Dec 22, 2011 8:00am
Language Learning Through Hip-Hop Music? Hellz Yeah
EmailWhile the mad skillz you learn in school may be nuthin’ but a grind, one researcher is giving hella props to hip-hop rhymes for helping boyz and girlz learn language big time.
Paula Chesley, a visiting professor at the University of Alberta, is no rapper. But in a study released Wednesday, she found that hip-hop music could actually help children and young adults learn new language.
Some rap lyrics are notoriously difficult to understand, but the correlative study published in PLoS ONE found that the number of hip-hop artists that a person listened to could predict knowledge of nonmainstream words and phrases used in hip-hop songs (i.e., road dog, guap).
“Hip-hop is highly prominent in mainstream culture nowadays, and thanks to technologies like iPods, smartphones [and] YouTube, adolescents and young adults are able to listen to more music than ever before,” said Chesley. “This means they get the benefit from repeated exposure, enabling them to better process contextual details that allow for learning these words.”
Researchers gave 168 undergraduate students a set of rap-specific vocabulary words and then told the participants to define them. Students were likely to understand the meaning of the specific vocabulary words tested if they also indicated hip-hop was their preferred music, had social ties to African-Americans and knowledge of pop culture in general.
“Associating language with a melody is generally beneficial to memory,” said Chesley. “In addition, literary tropes such as rhyme, which is omnipresent in hip-hop, are also beneficial.”
While hip-hop tends to interest younger generations, the music genre may still serve as language therapy for older adults as well.
“Insofar as motivation and the desire to be cool seems to be a key element in the learning process, older people currently might not derive any benefit,” said Chesley. “That might change though as people who have grown up with hip-hop get older.”
But Susan Bookheimer, a professor of cognitive neurosciences at UCLA Medical Center, said, “There is no reason older people wouldn’t benefit, provided they actually attend to the lyrics,” and said the research could contribute to novel approaches to language therapy.
“The study is correlational only, that is, they did not introduce new words intentionally in hip-hop songs or use control conditions, so it is difficult to know how useful that would be,” said Bookheimer. “However, I find it a very exciting finding with clear implications for enhancing knowledge in school-aged kids, particularly among those who struggle with traditional memorization approaches or who are generally disengaged in schoolwork.”
Chesley said that Jay-Z may have already known the secret to hip-hop language learning when he said, “Everything that hip-hop touches is transformed by the encounter, especially things like language … which leaves [itself] open to constant redefinition.”
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“the number of hip-hop artists that a person listened to could predict knowledge of nonmainstream words and phrases used in hip-hop songs” – Well yeah. Thanks for stating the bleeding obvious so clearly.
Posted by: 2hundredthousand | December 22, 2011 December 22, 2011, 8:54 am
Are you kidding me???? This morning I was watching GMA and there was a spot on a 59 year old woman making a hockey shot. I Can not believe that she was referred to as a “little old lady” 59 is NOT old. MY GOD you guys made such a BIG deal about her 59 years as if she were 90 or something. You guys aren’t exactly 20 year olds. I am 54 years old, 5’8″ @ 140 lbs in a size 10 and I look FANTASTIC. I am in retail and can do more, lift more than any of the younger staff. I am always told that I look as though I am at least 39. Actually the woman that you featured this morning seemed as if she were much older but I GUARANTEE you she is an exception!!! 59 is NOT old. In addition, I have a sister who is 63 years old extremely fashionable and looks great. NO ONE would believe her age. But you know what they say….BLACK DON’T CRACK!!!! LOL!!!!
Posted by: Gail Ousley | December 22, 2011 December 22, 2011, 9:03 am
And the culture continues to sink as we learn to speak like hip-hop “artists”.
Posted by: freesouth | December 22, 2011 December 22, 2011, 9:44 am
I don’t classify hip-hop as music, much less language. It s u c k s, enough said.
Posted by: Rocky | December 22, 2011 December 22, 2011, 9:54 am
ROCKY: All genres of music have good and bad, highs and lows. And that includes hip-hop. By rejecting all of it you’re missing some really fine stuff. Beethoven, Ray Charles, the Grateful Dead or the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy – all grist to the mill as far as I’m concerned.
Posted by: 2hundredthousand | December 22, 2011 December 22, 2011, 10:22 am
Music is really a source of fantastic entertainment for me. I particularly including the digital grand piano pop tunes.
Posted by: Jermaine Quaglieri | December 25, 2011 December 25, 2011, 10:14 pm