To swear or not to swear:

The challenge of hip-hop in the

language classroom

DavidCaldwell
NationalInstituteofEducation,Singapore
ABSTRACT
Thispaperaddressesoneofthekeychallengesfacinghiphoppedagogies:thecensoringof
swearing.Drawingonthreekeypublicationsinthefieldofhiphopliteracy(Morrell&Duncan
Andrade2002,Fisher2005,Hill2009),thispaperarguesthatcurrentpracticeisoftenhighly
selective,eitherdiscouragingorsimplyavoidingswearingaltogether.Inpresentinganidealized
versionofrap,itisarguedthatcurrentpracticefailstoexposestudentstotherealityofrapa
typicallyaggressive,didactic,resistantvoice.Inresponse,thispaperoffersthreepotentialsolutions
totheissueofswearinginthehiphoplanguageclassroom:(1)permitswearing,withoutexception;
(2)modifytheform,andrestrictthetypesofswearing;(3)donotpermitswearing,andinstead,
engagestudentsinlanguagesystemssuchasNAMINGandNEGATION,bothofwhichhaveasimilarly
resistantfunctiontoswearing.Thepotentialadvantagesanddisadvantagesofallthreesolutions
arediscussed,withpreferencegiventothethirdsolution.Andwhilethispaperacknowledgesthat
languagesystemssuchasNAMINGandNEGATIONcannevercompletelysubstitutefortheexplicit
teachingofswearing,thepointisthatstudentsaretaughttorecognizetheinterpersonalfunctionof
resistantlanguagepractices,andinturn,recognizethatwhatistaboointheclassroom,is
nonethelessintegraltoaresistant,marginalizedvoice.

Keywords:hiphopliteracy,rapmusic,swearing,resistantvoice,naming,negation
INTRODUCTION
Sinceitsemergenceinthelate1970s,rapmusic,andthehiphopculturefromwhichitderives,has
beenthesubjectofconsiderableinterdisciplinaryresearch(seeTheHiphopUniversityWorking
Bibliographyforalistofover3000publications).Oneexampleisthedevelopmentofhiphopliteracy.
InresponsetolowliteracylevelsintheUnitedStates,hiphopliteracyseekstoengagesocially
marginalizedstudentsinlanguagestudiesthroughtheanalysisandconstructionofraplyrics:We
ultimatelydecidedthatwecouldutilizeHiphopmusicandculturetoforgeacommonandcritical
discoursethatwascentereduponthelivesofthestudents,yettranscendedtheracialdivideand
allowedustotapintostudentslivesinwaysthatpromotedacademicliteracyandcritical
consciousness(Morrell&DuncanAndrade2002:88).

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Swearingisadefiningfeatureofrapmusic.Andwhilenotallrapmusicincludesswearing,itcanbe
arguedthatswearingisafeatureofthetypesofrapmusicconsumedbythosestudentsengaginginhip
hopliteracyprograms,i.e.marginalized,urban,workingclassadolescents,aswellasmiddleclass
adolescentswhoseektoalignwiththeworkingclass(seeKrims2000).Giventhentheemergenceof
hiphopliteracies,bothintheUnitedStatesandglobally(seePennycook2007),theissueofswearingin
thelanguageclassroomisoneworthexamining.Inparticular,towhatextent,ifatall,shouldteachers
engagestudentsinthekindsofswearingthatproliferatethemajorityoftherapmusiccanon?

Inordertoaddressthisquestion,thispaperexaminesthreeinfluentialhiphopliteracypublications
fromthepastdecade:MorrellandDuncanAndrade(2002),Fisher(2005)andHill(2009).Thepaper
thenoffersthreepotentialsolutionstotheissueofswearinginthehiphoplanguageclassroom:(1)
permitswearing,withoutexception;(2)modifytheform,andrestrictthetypesofswearing;(3)donot
permitswearing,andinstead,engagestudentsinlanguagesystemssuchasNAMINGandNEGATION,which
haveasimilarlyresistantinterpersonalfunction.Thepotentialadvantagesanddisadvantagesofall
threesolutionsarediscussed,withpreferencegiventothethirdsolution.Andwhilethepaper
discouragestheexplicitteachingofswearing,itsultimateaimistoencourageteachersandstudentsto
betterengageinresistantlanguagepractices,andtoviewswearingasalegitimatelinguisticresponseof
anymarginalizedcommunity.
BACKGROUND
ThispaperfollowsAllanandBurridge(2006)whodefineswearingas:anemotivereactiontoanger,
frustration,orsomethingunexpectedandusually,butnotnecessarily,undesirable(Allan&Burridge
2006:78).AccordingtoAllanandBurridge(2006),thecategoryofswearingincludesreligionbased
profanityandblasphemy,suchasJesusChrist,Christ,godalmighty,aswellasarangeofobscenities
fromthepoolofdirtywords.Thelatterderivefromtabooedbodilyorgans(e.g.asshole),bodily
effluvia(e.g.shit),andsexualbehaviours(e.g.fuck).AllanandBurridgealsodistinguishswearing,such
asfuckanddick,frominsults,suchasfuckeranddickhead.

Forthepurposesofthispaper,swearingisalsounderstoodasanexampleofwhatHalliday(1976)terms
antilanguage.Inthisway,swearingisnotonlyanemotivereactiontosomethingundesirable,butitis
amarkerofgroupmembership;groupnessisdeterminedbywhetheroneacceptsorrejectstheir
interlocutorsswearing.Inotherwords,itisbuiltonamutualunderstandingofwhatis,orisnot
consideredtaboo.Forexample,forsomepeople,religiousbasedprofanityisfarmoreinappropriate
thanswearingfromthepoolofdirtywords.Forothers,swearingiscompletelytaboo,regardlessofthe
topic.Thepointis,throughswearing,speakersareabletosetupadividebetweeningroupersand
outgroupers;thosewhoaccepttheswearing,andthosewhodonot.

Afurtherpointtonoteisthatalthoughswearingtypicallyinvolvestabootopics,taboolexisdoesnot
necessarilyfunctionasswearing.Andthisisespeciallythecaseinraplyrics.Forexample,thefollowing
clausesfromhiphopvernacularEnglishexpressthetabootopicofsexualintercourse:hitit,rodeit,go
upinit.However,thesearenotinstancesofswearing;theysimplyexpressatabootopic.Whilethis
paperwillfocusexclusivelyonthelinguisticcategoryofswearing,itisacknowledgedthatmuchofwhat
isdiscussedhereisalsoapplicabletotaboolexis.

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Finally,thethreepublicationstobereviewedhavebeenchosenbecausetheyareconsideredtobe
highlyinfluentialinthefield.Andassuch,itisexpectedthatthesescholarshavehad,andcontinueto
have,influenceonteachingpractitioners.Havingsaidthis,theyshouldnotbeconsideredcompletely
representativeofhiphopliteracy.Itisexpectedthatsomelanguageclassroomsengageinswearingin
differentwaystothatwhichisoutlinedinthesepublications.Inanycase,thisauthorwelcomes
feedbackfromlanguageteachersintermsofhowtheyengagewithswearinginthehiphoplanguage
classroom.
SWEARING IN THE HIP-HOP LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
ACriticalReview
Allthreepublicationsmakeminimalreferencetoswearing.Fishersjournallengtharticlementions
profanitiesonce,whileMorrellandDuncanAndradesjournallengtharticledoesnotmention
swearing,atleastnotexplicitly.Hills(2009)booklengthpublicationalsorarelymentionsswearing,
again,preferringthesynonymprofanity.Thereareseveralpossibleexplanationsforthislackof
referencetoswearing.

Asdiscussedbelow(Solution1),itcouldbearguedthatbecauseswearingisgenerallyprohibitedin
languageclassrooms,thesescholarsdonotconsideritapplicabletotheirdiscussionofhiphopliteracy.
Ifthiswasthecasethough,onewouldexpectabriefacknowledgementofthatfact.Conversely,itcould
bearguedthatswearinginthehiphopclassroomisacceptedbytheseauthors,andassuch,thetopicis
rarelyintroduced.However,asdiscussedbelow,theinstancesinwhichthetopicofswearingis
addressedsuggeststhisisnottheauthorsposition.Finally,itcouldbearguedthatlikeanyresearch,
thesepublicationshavetheirdelimitations,andthatthetopicofswearingissimplybeyondthescopeof
eachpublication.Counteringthispositionisthefactthatallthreepublicationsexcludeswearingwhen
outliningthesalientlanguagefeaturesofrapmusic.Hill(2009)forexamplemakesmultiplereferences
tolinguisticconceptssuchascallresponse,narrativizing,signifyingandslang,butrarelyswearing.And
similarly,MorrellandDuncanAndrade(2002),inarguingforrapsstatusasaliterarytext,outline
numerouslanguagefeaturesofrap,whichagain,donotincludeswearing:

Hiphoptextsarerichinimageryinterpretationsandcanbeusedtoteachirony,tone,dictation,
andpointofview.Also,hiphoptextscanbeanalyzedfortheme,motif,plot,andcharacter
development.
(Morrell&DuncanAndrade2002:89)

Sowhythenisminimalreferencemadetoswearing?Inordertobetteranswerthisquestion,itisworth
examiningwhatissaidinthoserareinstanceswhereswearingismentioned.Thefollowingisashort
extractfromFisher(2005);theonlyinstanceinwhichsheengageswiththetopicofswearing:

AtthisstageinDeesdevelopmentasawriter,Joewaslessconcernedwithissuesofgrammarand
profanityinherworkbecausehewantedtocallattentiontothefactthatshewasfinally
beginningtosing.Withthatfoundation,hebegantobuildarelationshipbasedonrespectand
honorwithDeeandtheotherstudentspresent.
(Fisher2005:123)
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Ontheonehand,bothscholarandteacheracceptswearinginthehiphoplanguageclassroom.Atthe
veryleast,thestudentwasnotreprimandedforheruseofthewordshit.Infact,theimplicationisthat
becauseEnglishteacherJoeaccommodatedDeesgrammarandprofanity,hewasabletogainthe
studentsrespect.Counteringthisreadinghoweveristhewording:Atthisstageandless
concerned.Theoverridingimplicationhereisthatswearingisinfactsomethingtobeconcerned
about;somethingthatwilleventuallybedealtwithasDeedevelopsasawriter.Inotherwords,
swearingisthepracticeofanovice,hiphopwriter.

Hill(2009)referencesswearingearlyinhisbook,asheoutlinestherulesofhishiphopclassroom:

Profanitywaspermittedinclassprovideditwasneitherexcessivenorabusive.Studentswere
strictlyprohibitedfromusingwhatMr.ColomboandItermedtobehatefulwordssuchas
nigger,faggot,orbitchexceptwhenreadingorcommentingonatext.Despitethe
arbitrarinessandpotentialforexploitationoftherules,studentsconsistentlyhonoredtheir
commitmenttofollowingwhatweestablished.Thisisacriticalpoint,bothforgainingaricher
understandingofthecontextandtofullyappreciatethereasonsforthehighlyprovocative,
informal,andpotentiallyoffensivelanguagethatoftenappearsinthedatathatIprovideinthis
book.
(Hill2009:24)

IncontrasttoFisher(2005)andtheteacherssheobserves,Hill(2009)explicitlyaddressestheissueof
swearinginthehiphopclassroom.ForHill,swearingisafeatureofraplyricsandthehiphop
classroom;itissomethingthatneedstobeacknowledgedandmanaged.Moreover,Hillpermits
swearinginhishiphopclassroom.However,thereisoneimportantqualificationtoHillspositionon
swearing:Hill,andhiscollaboratingteacherMr.Colombo,doprohibittheuseofcertainswearwords,
suchasnigger,faggotandbitch,althoughitwaspermissibletoreadandcommentontextswhichhad
thistypeofswearing.ItisworthnotingthatthetypeofswearingprohibitedbyHillandMr.Colombo
weretheinsulttype(Allan&Burridge2006).

Ingeneral,onecanarguethenthatHills(2009)positionisprogressiveintermsoftheuseofswearingin
theclassroom.Ontheotherhand,Hillsdecisiontocensorcertaintabooinsultsis,inhisownwords,an
arbitraryone:whatisoffensivetoonepersonmaybeacceptabletoanother(seeSolution2below).
Theconcernofthispaperhoweverisnotsomuchthathisselectionmaybearbitrary,butthefactthat
heiscensoringinthefirstplace.Hillexplicitlystatesthatakeyfunctionofraplyricsistobehighly
provocative,informalandpotentiallyoffensive(Hill2009:24).Andyethecensorscertaintypesof
swearing,presumablyonthegroundsthattheyaremoreoffensivethanothertypesofswearing.

MorrellandDuncanAndrade(2002)makenoexplicitreferencetoswearingintheirarticle.
Nevertheless,theirarticleisrevealingintermsofthetypesofrapmusictheyengagewith.Whiletheir
listofrapsongsisafairrepresentationoftherapcanon,andmanyoftheirraptextsincludeswearing,a
subtledistinctionismadebetweenthoseraptextswhichareusefulforliterarytopicsand
interpretations,andthoseraptexts,namelygangstarap,whichareopentocritique:Itispossibleto
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performfeminist,Marxist,structuralist,psychoanalytic,orpostmodernistcritiquesofparticularHiphop
texts,thegenreasawhole,orsubgenressuchasgangstarap(Morrell&DuncanAndrade2002:89).
Thesubgenreofgangstarapisespeciallyrelevanttothisdiscussionbecauseittendstocontainthe
highestfrequencyofswearingofalltherapsubgenres.AndwhileMorrellandDuncanAndrade
acknowledgethatthewholerapgenreisitselfpotentiallysubjecttothesekindsofcriticalapproaches,
whenreadalongsidetheotherpapersinquestion,thespecificreferencetogangstarapisnotincidental.

Tovaryingdegrees,allthreepapersdistinguishbetweenthegangstarapsubgenreandallothersub
genresofrapmusic.Andasconsequence,theydistinguishbetween,andultimatelygivepreferenceto,
thoseraptextswhichhavealowerfrequencyofswearing.Forexample,Fisher(2005)recountshowher
teachingsubject,MamaC,censoredthegangstaorblingblingsubgenreofrapmusic:

MamaCsgoalwastosetatoneforstudentswriting;shedidnotwantwhatstudents
characterizedasblingblingorbraggingaboutmaterialitemssuchasmoney,clothesandcars.
Consciousworkwasanexpectationinthiscommunityofwritersandhavingasenseofhistory
wasatthecoreofthistypeofwriting.
(Fisher2005:125)

UnlikeMorrellandDuncanAndrade(2002),whosuggestthatteacherscanatleastcritiquethegangsta
rapgenre,MamaCrejectstheblingblinggenrealtogether.Andalthoughshedoesnotexplicitlyreject
swearing,foranyonefamiliarwithrapmusic,herrejectionoftheblingblinggenreis,inpartatleast,a
censoringofthetypesofrapmusic,andthetypesofrapartists,thatfrequentlyemployswearing.

TheunderlyingmotivationforexcludingthegangstarapgenreismadeexplicitbyHill(2009).Inshort,
Hillencouragesaseparationofrapmusicintermsofhighandlowculture;adistinctionbetweenwhat
hetermsauthenticandinauthenticrapmusictexts:

OneoftheprimarywaysthattheHeadsregisteredtheauthenticityofcoursetextswasby
drawingdistinctionsbetweenrapandhiphop.Ratherthanmerelyechoingthemanyhiphop
scholarsandcriticswhoclassifyrapmusicasadistinctiveelementsubsumedunderthebroader
rubricofhiphopculture(e.g.,Pough,2004;Rivera,2003),theHeadsarticulatedamorenuanced
andrefinedframeworkthatexcludedtextsthattheydeemedinauthentic.Forthem,theterm
hiphopservedasshorthandforrealhiphoptexts,whilerapwasused,oftenpejoratively,
foralltextsthatlayoutsideoftheirconceptionsofauthenticity.Liketraditionalmodernist
dichotomiesbetweenhighandlowcultures(e.g.,Adorno&Horkheimer,1944;Arnold,1932),the
Headshiphop/rapdistinctionwasnotmerelyinformedbyananalysisofparticulartexts,butbya
beliefaboutthecapacityofparticularsitesofculturalproductiontoyieldauthenticmaterial.For
theHeads,commercialrapartistslikeLilJonand50Centwerenotonlyinauthenticrappers,but
representativesofanartisticfieldthatwasincapableofproducingauthenticmaterial.
(Hill2009:33)

Ofcourseclassifyinganytextintermsofanauthentic/inauthenticdichotomyisparticularlyproblematic.
Inthiscase,whatconstitutesauthenticforanEnglishdepartmentHeadforexample,isgoingtobe
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vastlydifferenttothatofhisorherstudents.AndinHills(2009)defense,hedoesproblematizethis
distinction(althoughheoffersnosolution),notingitspotentiallyadverseeffectforhiphopliteracy:

MychoiceswerereflectiveofabroadertendencywithinmanyHHBEcontextsdocumentedinthe
researchliterature.Typically,HHBEeducatorschoosetextsthattheydeempolitically,
intellectually,orculturallysophisticatedandrelevant.Whileappropriate,suchmovesoftenlead
tothedevelopmentofcurriculathatrespondtointerests,experiences,andgenerational
orientationoftheteacherratherthanthestudent.Indoingso,HHBEcontextsnotonlyrisk
becominglessculturallyrelevant,theycanalsoreplicatetheverystructuresofelitismthat
HHBEcontextsaimtoproblematizeandultimatelydismantle.
(Hill2009:38)

Theabovequoteisespeciallysignificantinthecontextofthispaper.Regardlessoftheirspecificreasons
andrationale,allthreeauthorsultimatelypresentanidealized,moralizedversionofrapmusictotheir
students.Intermsofthehiphopliteracyclassroom,thismeans,amongstotherthings,thecensoringof
swearing.AndassuggestedbyHill(2009),thishaslargerimplications:itcanmeancompromisingand
ultimatelyunderminingtheobjectivesofhiphopliteracy.Howcanlanguageteachersexpecttoengage
studentsintheir(i.e.thestudents)genre,whentheyprovidethemwithacensored,moralizedversion
ofthatgenre?

SolvingSwearing
Thefollowingsectionconsidersthreepotentialsolutionsforteacherswhoseektoengagewithswearing
inthehiphoplanguageclassroom.

Solution1:NoCensoring
Themoststraightforwardsolutiontothisissueistoallowswearing,ofanytype,inthehiphoplanguage
classroom.Inotherwords,teachersnotonlyacknowledgethepresenceofswearinginrapmusic,butas
partofagenuinehiphoppedagogy,theyencouragestudentstoconsumeandproduceswearing,
irrespectiveofhowtabooitmightseem.Ofcourse,thisisanespeciallycontroversialsolution.
Educationalinstitutionsarenotoriouslyconservativewhenitcomestoswearing(Ravitch2003).One
potentialsolutionthenistomakeanexceptionforthehiphoplanguageclassroom.Inthatcase,
swearingwouldbedeemedacceptableonlywithintheconfinesofthehiphoplanguageclassroom.
Whilethisapproachmightworkinsomeeducationalcontexts,thissolutionwouldbeextremelydifficult
toimplementinmoresociallyconservativeculturalcontexts.Whileitisbeyondthescopeofthispaper
toreviewthevariouslanguagepoliciesonswearing,inanycase,itisfairtosaythatanocensoring
solutionwouldbedifficulttoimplementinthevastmajorityoflanguageclassrooms.

Solution2:ModifySwearing
Thesecondapproachisanintermediatesolution:swearingispermittedinthelanguageclassroom,
albeitwithvarioustypesofcensoring.Atthestartofahiphopprogram,teachersandstudentsidentify
theparticularwordswhichneedtobeeithermodifiedoromittedaltogetherfromtheprogram.Inthe
caseofmodification,bothteachersandstudentscansimplyreplaceswearwordswithabbreviationsand
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deletions.Thispracticeisillustratedinthefollowingextract,asoneofHills(2009)studentsmodifies
theformofthewordfucktotheletterF:

Ilike50Centbecausehelookgoodandhecouldrapandeverything.ButIreallylikehimcausehe
belikeFthehaters,thepolice,everybody.JustlikePac.
(Hill2009:47)

Anothertypeofcensoringisthecompleteomissionofspecifictypesofswears.Thisapproachfollows
Hill(2009)andhiscensoringofinsults,suchasnigger,faggotandbitch.Asnotedearlierintheessay,a
keycriticismofthisapproachisthatthedecisiontoomitparticularswearsoverotherswearsis
invariablyarbitrary.Andevenifteachersandstudentscanformulatearationalefortheircensoring(e.g.
omitallreligiousbasedprofanitiesandsexualbehaviours,butaccepttabooedbodilyorgansandbodily
effluvia)theoverridingconcernisthatteachersandstudentsarestillengaginginadilutedversionofrap
music.Assuch,theyfailtofullyappreciate,andreproduce,therealrhetoricalforceofrapmusic:a
resistantvoicethatismeanttoshock;thatismeanttobeaggressive;thatismeanttobetaboo.Andin
turn,ithasthepotentialtosetupadividebetweenhighcultureandlowculture;toinstallpreciselythe
samesocialstratificationwhichhiphoppedagogyismeanttotranscend.

Solution3:AnalogousLanguageSystems:NAMINGandNEGATION
Thethirdandfinalsolutioninvolvescompletelycensoringswearingfromthehiphopliteracyprogram.
Thismeanscensoringthecanonofraptextsforswearing,aswellasprohibitingstudentsfromproducing
swears.Themainbenefitofthisapproachisthathiphopliteracyprograms,regardlessofcultural
context,cannotberejectedonthebasisofinappropriatelanguage.Ofcourse,asnotedinSolution2,
andthroughouttheessaythusfar,themajordisadvantageofthisapproachisthatitinevitablyproduces
anidealized,moralizedversionofrapmusic;anoutcomewhichconflictswiththeobjectivesofhiphop
pedagogy.

Solution3thereforeaimstoengagestudentsinswearing,withoutexplicitlyusingswears.Ormore
specifically,itaimstoteachstudentsaboutresistantlanguagepracticesmoregenerally,andtothen
contextualizeandlegitimizeswearingasanintegralpartofamarginalizedculture.Itisbeyondthe
scopeofthispapertooutlineadetailedcurriculumoralessonplan,particularlygiventhatthisapproach
woulddependlargelyontheageofthestudents.Forexample,theleveloftechnicalityand
metalanguagewouldbereducedforajuniorlevelclassroomcomparedwithasenior,secondarylevel
classroom.However,theimportantpointtomakeisthatanysuchclassroomdiscussionregardingthe
rhetoricalfunctionofswearing,resistantlanguage,anticulturesandthelike,mustbegroundedinthe
rapmusictext.Ofcourse,havingsaidthis,thefundamentalproblemstillremains:inSolution3,all
swearingisomittedfromthehiphopliteracyclassroom.Therefore,asasubstituteforswearing,itis
proposedthatteachersandstudentsengageinalternativelanguagesystemsthathaveasimilar,
resistantfunctiontoswearing.Thispaperrecommendstwosuchsystems:NAMING(e.g.Poynton1984)
andNEGATION(e.g.Martin&White2005).

TheEnglishsystemofNAMINGcomprisesanypropernounthatdenotesaparticularindividualperson,
place,eventorthing.AndinEnglish,propernamesaretypicallysignifiedwithacapitalletter.The
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followingareexamplesofpropernames:John,Henry,Helsinki,Hurford,Fido,Rover,Dobbin,
Fluffins,NewYork,SanFrancisco,RobertLouisStevenson,AlecGuinness,1066(thedate),
Watergate,Waterloo,Mars,AlphaCentauri,ChittyChittyBangBang,Hamlet,RomeoandJuliet
(theplay),Fidelio,R2D2(arobot)(Hurford2003:206).ThesystemofNAMINGprovidesstudentswith
anidealintroductiontoresistantlanguagepractices.Tobegin,asillustratedabove,thesystemitselfis
extremelystraightforward.Forthemostpart,studentsarefamiliarwithnamesbytheearlyyearsof
juniorlevelschool,andcanreadilyidentifyandproducenames.NAMINGisalsoasalientfeatureofthe
entirerapmusicgenre;itiseasytoaccessraptextsthatcomprisenames,andatthesametime,are
censoredforswearing.Fromasociolinguisticperspective,thesystemofNAMINGismuchlikeswearing;it
construessolidarity.Itcreatesingroupers;thosewhocanretrievethename,andthosewhocannot.
Inessence,naminggivesusinsightintowhoistakingpartintheinteraction.Forexample,inthe
clause,KanyeWestisarapper,onlythosereadersfamiliarwithKanyeWestcanfullyengagewiththe
text.Asaconsequence,thespeakersetsupagreaterlevelofintimacybetweenthemselvesandthose
whocanidentifytheperson.Atthesametime,theydistancethemselvesfromthosewhocannot
retrievethename.

TheEnglishsystemofNEGATIONistypicallyexpressedbythepresenceofthenegativeparticle(notorthe
contractionnt).Inlexis,itcanbeexpressedbyseveralmeans,includingprefixessuchasunornon,as
wellnegativeadverbialssuchasnever,nowhereandnoway(seeCrystal2009forabasicdefinitionof
NEGATION).Inmanyways,thesystemofNEGATIONissimilartothesystemofNAMING.Forastart,
NEGATIONisalsoalinguisticsystemwhichisaccessibletoeventhemostjuniorlevelstudents.Atthe
veryleast,thenegativeparticlenotiseasytoidentifyandreproduce.Moreover,likeNAMING,itisa
salientfeatureofallrapmusic;whenselectingauthenticraptexts,teachersandstudentswillhaveno
problemacquiringexamplesofnegation.Intermsofitsrhetoricalfunction,NEGATIONisperhapsthe
ultimatelinguistictoolofresistance.FromaBahktinian,dialogicperspective(e.g.MartinandWhite
2005),negationcanbeunderstoodasthemostcontractedofalllinguisticresources:itactstodirectly
rejectanyalternativepropositions,realorimagined.Forexample,theproposition,KanyeWestisnota
realrapperexplicitlyengageswith,butultimatelyrejectsthealternative,positivepropositionthat
KanyeWestisarealrapper.Inthecaseofrapmusicspecifically,Caldwell(2007)foundthatthemain
rhetoricalfunctionofNEGATIONistoreject,andultimatelychallenge,thevoiceofthedominant
mainstreampowers,suchasthegovernment,police,parentsandteachers.

TheaboveoverviewofNAMINGandNEGATIONisnotintendedtobeadetailed,theoreticaldiscussionof
theirrespectiverhetoricalproperties.Norisitintendedtoprovideanoutlineofthespecifickindof
curriculum,tasks,ormetalangaugethatshouldbeusedwhenintroducingthesesystemsintothehip
hopliteracyclassroom.Thepointissimplytoshowthatthesesystemsfunctioninasimilarwayto
swearing.Andyet,unlikeswearing,theyarenotconsideredtaboo;theyarenotprohibitedbyany
officiallanguagepolicy.Theultimatepointthenisthathiphopliteracyprogramsnotonlyteach
studentstoidentify,analyseandproducetheselanguagesystems,buttomaketheconnectionbetween
therhetoricalfunctionoftheselanguagefeaturesandthehighfrequencyofswearingintherapmusic
theyconsume.
FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
Giventheexploratorynatureofthispaper,thisauthorforeseestwomaindirectionsforthisresearch:(1)
examineclassroompracticeandpolicies;and(2)produce,implementandevaluateaunitofwork.
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Thefirststepforthisresearchistoexamineactualpracticeintermsofswearinginthehiphop
classroom.Whileitisexpectedthatsuchaninvestigationwillreinforcethefindingspresentedinthis
paper,itisworthexplicitlyquestioningbothteachersandstudentsregardingthetopicofswearingin
relationtohiphopliteracy.Thisresearchcouldalsoincludeananalysisofthelanguagepoliciesofthe
respectiveschoolsandgoverningbodies.Moreover,giventheglobalimpactofhiphopliteracies,it
couldalsoincludeacrossculturalanalysistoidentifyanydifferencesinpracticeandpolicywithinhip
hopliteracyprograms.

Drawingonthesefindings,aswellasthosepresentedinthispaper,thenextimportantdirectionforthis
researchistoproduce,implementandevaluateaunitofworkbasedonSolution3.Inotherwords,
designaunitofhiphopliteracythatsupplementsswearingwithafocusonalternativelanguage
systems,suchasNAMINGandNEGATION.And,asnotedabove,itwouldbeespeciallyworthwhileto
introducethisunitofworkintoarangeofculturalcontexts.
CONCLUSION
Thetopicofswearinginhiphopliteracyisavexedone.Afterreviewingthreekeypublicationsinthe
field,itisclearthatexplicit,consciousconsiderationneedstobegiventothisissue.Asitstands,all
threeauthors,tovaryingdegrees,presentthepositionthatswearingshouldnotbepartofthehiphop
languageclassroom.Butwhatismostconcerningistheirrationale:thatswearingshouldbeomitted
becauseitisnotafeatureofhighquality,authenticrapmusic.Ofcourse,asHill(2009)acknowledges,
thispositionisespeciallyproblematic,andmayinturnreinforcethekindsofsocialstratificationthat
hiphoppedagogyseekstotranscend.Inresponse,thispaperpresentsasolutionwhichisnotonly
politicallyandculturallysensitivetotheissueofswearingintheclassroom,butwhich,atthesametime,
doesnotmisrepresentrapmusicandhiphopculture.

Ifnothingelse,thispaperisaremindertothoseteachersworkinginhiphoppedagogythatrapmusicis
meanttoberesistant.Itismeanttobeoutrageous,aggressive,andevendestructive.Itismeantto
resistthemainstream,dominantforces.Andformanystudents,thisincludestheirteachers.The
challengethenforteachersworkinginhiphopliteracyistotranscendtheirownideologies,sensibilities
andprejudices;toacknowledgeallresistantlanguagepracticesasalegitimatelinguisticresponseofthe
marginalized;inshort,tocelebratethecensored.
REFERENCES
Authoredbook:
Allan,K.&Burridge,K.(2006).Forbiddenwords:Tabooandthecensoringoflanguage.Cambridge:
CambridgeUniversityPress.
Caldwell,D.(2007).Therhetoricofrap:achallengetodominantforces?BridgingDiscourses:ASFLA
OnlineProceedings.RetrievedMarch6,2010,fromhttp://www.asfla.org.au/wp
content/uploads/2008/07/therhetoricofrap.pdf
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