A British sociologist has proposed an advanced theory that many workingclass
children are unsuccessful at school because of the nature of their language.
They use what he terms a “restricted” code of speech, whereas most teachers use an
“elaborated” code, which is familiar to middle-class children.
Working-class language is a language of personal experience and direct
command, rather than of rationalization and distinction between subtleties. In
school, however, the latter abilities are demanded of children. Middle-class
children, who have been brought up in such a way as to enable them to respond to
argument and reasoning, are able to cope with the classroom situation much better
than their working-class contemporaries, who are frequently at a loss to understand
the implication of what their teacher is saying.
So it seems that working-class children fail to take full advantage of the
educational system, not because they are less bright than middle-class children, but
because the language of the classroom is alien to them.