Language Competence, School Performance and Social Class: Introduction to the Theory of Language Codes by Basil Bernstein

Presented is an attempt to comprehend the theory of language codes by Basil Bernstein. The main aspects of this concept are analyzed, namely: the difference between the subcultures of the middle and lower (working) classes, the social differentiation of the language, and the influence of learned language codes on school performance. It is shown that the theory of B. Bernstein not only allows us to establish a link between school performance and social origin: it helps to clarify the mechanism by which the relationship between a successful educational career, on the one hand, and belonging to a social class, on the other. This tool is the language codes that are internalized in the course of socialization, along with other elements (value orientations, patterns of perception, thinking and behavior) that are characteristic of the subculture of their class (their social environment); the degree of discrepancy between the linguistic (and, in general, cultural) attitudes and communication practices learned in early childhood, and those that operate in the school space and at all levels of the education system (taking into account the privileged, legitimate, position of the latter and the stigmatization of the former), determines the measure of educational failures. The concept of B. Bernstein is considered as a heuristic tool that contributes not only to expanding the horizons of existing ways of posing educational problems, but also to opening up new perspectives in their understanding.