The Class of Language: Examining Rhetoric, Children’s Social Education, and Pedagogy in Economically Distinct Classrooms

Abstract

My paper examines the uses of language in a Rochester city public elementary school compared to the uses of language in a suburban, accelerated after school program. The goal of this research was to address how language is employed in these two classrooms and if rhetorical variations between the two are indicative of their community’s economic, social, and racial differences. From my experience working at each facility, I was able to observe how specific language operates and in what context over the course of three weeks. I consulted visual, auditory, and carefully written recordings of structured classes and of free time at each facility. As a result, I have located salient differences in the way two institutions of disparate levels of income negotiate language and how that “class-coded” language affects the students. Namely, these differences delineate the following: what are considered appropriate and forbidden words around children, disciplinary tactics believed to be most effective, strategies in executing effective lesson plans, and types of social bonding within the classroom. Depending on how teachers use language in the classroom, children receive starkly different structural education as well as social education. Thus, examining different classrooms’ language choices and their effects on students allows us to adapt our language and elevate children’s education in any classroom , regardless of economic status .