Phonological abilities of Brazilian street poets

This study deals with repentistas: oral poets in the northeast of Brazil, most of whom have had limited schooling. Twenty-four repentistas, 27 non-repentistas from a similar background, and 38 university students were given a rhyme production task. The repentistas produced about three times as many rhymes as the SES-matched non-repentistas and over one-and-a-half times as many as the students. They did not, however, differ significantly from the nonrepentistas or students in regard to auditory memory or phonological segmentation; they were similar to non-repentistas and considerably worse than students on tests of IQ and reading speed. Thus, the rhyming ability of the repentistas appears to be both highly developed and dissociated from certain other language skills. © 1993, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.