Social Class 2
English Language: AQA A Level, topic 3.2.3
Social Class - Basil Bernstein
Social class is often looked at in relation to language, and this is often to do with the way that people pronounce certain sounds, and so has a strong grounding in your work in accent.
Basil Bernstein
- In the 1970s, Basil Bernstein conducted research into the way classes talk.
- He asked groups of boys to describe a comic strip containing a football smashing a window.
- From this, he defines two codes – restricted and elaborated.
Restricted vs elaborated code
- Restricted code is inherently deictic. It has a relaxed syntax (word order) and uses many simple coordinating conjunctions.
- Elaborated code is practically the opposite. It uses a standard syntax, more subordinate clauses and subordinating conjunctions.
Code example
- The psycho messaged him for the first time since that argument and he was fuming.
- Edward, a guy who behaved like a psychopath towards Tim, messaged Tim for the first time since they had an argument in March. Needless to say that Tim was furious.
- It’s clear to see that without knowing Edward and Tim, sentence 1 does not make sense. So sentence 1 is written in restricted code and sentence 2 is written in elaborated code.
Bernstein's analysis of code use
- Bernstein claims that whilst middle-class children can use both codes, it is rare to see a lower-class child using anything other than restricted code.
- Saying this, both classes did understand both codes when spoken to them.
- There are obviously times when it is advantageous to be able to use both codes.
- For example, social situations and bonding situations are helped through restricted code, but formal events are helped by elaborated code.
Support - William Labov
- William Labov conducted research in 1969. His research featured black boys speaking in what would be classed as restricted code, but with a logical argument.
- This suggests that there is an issue with linguistically articulating ideas rather than there being a cognitive deficit.
Social Class - William Labov
Social class is often looked at in relation to language, and this is often to do with the way that people pronounce certain sounds, and so has a strong grounding in your work in accent.
Research aim
- William Labov investigated the use of the post-vocalic rhotic-r (the ‘r’ sound that appears after vowels) in words like ‘banter’ and ‘mark’.
Research method
- To investigate this, he visited three stores in New York of different price and fashion status:
- A high status (Saks), a middle status (Macy’s) and a low status (Klein’s).
- In a UK equivalent, you may expect, Gucci, Next and Primark.
- Labov asked a question about the location of a department which would evoke the answer ‘fourth floor’. He would then tell the assistant that he had not heard them and ask them to repeat.
- At this point, the speech stops becoming spontaneous and starts becoming more conscious.
Research findings
- His research details that:
- The lower middle class were most aware of the overt prestige (biggest change from casual to spontaneous speech). This is indicative of their need to social climb.
- The lower classes tested were more aware of the prestige form and so more likely to change the way they spoke when consciously speaking.
- The upper middle class changed the least, indicative of their already higher social status.
Test yourself on Social Class 2
What type of code is the following sentence written in?
"The psycho messaged him for the first time since that argument and he was fuming."Which class were most aware of the overt prestige in Labov's study?