Magnitude and Forms of Linguistic Violence against Teachers in Dar Es Salaam Schools: A Gender Comparison

Abstract

This study is a descriptive and interpretive account of indirect form of linguistic violence to teachers by their students in 72 males and 35 females) from assorted secondary schools in Dar es Salaam region the majority of whom were, by the time of data gathering, aged between 10 and 19 years. Data were gathered through a questionnaire and non-participatory observation. The findings indicate there the students are engaged in six forms of indirect linguistic violence, namely; sexualizing, pejorizing, stupidizing, feminizing, musculinizing, and animalizing. Further, female teachers are more victims of these forms of violence than their male counterparts at two levels: by being given comparably harsher expressions and by their body parts being referents for insults.

The Role of Personalism in Eradicating Linguistic Violence

“…This often can cause physical violence. Msuya (2016) cites various authors such as S. Ross, N. C. Gay, T. P. Kaplan and E. C. Armstrong to show that linguistic violence is the psychological or social use of language to abuse, hurt, offend, demean and denigrate, spread hatred and cause a difference in perceiving the other as inferior, subordinate, and an enemy. In Nazi Germany, Hitler and his followers used language to incite racial violence, abuse, kill, and to hunt out the perceived enemy such as the Jews.…”