The Educational Power of Working-Class Family Language—A Narrative Analysis of Rural College Students

Abstract

Basil Bernstein argues that speech events bear class characteristics, and different social classes exhibit different linguistic typologies, coding and meaning. Although working-class language is characterized as a closed code in terms of its language structure, it possesses unique educational power, specifically manifesting as its unique meanings with respect to an educational commitment to support children’s studies and an emphasis on the importance of studying hard, which exercise an effect by means of the indexicality and reflexivity of speech events, abbreviation, and other forms. However, the speech events of working-class parents also unavoidably exert a certain negative influence, in that children’s inner worlds and emotions are easily neglected. The speech events of working-class parents should be fundamentally understood as a reflective practice consisting of a specific view of reality jointly constructed by working-class parents and children through interaction with one another; at the same time, it is also necessary to recognize the indelible class imprint of the speech events of working-class parents.

Keywords:

• abbreviation
• indexicality
• reflexivity
• social class
• speech events

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Xiong Heni

Wang Xiaofang is an assistant professor, special associate research fellow, and Master’s student advisor at the Normal College, Shenzhen University.

Wang Xiaofang

Xiong Heni is a lecturer at the College of Educational Science, Quanzhou Normal University.