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Ladies Are Seen, Not Heard: Language Socialization in a Southern, African American Cosmetology School
Author(s) -
JacobsHuey Lanita
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
anthropology and education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1548-1492
pISSN - 0161-7761
DOI - 10.1525/aeq.2003.34.3.277
Subject(s) - cosmetology , socialization , ethnography , cognitive reframing , terminology , narrative , sociology , pedagogy , psychology , gender studies , linguistics , social psychology , anthropology , social science , visual arts , art , philosophy
This article examines language socialization among African American cosmetology students. To constitute themselves as hair experts, freshman and senior students learn to distinguish between specialized and lay hair terminology, avoid loud talking, and ask clients' diagnostic questions. Students also reframe textbook metacommunicative theories using personal narrative, role‐play, and “mother wit.” Findings from this ethnographic and discourse analytic study highlight the actual processes through which students learn to speak as and hence, become “hair experts.” Data further reveal how language learning is shaped by students' cultural and communal contexts.