Varieties of English

1. Varieties of English Language and social class

2. Basil Bernstein • British sociologist and linguist • b.1924, d. 2000 • Worked as a teacher and social worker before becoming an academic at U London Institute of Education • Most famous for his theory on “codes” in speech and language, in particular “restricted” vs “elaborated” code, and how these relate to social class

3. Background • Experience of teaching working-class children • Differences in performance between working-class and middle-class children in language-based subjects, when performance in maths (etc) was comparable • Access to and use of different styles of language both limits and defines • Language used in everyday conversation both reflects and shapes the assumptions of a certain social group • Relationships established within the social group affect the way that group uses language, and the type of speech that is used • Bernstein wanted to point this out and have it compensated for, but was misunderstood

4. Codes • Distinguished varieties of language use, called codes • Restricted code (RC) • speakers draw on background knowledge and shared understanding • creates a sense of includedness, a feeling of belonging to a certain group. • can be found among friends and families and other intimately knit groups. • Elaborated code (EC) • spells everything out, so that everyone can understand it because the circumstances do not allow the speaker to condense • used in situations where there is no prior or shared understanding and knowledge, where more thorough explanation is required • We are concerned here with speech rather than written language

5. Elaborated and restricted code - misconceptions • “Elaborated code” does NOT mean better, more eloquent language • “Restricted code” does NOT mean restricted vocabulary, simplified grammar • The difference is about explicitness and shared background knowledge • Use of terms “elaborated” and “restricted” somewhat unfortunate, and lead to misunderstandings and even vilification of Bernstein

6. Example • a group of children were shown a strip cartoon and asked to say what it depicted. • (based on Bernstein, 1971 p 203) They're playing football and he kicks it and it goes through there.It breaks the window and they're looking at it and he comes out and shouts at them because they've broken it.So they run away and then she looks out and she tells them off. Three boys are playing football and one boy kicks the balland it goes through the window.The ball breaks the window and the boys are looking at it and a man comes out and shouts at them because they've broken the window.So they run away and then a lady looks out of her window and she tells the boys off.

7. Differences in code • Syntax • more varied in EC; also more formal • more subordinate clauses in EC; fewer unfinished sentences • EC uses more logical connectives like if and unless; RC uses more simple coordinations eg and, but • RC has short phrases interjected into the middle or end of a thought to confirm understanding (eg you know, I mean, right?); EC has less (or highly disguised) padding or filler (eg elaboration and explanation) • More originality in EC; more clichés in RC • Reference more explicit in EC, more implicit in RC – use of pronouns and deixis • Meaning is “universalistic” in EC, “particularistic” in RC • Lexis more restricted in RC • It’s about use of rather than access to different codes

8. Consequences • Restricted code • appropriate for expressing shared, established and static meanings, • draws on a store of shared meanings and background knowledge • carries a social message of inclusion • Some people assume BB was saying middle-classes use EC, working-classes use RC • Actually he never said this • Middle-class children also use RC when appropriate • But they have greater access to EC through socilaization • Problem is of reduced access to EC among working-class children

9. Elaborated code • Necessary if you want to break out to say something new, particularly something which questions the received wisdom • Fundamental in schooling, where the introduction of new knowledge goes beyond existing shared meanings • So: if you can't handle elaborated code, you are not going to succeed in the educational system

10. Socialization • Reciprocal nature of language and culture • Whorfian view that language determines (or at least conditions) the speaker’s view of the world • This is the case with social structure • A particular social structure leads to a particular linguistic behaviour • In turn, this behaviour reinforces the social structure

11. Social-class constraints • 5-yr-olds telling a story based on pictures • WC children used fewer expressions of uncertainty • MC children less good at role playing • “What is the man saying?”  • “What do you think the man might be saying?”  • When invited to make up stories • WC children’s stories freer, longer, more imaginative • MC children’s stories more constrained within strong narrative frame • form vs content

12. use more abstract ideas point out consequences of actions rather than just forbid or tell off answer wh-questions with genuine explanation, involving causes, analogies etc. better at explaining verbally how to do something Encourage verbal interaction Use language to induce desired behavioural changes use more direct commands cite authority figures (themselves or outsiders) to get their own way answer wh-questions with “Because it is” more likely to “explain” by demonstration More likely to avoid answering difficult questions punishments less likely to be explained, and more frequent than rewards Other studies Several studies of how mothers talk to children: MC mothers WC mothers

13. Comments and criticism • Many criticisms, perhaps through misunderstanding: • That this is a “deficit” theory • Whorfian angle • Elitist

14. Deficit theory • RC is inferior, and by extension WC people have lesser language ability • BB stresses that difference is in language use, not language competence • But he often speaks of codes as having distinct "linguistic rule systems," and attributes to these codes radically different expressive capacities

15. Whorfian interpretation • Whorf: language and culture reciprocally condition and determine each other • If so then the culture of RC speakers reflects the language: • Logically simpler • Lacking in sophisticated structures • Unable to abstract and generalize • Less creative and original

16. Elitism • Lack of access to EC is a problem for WC children which must be addressed or corrected • The notion that the poor require a remedy in order to be more like their oppressors reinforces the myth that there really is something special about the educated classes, that the language spoken by its members is “superior” in some interesting way • The academically successful are not merely perceived as smarter or more capable…. Rather, it implies that they really are smarter, ready to engage in a discourse capable of expressing “universal meaning”, eschewing the fragmentation and “logical simplicity” of the underclass

17. Final word • Bernstein has probably been misunderstood and his ideas misappropriated • His background and interests (Marxist, working class, worked as a social worker and teacher in WC areas) would suggest just the opposite of what he is accused of • His style is sometimes a bit woolly, and there are inconsistencies • He had (and took advantage of) many opportunities to explain what he meant • His later work was on language and education

18. Sources and references • B Bernstein (1966) Elaborated and Restricted Codes: An Outline. Sociological Inquiry36: 254-261 • B Bernstein (1970) Social class, language and socialization. In PP Giglioli (ed) Language and social context, Harmondsworth (1972): Penguin, 157-178 • R Wardhaugh (1986) An introduction to sociolinguistics, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pages 316-323 • R Young (2002) Basil Bernstein’s Sociolinguistic Theory of Language Codes. http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~johnca/spch100/3-3-bernstein.htm • http://www.doceo.co.uk/background/language_codes.htm • http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/bernstein.html • http://brj.asu.edu/articles/ar6.html