Language and social class: is verbal deprivation a myth?

Abstract

A study was made of complex usages of language in the spontaneous conversation of 30 4-year-old girls, their mothers and their teachers, at home and at school. There were significant social class differences in frequency, but almost all the usages appeared in the talk of almost all the mothers and children at least once. The working class girls' language style changed more between home and school than did that of the middle class girls. The teachers' talk contained a higher proportion of these usages than the mothers', but the overall input to the children was less at school. The findings are discussed in relation to Labov's argument that verbal deprivation is a myth.