Fighting words? Joning as conflict talk and identity performance among African American preadolescents

Bibliographic Data

ID3607229
AuthorsJennifer B Delfino (0000-0002-1158-0093, Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY) New York U.S.A., corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume20
Issue5
Pages631-653
Publication date2016-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Sociolinguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1360-6441 • E-ISSN: 1467-9841
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/josl.12214
OpenAlexW2556069290
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited32

This study examines how preadolescent African American students in Washington, D.C., used a linguistic practice called 'joning,' a style of verbal play similar to ritual insults, in peer interactions. Sociolinguists have focused on how children socialize each other into vernacular styles appropriate for peer group use but often assume that they disalign with social and linguistic norms for classroom behavior. Drawing from a nine-month ethnographic study that the author conducted in an after-school program, this article analyzes the structure and function of joning as a vernacular style of African American Vernacular English and its uses in constructing classroom identities. Joning often facilitated student learning, but it was perceived as a socially and physically risky linguistic practice because of its uses as conflict talk in the local community. Focusing on preadolescence as a key stage of language socialization, this article shows how minority students modify peer-learned linguistic practices to pursue academic success on their own terms

Developmental psychology · Ethnography · Identity (music · Linguistics · Preadolescence · Socialization · Sociology · Style (visual arts · Vernacular · Anthropology · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Gender Studies · History · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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