Ain't No Doubt About It!

Spoken word and rap have a place in language learning. Teach this poem!

Rhythm and intonation are crucial elements in every language. Our steady human heartbeat connects us, yet we express our human connection differently in our unique and varied human languages. Somehow the powerful rhythm of rap music comes across through many language barriers. I have met and taught students from more than thirty countries. They all know about rap and hear rap in their home languages, whether they listen and like it or not.

Rap goes right to our heartbeat, our humanity. My short poem, Rap It, connects across age and cultural barriers. I have shared and loved hearing this poem as lively spoken word recitation with aging Mandarin and Korean speakers, hip young Brazilians, Latinos and Latinas, disparaging formal Russians, shy, quiet women, and even across the Internet in a school for women entrepreneurs in Moshi, Tanzania. The poem brings smiles and joy to pronunciation practice with linking sounds, while introducing the emphatic phrase, There ain’t no doubt about it!”

Feeling confident and included in a new language means knowing formal and informal language, not just standard grammar rules and vocabulary. Of course, we all belong to different groups, and we choose our slang, our idiolects, our ways of speaking. So do all language learners. We will hear language we do not use and still we want to understand so we participate in conversations and decisions as much as possible. Also, as caring professionals, we teach students not to disparage language forms or endorse stereotypes. Classism is not unique to English and a vital dialog to explore in our classrooms. The yearning for self-expression and dignity for our own home language in its unique character is universal.

I don’t crave a life endlessly immersed within the pop culture world, yet popular language lives all around us. I cannot imagine news, music, movies, or novels without hearing something like “This ain’t over!” When we hear of wrongdoing, we often hear or say, “Oh no, that’s ain’t right.” I have plenty of friends and family of different ages and backgrounds who pepper their stories with ain’t all the time, and refrain from doing so when it’s time to code switch. Having language choice gives us language power, autonomy and belonging.

Let’s teach our students what they will hear and watch them smile in gratitude. They begin asking more questions about the living language they have heard at work, with others, in songs and all around them. They feel more included and confident. And that ain’t so bad!

Teach and share this poem! Then when you ask, "Will you be okay at your job interview, on your math test, at your citizenship meeting, etc" and you hear, "There ain't no doubt about it!", you will feel the power of connection with a warm smile in your heart.