Pragmatics in Parenting

Talking about sexuality to children by parents can be a difficult affair. Yet, children need to get some direction on how to deal with their sexuality from people that they earliest socialize with, especially parents. This can enable them to make responsible decisions concerning their sexuality and demystify the myths about sex that they may gather from peers or other sources of information. In attempting to broach a topic that may be considered a taboo in many traditional African situations, many parents opt for indirect language. They may use circumlocution, metaphors. litotes and other forms of indirectness. Taking a pragmatic approach to language and communication, this work explored the various forms of indirectness used by parents in discussing issues of sexuality to their teenage children.

Mary Karuri is a lecturer of English at Chuka University, Kenya. She obtained her undergraduate degree in education specializing in English and Literature at Moi University in 1994 and later got a masters degree in English at Egerton University. Currently she is pursuing a PhD in discourse analysis at Chuka University.