Dangerous Language and English Education

Abstract

    Keeping in mind the idea that language is not only for but also throughcommunication as the gist of CLT, and based on theories of language variation, the articleis a report on initial findings of an SRD project on a "dangerous" area of AmericanEnglish. This area of language use is existent in any language, so the exclusion of thisarea from language-education programs is a serious shortfall. The findings, though initial,can fall under the following 4 categories: 1. Words in general use but with dangerousmeanings in specific pragmatics situations. 2. Alphabetical symbols showing levels ofsexuality, nudity, violence, and vulgar language in current movies in the USA. 3. A list ofEnglish words with double meanings, one of which is dangerous. 4. 6 styles used to showhuman body parts and functions. In order to provide learners with an abilty to effectivelycommunicate in real-life situations language should be described in such a way that thelanguage input is as close as possible to the language in its own environment. The articlealso argues in favor of incorporating this special area of language use in Englisheducationprograms in Vietnam with a view to further narrowing the distance betweenclassroom English and English in real-life situations.