My nigga: the potential acceptability of an n-word derivative in Hip-Hop Based Education and university educational contexts

Autman, Hasan Khalid (2021) My nigga: the potential acceptability of an n-word derivative in Hip-Hop Based Education and university educational contexts. Doctoral thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

This purpose of this study was to determine the socio-cultural impact and parameters of Hip-Hop Based Education (HHBE) with the underlying goals of: a) detailing HHBE in relation to previously accepted education paradigms and philosophies; b) detailing the embedded nature of the language of hip-hop in the form of an amalgamation of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Hip Hop Nation Language (HHNL) within HHBE; c) determining through acceptability judgments any potential semantic and pragmatic shifts in the lexical item nigga that results in its speciation to a term of kinship from its source lexical item nigger and; d) exploring the acceptability of the lexical item nigga in various university level academic contexts and regulations (e.g., speech codes, safe spaces) due to its embedded nature within AAVE, HHNL, and potentially HHBE curriculum. Due to social distancing COVID-19 requirements, 409 Facebook participants were recruited to engage with a 36-question five-point Likert scale acceptability judgment tool and subsequent focus groups to explore the acceptability of the term nigga as it relates to generation, biological sex, ethnicity, and university level academic contexts. According to the results, a low 36.4% of participants judged it totally acceptable to use the word nigga as a term of kinship with ethnicity, biological sex, and generation as influencers, a low 38.9% of participants judged it totally acceptable that the lexical items nigga and nigger have two different meanings with biological sex and generation as an influencing factor, and focus group participants largely saw the acceptability of the lexical item nigga as context dependent (e.g., ethnicity of the speaker, intent, etc.). These results indicate that curriculum and instruction designers in the field of education should develop explicit parameters for the use of nigga when designing and implementing HHBE programs while considering how ethnicity, generation, and biological gender couple with socio-cultural climate contributes to the acceptability of the word.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	African American Vernacular English; expressive words; hip-hop; Hip-Hop Based Education ; Hip-Hop Nation Language; nigga
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2361 Curriculum
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Education > Teaching and Learning
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2022 18:26
Last Modified:	31 Jan 2022 18:26
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/5616

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