Talk:Basil Bernstein
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Was Bernstein really a linguist? I don't think so. A lot of the criticisms of his elaborated and restricted code theory is based on its sociolinguistic and linguistic naivete. mnewmanqc 14:25, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Many of the references cited are completely absent in this article. --151.202.67.188 (talk) 14:33, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
This article is incredibly one-sided, passing off quite valid criticisms of Bernstein's classism as "misunderstandings" on the part of the critics without ever engaging with those criticism. Despite unbacked assertions to the contrary, Bernstein was making a class-based cognitive deficit argument. For all Bernstein's hedging, the restricted code ultimately did restrict working class children in their ability to acquire literacy skills, and thus limit their upward mobility, explaining, via the restrictions of the restricted code, why they were lower class. Possession of an elaborated code also explained why middle and upper class children tended to be better readers according to the studies, which in turn explained their class position. Other variables, such as school funding and access to resources are never considered, in a sort of blame-the-victim approach to inequality not unfamiliar to those who have read the Moynihan Report, which ran into similar criticisms in the US. --Rcrath (talk) 15:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
