DIGITAL FAMILY DISCOURSE: HOW PARENTS AND TEENAGERS COMMUNICATE MORAL BOUNDARIES THROUGH MESSAGING APPS IN UZBEKISTAN AND ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES
Keywords:
digital discourse, parent–teen communication, moral boundaries, pragmatics, Uzbek families, English-speaking familiesAbstract
With the rapid spread of digital communication technologies, family interaction has increasingly shifted to online platforms, particularly messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Messenger. This study explores how parents and teenagers construct and negotiate moral boundaries through digital discourse in Uzbek and English-speaking families. Drawing on pragmatic and discourse-analytic frameworks, the paper examines directive speech acts, moral evaluations, mitigation strategies, and relational positioning in parent–adolescent messaging. The findings reveal both culturally shared and culture-specific pragmatic strategies in digital moral guidance. While Uzbek parents tend to employ indirect moralizing, religious references, and honor-based appeals, English-speaking parents more frequently use autonomy-supportive language, collaborative framing, and emotional alignment. The study highlights how digital media reshape traditional authority relations and moral socialization practices in contemporary families.
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