/ali.2026.9921.1193

Second Language Speakers’ Perception of Swearing as a Socio-Pragmatic Device

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Ariana Mohammadi

Professor of English, Faculty of Sciences humaines et sociales interdisciplinaires, Université de Hearst, Hearst, Ontario, Canada

10.22077/ali.2026.9921.1193

Abstract

This study examines the perception of English swearing in speakers of English as a second language (ESL) within two socio-communicative contexts: private speech and interpersonal interactions. Participants included 34 ESL speakers who watched 14 short, muted videos in which subjects experienced an emotion-evoking negative event either in private or in the presence of others. Participants then took the subject’s perspective and produced impromptu responses to the emotion-evoking scenarios. The results indicated that ESL speakers judge more occurrences of English swearwords in interpersonal interactions than in private speech. The swearing patterns were further modulated by the role of gender, whereby ESL speakers attributed a higher frequency of swearing to male subjects in interpersonal communications, while the frequency of swearing did not show a significant difference between male and female subjects in private speech. It is argued that second language swearing functions as a socio-pragmatic device in interpersonal interactions and reflects ESL speakers’ assessment of the second language sociolinguistic norms to achieve social goals. Further, different patterns of swearing in relation to gender are discussed through the lens of stereotyped female speech.

Keywords

communication context

private speech

interpersonal communication

second language swearing

bilingual emotional expression

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