Communication: Styles & Bernstein

Question 1

Communication definition

Answer 1

Involves the transmission of a message from one person to another

Question 2

Communication is social in 3 ways (Vaughan & Hogg (1998))… Elaborate

Answer 2

• Involves inter-relationships among people
• Requires that people acquire a shared understanding of what particular sounds, words, signs and gestures mean
• Is the means whereby people influence others and are in turn influenced by them.

Question 3

What does communication require?

Answer 3

A speaker/sender of a message
A hearer/listener of the message
The message

Question 4

What is communicated depends not only on the content of the message but also…

Answer 4

how the content is conveyed

Question 5

The use of different media (visual, spoken, written) can affect…

Answer 5

the way our messages are recieved.

Question 6

What are communication styles?

Answer 6

The cultural and social aspect of language; it involves accents, vocabulary, grammar and ideas being expressed.

Question 7

The style that we learn to speak in depends on the…

Answer 7

culture we are raised in, our socioeconomic background and our gender.

Question 8

What are the 3 basic communication styles?

Answer 8

Passive
Assertive
Aggressive

Question 9

Assertive style:

Answer 9

Express your beliefs, feeling, opinions & thoughts in an open respectful manner, not violating the rights of others.

Question 10

Actions of assertive communicators

Answer 10

Uses actions & words to express their boundaries in a calm, confident manner

Question 11

Aggressive style:

Answer 11

No respect for others.
Disregard for anyone else’s needs, feelings, opinions & ideas & sometimes compromises safety of others.

Question 12

How are aggressive communicators identified?

Answer 12

Through their demanding, manipulative, angry & self-promoting behaviour.
Body language: fist clenching, crossed arms, scowls or staring at someone

Question 13

Passive style:

Answer 13

Often silent (often lack respect for themselves), while not giving any importance to their own needs, feelings, opinions & wants.
Puts their own needs after everyone else’s, allowing others to decide how things will turn out.

Question 14

Body language of passive style:

Answer 14

Covering the mouth, looking down, avoiding eye contact & crossed arms

Question 15

Basil Bernstein (1949-2000) was interested in…

Answer 15

the relationship between language style and social class

Question 16

Berstein (1949-2000) claimed that…

Answer 16

people from working and middle classes (UK) used different kinds of language codes

Question 17

What are language codes?

Answer 17

Types of language used, reflecting particular social groups.

Question 18

Berstein considered that working-class people used a … code, why?

Answer 18

Restricted code.
Working-class people’s conversation relied on preserving traditional roles and ways of interacting.

Question 19

Berstein considered that middle-class people used a … code, why?

Answer 19

A restricted code & elaborated code (in their interactions).
Middle-class people wanted to develop ideas in relation to their personal experiences.

Question 20

Bernstein introduced the construct of…, why?

Answer 20

elaborated & restrictive language codes
As a way for accounting for the relatively poor performance of wc school pupils on language-based subjects, when they were achieving as well as their middle-class counterparts on mathematical topics.

Question 21

Berstein’s research study involved…

Answer 21

showing a group of children a cartoon strip and recording their account of what it depicted.

Question 22

How is restricted code identified?

Answer 22

Short + simple sentences used w/much information conveyed non-verbally
Much of meaning only makes sense if the context is known
Few descriptive words used
Commands are frequently used to gain compliance
The ‘here and now’ is stressed
Abstract ideas are rarely expressed

Question 23

How is elaborated code identified?

Answer 23

Complex, precise sentences used
meaning is clear from the sentence alone
More use is made of descriptive words
Explanations are usually used to gain compliance
Reference is made to events in the past or future
Abstract ideas, future possibilities & so on are expressed easily & often

Question 24

What situation works better for restricted code?

Answer 24

Where there is a great deal of shared and assumed knowledge in the group of speakers

Question 25

Restricted code doesn’t refer to…

Answer 25

restricted vocabulary

Question 26

elaborated code doesn’t entail…

Answer 26

colour use of language

Question 27

Berstein argued that

Answer 27

wc students had access to their restricted code(s) but mc students had access to BOTH restricted & elaborated codes
mc students were more geographically, socially and culturally mobile.

Question 28

Bernstein considered that WC children had a…

Answer 28

language deficit because they could only use restricted code. Therefore it limited their ability from education.

Question 29

Berstein’s theory had a major influence on…

Answer 29

education programs for young children in the US in 1960s and 1970s w/ various projects

Question 30

Berstein suggested that…

Answer 30

restricted codes cannot deal effectively w/new knowledge and ideas.