Number of words: 216

The working class speaks a language more useful for descriptive concepts, while the middle class goes beyond the public language, and speaks a language that facilitates verbal elaboration and the possibility of more abstract thought. Bernstein found that working-class youth did better on non-verbal intelligence tests and this difference was not found for the middle class group, which did equally well in both groups. Relation to success in school can be seen when one realises that the formal language is very much the language of academic education at the secondary level. Through this statement, does Bernstein imply that the language of the middle class student is more useful for advancement in society? Not really! Our concepts depend on word power for proper framing, on knowing the exact meaning of the word we use, and in their proper syntactical context. For learning then, spoken language plays an important part and it is no exaggeration to say that according to its valency and competence in this, will depend his ability to learn even before entering school. It is not accent that makes a difference, but the form of language used: either the restricted code of the working class or the elaborated code of the middle class.

Excerpted from page 110 of ‘Examinations: An Informative Update’ by M Mascarenhas.