Verbal Deficit

<p>Originally published in 1981. Verbal deficit theories try to account for differential educational attainments in linguistic terms suggesting that children reach varying levels of success in school as a result of their ability or inability to express themselves and relate this to social class. This critique considers such theories especially in the form propounded by Bernstein primarily from a sociolinguistic viewpoint but with special attention to the historical and educational context behind the theories. It claims that verbal deficit theories are not only unscientific and non-linguistic but are educationally damaging as well and proposes instead a linguistic ‘difference’ theory.</p>