The code for success? Using a Bernsteinian perspective on sociolinguistics to accentuate working-class students’ underachievement in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

Educational disadvantage has been a long-standing issue in Ireland, and since the 2006/07 academic year, schools recognised as serving disadvantaged areas receive DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) status and subsequent additional funding, resources, and staffing allocations. Studies on DEIS schools usually report the traditional challenges associated with the lower classes when identifying problems schools face: unemployment in the community, a lack of parental interest, involvement and support, absenteeism, behavioural and emotional difficulties, dysfunction among students’ families, etc. while the theme of sociolinguistics and the linguistic repertoire of working class students receives little to no attention. Drawing on Basil Bernstein’s theory of code, this paper outlines the discontinuities that exist between the language of working-class children and the language of the school as a formal institution, which is a salient issue in the context of the Irish education system as it is particularly focused around strong linguistic skills at the expense of other forms of intelligence. This paper therefore highlights the role sociolinguistics play in hindering the academic attainment of working-class students in Irish schools, and explains why this theme has not traditionally surfaced as a detrimental factor in Irish education.