Study on Social Class and Language

徐琪

摘 要：Language is the most important tool for human communication.With the development in society，history and culture，variations in language come into being while the choice of linguistic items by speakers to communicate the same message may vary，resulting from their different social situations or class.Then the study on the interrelation between social class and language is needed.By studying the cases of Labov and Bernstein as well as characters lines in some modern series，this paper tries to analyze the internal relations between language and social class.

關键词：introduction；language；class

1Introduction

The changes in language are closely related to social development，especially social class which can identify the language users.To further explain this point，we need to explore some relevant points on language itself and its changes.

2The Definition of Language

Language can be defined in different aspects. According to the The Course Book of Linguistics by Hu Zhuanglin，language is a means of verbal communication.It is instrumental in that communicating by speaking or writing is a purposeful act.In terms of sociolinguistics，Hu points out that language is a social semiotic and communication can only take place effectively if all the users share a broad understanding of human interaction including such associated factors as nonverbal cues，motivation，and socio-cultural roles.（Hu Zhuanglin：2001）

2.1Language Variation

In the real life，language is always applied in various ways and takes on a variety of forms.Then language variation comes into being as the changes in some social factors，including social class，gender and age，etc，and changes in other linguistic factors such as context.Some possible levels that may present language variation are phonology，vocabulary，grammar and register.

2.2Determinants of Language Variants

As an important part in sociolinguistics，language variation refers to the differences which occur in applying language. Usually，one language variable has at least two variants. For example， for the word “come”，there are two variants including/kΛm/and /kum /.

Language variants can be determined by various factors. First， it is gender that may make a difference in language. For example，women tend to talk tenderly and use euphemism more frequently while men talk in a lower pitch and in a more direct way. Second，geography can affect the use of language.For instance，there exist kinds of English including American English，British English and Australian English and so on. They are quite different in pronunciation or even vocabulary.Third，social class is a key factor to determine ones manners of talking which means people from different classes have different tendency of using language，no matter written or spoken.

3Social Class

Class is an objective term used by sociologists，political scientists，economists，anthropologists and social historians.Social classes refer to economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society.Members in the same social class are similar in attitude towards life，social behaviors or manners and values.Thus there exist differences among people from different social class.Besides，social class can be discussed in terms of “social stratification”.

3.1Index of Social Class

There are clues for people to identify others social class，including how they look，how they dress，what they like to do，their living condition and their manners of talking and so on.

3.2The Determinants of Social Class

Sociologists set up different standards to determine social class while generally speaking，there are some common features appear in many accounts，which can be discussed in three aspects.

As for economical factors，occupation，income and wealth are taken into consideration to judge ones class.And for social intercourse，individual reputation and social connection or relations are important indicates of class. And thirdly，for political factors，power and class consciousness can be used to identify social class.

Besides，education，race and family can also influence class standing.

4William Labovs Department Store Theory

The earliest research on phonetic differences was finished by famous sociologist William Labov.He did a research on the way that shop assistants in New York pronounced certain words.The department stores he chose are in three levels，namely，high，middle and low.Its concluded that people from different social class pronounce differently in post-vocalic sounds.

4.1The Process of Labovs Research

The research was conducted as followed（Ronald Wardhaugh：2000）：

First，Labov chose Saks Fifth Avenue，Macys and S.Klein as his research places because these three shopping departments can represent upper class，middle class and lower class respectively.And such judgment is reached according to their location，the number of pages of advertising in mainstay media and the price of comparable items.

Then，a dialogue was applied between the custom and the shopping clerk：

The interviewer asked：Excuse me，where are the（womens shoes）？

The salesperson answered：Fourth floor.

The interviewer then leaned forward and said：Excuse me？

The salesperson answered：Fourth floor.

In this dialogue，Labov found that for people of different social classes，there are indeed some differences in way of pronouncing post-vocalic sounds like/r/in “fourth” and “floor”.For example，about 38% of shopping clerk in department of upper class dont pronounce[r]，about 49% in middle class department while 83% in lower class department. Then，William Labov hypothesized：Salespeople in the highest ranked stores will have the most（r），those in the middle ranked store will have an intermediate value，and those in the lowest ranked store will have the least. He called such changes as “variables” and it can be concluded that social class has a great influence in language and on the contrary， the way that people talk can indicated his social class.

4.2Reflections on Labovs Research

According to the conclusion drawn by Labov，the fact that social class has a deep influence on the changes in language is apparent.Due to the different social stratification，people may choose various linguistic items or have different pronunciations which，on the contrary，could reflect their identity.

5Bernsteins theory of codes

As we can see in the previous introduction of social class and language，we know that people use different types of language according to the social class they are in.As a matter of fact，those different types of speaking will have differences in meanings which are the result of the language they use.Those meanings lead them to a particular way of thinking which allows privileged access to material resources in society，while people who dont have such way of thinking wont have the access to the material resources as a result.This is very close to Bernsteins theory of elaborated code and restricted code.

5.1Code

Let me first give a definition of code which can be used to refers to any kind of system that two or more people employ for communication. A particular language，dialect，style，register or variety can all be seen as a code.（Ronald Wardhaugh，1998）

5.2Elaborated code and Restricted code

Bernstein is a British sociologist who is engaged in his life with educational matters.He found during his work that working-class children have a relatively poor performance on language-based subjects，when they were achieving as well as their middle-class counterparts on mathematics topics.In order to account for the reason，he carried out an experiment.He asked two five-year-old children，one from a working-class family，and the other from a middle-class family，to describe a series of three pictures which involved boys playing football and breaking a window.As Bernstein has presumed，the two children described the events in the picture in different ways，linguistically.

Three boys are playing football and one boy kicks the ball and it goes through the window and the bail breaks the window and the boys are looking at it and a man comes out and shouts at them because theyve broken the window so they run away and then that lady looks out of her window and she tells the boys off.

Theyre playing football and he kicks it and it goes through there it breaks the window and theyre looking at it and he comes out and shouts at them because theyve broken it so they run away and then she looks out and she tells them off.

（Bernstein，1971：194）

We can easily find out that the first description is made by the middle-class child，while the latter one is made by the working-class child.As Bernstein described，the first one is elaborated code，and the latter one is restricted code.

Therere several different characteristics between elaborated code and restricted code.The syntax in the elaborated code is more formally correct，for example，there are more subordinate clauses and fewer unfinished sentences.But syntax in the restricted code is looser.There are more logical connectives like “if” and “unless” in the elaborated code，whereas the restricted code uses more words of simple coordination like “and” and “but”.The elaborated code uses a wide range of adjectives and adverbs，while the adjectives and adverbs that restricted code uses are very limited. Also，the elaborated code is more often used to convey facts and abstract ideas，the restricted code attitude and feeling.

As Bernstein explains it，restricted code appears in particular situations like communicating with family members or friends as it often sends a social message of inclusion and “one of us”.It is often used to express taken-for-granted knowledge or shared understanding.And it is condensed and economical in form. On the contrary，elaborated code is often used to express things that are complete and detailed，which often stand on its own，and used for convey new knowledge.Bernstein believes that while the middle-class children usually have accesses to both elaborated and restricted code，the working-class children are able to use restricted code only.

Bernstein also points out socialization is the reason that causes the difference.The middle class mother take greater care to make the whole of the inter-person area verbally explicit for her child，much more than the working class mother.The working-class mothers more often teach their children skills like dressing，using a knife and helping them to make things.

5.3 Criticism on Bernsteins code theory

Actually，Bernsteins theory of elaborated code and restricted code receives a lot of critics for he claimed that the restricted code has a deficiency in expressing oneself.Among all these critics，Rosen has criticized it on the ground that he has not looked closely enough at working-class life and language.（Ronald Wardhaugh，1998） And Labov even gave an example of a black girl who uses restricted code to refute Bernstein's point.

However，even there may have some flaws in Bernsteins theory of codes， it definitely gives us a strong support that there exists some differences in the language between middle-class and working-class people which cannot be neglected.

6Conclusion

According to the researches and analysis above，it can be concluded that language can be varied for the changes in social members and such changes can be reflected in social class.In the cases of Labov and Bernstein，language variations are produced in aspects of phonology，lexicology and grammar，etc.Therefore，social class can be identified from speakers choices on linguistic items or pronunciation or grammatical structure.

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