A British sociologist has advanced the theory that many working-class children are unsuccessful at school because of the nature of their language. They use what he terms a "restricted" code of speech, whereas most teachers use an "elaborated" code, which is familiar to middle-class children. Working-class language is a language of personal experience and direct command, rather than of rationalization and distinction between subtleties, In school, however, the latter abilities are demanded for children. Middle-class children, who have been brought tip in such a way as to enable them to respond to argument and reasoning, are able to cope with the classroom situation much better than their working-class contemporaries, who are frequently at a loss to understand the implication of what their teacher is saying. So it seems that working-class children fail to take full advantage of the educational system, not because they are less bright than middle-class children, but because the language of the classroom is alien to them. It can be concluded that working-class children would be able Io cope with the classroom situation better if the language of the classroom ______ to them.