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Rap as a tool of enhancing cultural and linguistic competence

Moldir Amanzhol L.N.Gumilyov

Eurasian National University Astana, Kazakhstan

e-mail: moldiramanzol@gmail.com

Advisor: Bibol Alipbay

Senior teacher at L.N.Gumilyov Eurasian National University

Astana, Kazakhstan email:alipbaybibol@пmail.com

Abstract

rap music commercial battles

Rap is one of the vastly spread types of music, which is used for different purposes, such as selfrealization, commercial activities, battles etc. Rap is what we frequently face and should understand because it introduces new culture and language.

Being popular with youngsters' trends may have efficiency in some ways in the contemporary life. It is possible to listen to rap and fulfill knowledge at the same time. Thus, through music and lyrics adolescents living in Kazakhstan can feel the culture and practice the language of any country not even having visited it. In this paper theoretical basis and practical effectiveness with an experiment as an application of rap are presented.

Key words:

According to Wilkins R. (2014), while listening to music our complex processing systems in the brain is affected, this usually connects thoughts and emotions. Music itself is a part of a culture. The difference between national music and rap is that rap is the way of creating a story with rhythm and beats that interests almost all young people, while national music is in the interest of the older ones. Rap is a type of music that is becoming more and more popular these days all over the world; consequently, it is having impact on young people, specifically in Kazakhstan.

Rap is a tool that can convey different ideas at once, such as massages of political interests, society divisions, daily life, personal states and views. Ross and Rose (1994) classified militant rappers who act as representatives of the urban poor, rapping about daily working-class difficulties using lyrical expressions. Thus, firstly, these all can help Kazakhstan's youth to be aware of cultural and linguistic aspects of a given county. Listening to rap of different rappers may also prevent from culture shock of each rappers' home country. Elligan (2004) claims that rap can provide people with a chance to expose unfamiliar cultural norms and prevent culture shock. Rap can also form a base for further development of a community and share their interests and identities. Secondly, because rappers are native speakers, there is a huge chance for the listener to improve his/her language skills. While listening to rap songs, young people learn new vocabulary that is used daily basis; they learn varieties of phrases, idioms and slangs that might be helpful for the listeners in case of being in a country of a rapper. Rap in general can be a way of enhancing cultural and language competence for young people in Kazakhstan.

Rap as a tool of cultural and linguistic awareness in Kazakhstan has not been investigated yet. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to identify the efficiency of listening to rap music and to suggest this method to youngsters in Kazakhstan for further cultural and linguistic involvement.

Literature review

Nowadays rap has become more popular among the youngsters in Kazakhstan than before. The first reason of the phenomena is of its diversity of types that can suit almost every music lovers' tastes. According to Elligan (2004) there are six types of rap: gangsta, materialistic, political/protest, pop, spiritual rap and rap forms not otherwise specified. Secondly, the manner of presenting information, which for instance can be angry or calm, that the author/rapper wants to introduce to their listeners also attracts the young. Thirdly, rap draws attention of listeners because artists make connection with them. Edward P. (2012) agrees that to make a certain connection with the audience authors write lyrics that deal with real life, so people may quickly feel the connection if they have been through something similar. Edward P. (2012) also adds that the reason of rap being of concern is that it is also based on fictional content that requires thinking out of the box in order not to limit imagination. In other words, lyrics are entertaining and forcing to think.

Hence, rappers feel responsible because their music carries massages and conscious content. Andrew (2006) claims that rap lyrics are the matter of concern because they may somehow shape understandings of people about themselves and others. Moreover, rap can have a huge influence on juveniles' identity building. Livingstone (1998) believes that the impact of rap on self-respect of the youth burdens scientists because music regularly produces creed of society.

Lakeyta M. (2015) says that political rap is rap music that illustrates political situations and issues. It has political reference and comments on social issues and sometimes gives solutions to particular political injustices. One example can be Eminem with the song “Like Home”, where he describes America with the current ruler Donald Trump. Mentioning serious political problems, political rappers make their young listeners become interested in the sphere of politics, thus, having a huge influence on them. Consequently, rappers of this genre send political messages to inspire action or to convince the listener of a particular worldview. Listening to political rap provides Kazakhstan youngsters with a chance to get to know political situations in the counties of rappers so as to establish particular knowledge and expand their cultural understanding of a country. Dennis C. (2012) insists that gangsta rap is a style that demonstrates the brutal lifestyles of downtown youngsters, which is performed with aggressive lyrics and beats. Susan H. (2012) notes that materialistic rap transfers ideology of wealth and affluence, and this type of rap is ideal reflection of American capitalism. Concerning this, adolescents of Kazakhstan can be aware of marketing products for American youngsters and become closer to their lifestyle.

Findings

The study was conducted on 20 random youngsters (aged 14-20) that are currently living in Astana, Kazakhstan so as to make the research more concrete. The people in my research were 85% of Kazakh and 15% of Russian nationalities. The youngsters did not know about the study. The experiment took 6 weeks.

On the first day of my study I collected the data on rap listeners among young people under experiment in order to make statistics and found out that 45% of adolescents' one of favorite types of music was rap, 40% agreed that they listened to rap rarely and only 15% were not interested in rap at all. According to the instructions, they had to listen to any type of rap and of any origin that they would like during 6 weeks.

After 3 weeks of the study some results already started being noticed while interviewing adolescents. At that time 90% of them were encouraged in rap culture, thus being more interested in lyrics and meaning. After 6 weeks, when the experiment came to its end, 95% of young people felt that they were influenced by rap, while 5% remained with no changes. According to the final data, 47% of those who had the influence had been listening to American rap (Eminem, Jay-z, Drake, Asap Rocky), while 36% had been enjoying creation of artists in Russian language (Oxxxymiron, Scriptonit and Basta), 15% of teens preferred listening to Korean rap (Rap monster, Agust D). The interview shows that each of young people has become more familiar with the culture and language of the rapper than they used to be. First of all, 19 adolescents get to know lifestyles of given counties' citizens, their joys and problems, their interests, moral and material values. Furthermore, the young have expanded their horizons learning political aspects of the countries and divisions of strata in the societies. In addition, due to rappers' references to works of literature, and history youngsters have widened their knowledge in these spheres. Finally, they have formed a particular knowledge of cultural identity (Table 1).

What is more, 9 teenagers have learned basic vocabulary that is used in everyday life: new words, phrases, slangs, idioms and abbreviations, and now are practicing in the usage of them. Other 3 young people have learned Korean basic and unique words that refer to Korean culture. Seven students who have listened to rap in Russian have learned new concepts of words and grammar (Table 1).

Table 1. Cultural understandings and language competence that youngsters have formed during the experiment due to rappers.

Discussion

As detailed above, rap is a tool of cultural and linguistic implementation. According to studies of Kincheloe and Steinberg (1997), Aronowitz and Giroux (1993) critically investigating the lyrics of rap, young people become involved in a transformative dialogue. It seems that lyrics of rap that are powered to represent the lifestyle of different nationalities, their views of life and their language, unconsciously forces juveniles to learn about the foreign culture.

The power of rap can be noticed from the very start. Even when the name of the song is unfamiliar young people start seeking the word, therefore they have that new word in their vocabulary. Next, they listen to rap and, thereby, dip in a new style of life, where rappers sing what they are concerned about. They rap about themselves, their culture, what is happening in their county and outside, and etc, using that language which is up to date, so that teenagers are encouraged in a process of soaking up the new. It shows that if young people keep listening to rap music, they will learn more of a language, and as a result will improve their listening skills and will be able to speak with foreigners.

Conclusion

Theoretical basis and the experiment show the effectiveness of listening to rap in a purpose of establishing and enhancing the knowledge of cultural and linguistic features of a particular nation. The results of the experiment suggest the usage of rap regularly, so that Kazakhstan youngsters would be aware of different culture and language through music.

Reference

Wilkins R. W., Hodges D. A., Laurienti P. J., Steen M., Burdette J. H. (2014). Network Science and the Effects of Music Preference on Functional Brain Connectivity: From Beethoven to Eminem. Scientific Reports 4, Article number: 6130.

Ross A., Rose T.(1994). Microphone Fiends: Youth Music & Youth Culture. Psychology Press.

Elligan, D. (2004). Rap Therapy: A Practical Guide for Communicating With Youth and Young Adults Through Rap Music. New York: Kensington.

Edwards P. (2012). How to rap : the art & science of the Hip-hop MC. London: Virgin Digital.

Andrew J.F. (2006). I Hear a Symphony: Making Music at Motown, 1959-1979. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Livingstone, S. (1998) Making Sense of Television: The Psychology of Audience Interpretation.

London: Routledge. See Livingstone, S. (2007) Audiences and interpretations. e-Compуs, vol. 10.

Lakeyta M. (2015). Pulse of the people: political rap music and black politics. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Dennis C. (2012). Afro-Colombian hip-hop: globalization, transcultural music, and ethnic identities. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books.

Susan H.(2012). Therapeutic Uses of Rap and Hip-Hop. New York: Routledge.

Kincheloe J.L., Shirley R. Steinberg (1997).Changing Multiculturalism. Buckingham, Open University Press.

Giroux (1993). Between Borders: Pedagogy and the Politics of Cultural Studies. New York: Routledge.

Aronowitz S., Giroux A. (1993). Education Still Under Siege. Greenwood Publishing Group.

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