Swearing in English: Language Attitudes in L1 and L2 Speakers

Researching language taboo is still considered taboo - as such, little research is done into topic. Even less is known about swearing in a second language. The goal of this thesis is to discover whether native and non-native speakers of English perceive swearing in English differently. This was done by the distribution of an anonymous online questionnaire, which was filled out by 43 native and 178 non-native speakers. These were all university students in Prague. The questions belonged into four thematic parts: metadata; replication of previous research concerning the self-reported behaviour of respondents Dewaele (2017) and offensiveness ratings Beers Fägersten (2007); furthermore general language attitudes; and finally respondents' opinions regarding the inclusion of swearing in curriculums for Foreign Language Teaching. Based on the results, we have come to the conclusion that the varying results of the two groups can have adverse consequences for non-native speakers, because they could lead to their misuse of swearing in English. This may reflect negatively in various parts of their lives. Because of this, and the support for this idea among the respondents themselves, the thesis argues for the inclusion of swearing in FLT. key words: swearing, language taboo, language attitude, first language,..