Bernstein, Basil Bernard (1924– )

British sociologist of education. He observed that the language of working-class children, who were often socially disadvantaged, was considerably more restricted than that of middle-class children. This led him to study how social origins affect the ability to communicate with others.

He proposed a theory of ‘restricted’ and ‘elaborated’ codes, or forms of language, that characterize the language of working-class and middle-class children respectively. However, this does not imply that there is a direct or causal link between status and language ability, rather that it is the social relationships in which the child interacts and their communicative demands that shape linguistic potential.

Bernstein joined London University, where in 1963 he set up a sociological research unit. He reported his research in several academic articles; many are published in Class, Codes and Control. Vol. 1: Theoretical Studies in the Sociology of Language 1971.