External Factors affecting achievement

External Factors

Cultural deprivation

·         Language
It is claimed working class families use deficient language, they use hand gestures and single words or disjointed phrases.
Intellectual development - Development of thinking and reasoning skills such as the ability to solve problems and use ideas and concepts.

o   Douglas found that working class pupils scored lower on tests than middle class children at the age of 11 but not by the age of 5.

o   Bernstein and Young – middle class mothers more likely to buy toys that encourage intellectual development.

o   It is argued that working class families lack books and educational facilities to stimulate the intellectual skills required for school.

The elaborated speech code

o   Typically used by middle class.

o   Wider vocabulary and based on longer and more grammatically complex sentences.

o   Speech is more varied and communicates abstract ideas.

o   Context free; the speaker doesn’t assume that that listener shares the same experiences so they use their language to spell out the meanings.

The restricted speech code

o   Typically used by working class.

o   Limited vocabulary and based on the usage of short often unfinished and grammatically simple…