The Elaborated Code in Working Class Language

Abstract

Previous results have shown that working-class boys differed from middle-class boys in the language used in certain controlled situations. This investigation examines the possibility that the use of a relatively ‘restricted’ code by these working-class boys was a matter of preference rather than inability. Social class differences did not appear when the pressure on both groups was to use ‘elaborated’ code in a formal letter; differences did appear in informal letters and these were generally similar to those previously found.