Peter E. Jones

Bernstein's ‘codes’ and the linguistics of ‘deficit’

This paper examines the key linguistic arguments underpinning Basil Bernsteins theory of ‘elaborated’ and ‘restricted’ ‘codes’. Building on a review of selected highlights from the collective critical response to Bernstein, the paper attempts to clarify the relationship of the theory to ‘deficit’ views and to explore the conceptual roots of Bernsteins position as well as of the linguistics which informs it. The paper finds that Bernsteins theory qualifies as a ‘deficit’ position on a number of counts, most particularly due to the alleged cognitive implications of the ‘codes’. However, the paper argues that no convincing evidence or rationale for the existence of such ‘codes’ has ever been provided. The paper gives support to the argument that Bernsteins ‘code’ theory has its roots in a particular model of literacy and, as such, is best understood as a variant of the more traditional ethno- (and socio-) centric ‘great divide’ perspective. The paper further argues that the relatively recent re-working of Bernsteins position in the work of Ruqaiya Hasan does not succeed in overcoming its principal theoretical and methodological failings.

Political Analysis Versus Critical Discourse Analysis in the Treatment of Ideology: Some Implications for the Study of Communication

What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, that he continues in his efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and that he has been able to extend the range of his ballistic missile programme ... I am in no doubt that the threat is serious and current, that he has made progress on WMD and that he has to be stopped ... And the document discloses that his military planning allows for some of the WMD to be ready within 45 minutes of an order to use them.

You want a piece of me? Paying your dues and getting your due in a distributed world

The paper offers a critical reflection, inspired by the insights of integrational linguistics, on the conception of thinking and action within the distributed cognition approach of Edwin Hutchins. Counterposing a fictional account of a mutiny at sea to Hutchins’ observational study of navigation on board the Palau, the paper argues that the ethical fabric of communication and action with its ‘first person’ perspective must not be overlooked in our haste to appeal to ‘culture’ as an alternative to the internalist, computer metaphor of thinking. The paper accepts Hutchins’ own critique of the ‘meaning in the message’ illusion but goes beyond this critique to argue for a view of communication, thinking and action as creative, ethically charged and morally accountable acts of engagement.

The ‘Language Deficit’ argument and beyond

This introductory paper gives some background to the origins of the special issue: it came about as a response to the re-emergence of the discourse of linguistic deficit in educational policy-making. Here, we outline the five papers contained in the issue, all of which challenge the idea that the language of socially disadvantaged children is linguistically deprived. The papers present new theoretical and empirical approaches to the question, and they extend the debates originally articulated by Labov in the 1960s. Overall, we as editors hope that this special issue will stimulate others to take up the argument, using new approaches and including those members of disadvantaged groups who have thus far not been allowed a voice.

The living and the dead in education : commentary on Julian Williams

Jean Lave and Ray McDermott (2002) did us a service with their powerful reading of Marx’s 1844 essay on “Estranged Labour” (Marx, 1964). In reworking Marx’s critique of “alienated labour” in terms of “alienated learning,” they reminded us of Marx’s own impassioned revolt against the inhumanity of the capitalist order and found a novel way of illuminating Marx’s standpoint through an exploration of formal schooling. We also owe a debt to Julian Williams (this issue), who, responding to Lave and McDermott’s initiative, offers us a subtle and sensitive discussion of the problems and contradictions in formal education generally, and maths education in particular, in relation to capitalist society. Although Lave and McDermott emphasised the striking congruences between what passes for “work” and what passes for “education” in a society built on alienated labour, Williams attempts to throw further light on “alienated learning” by tracing the inner connections between school activity and capitalist production, seeing formal education in terms of its role in the production of labour power as a commodity. The two publications complement one another and should stimulate further discussion about the relevance of Marx’s work to the educational sphere (cf. Green, Rikowski, & Raduntz, 2007) as well as to other forms of activity (cf. Jones, 2009). Their work also connects to more general discussions of the import of Marx’s notion of alienation in such classic texts as Ollman (1976) and Mészáros (1978). At the same time, their work echoes the theme of the necessity for radical transformation of educational practice and educational institutions as part of a general programme of socioeconomic and political transformation (Freire, 1969). For the cultural-historical and activity theory traditions specifically, the deadening and unrewarding nature of formal schooling is a familiar, if not central, theme. Much scholarship, research

Experience of using a haptic interface to follow a robot without visual feedback

Search and rescue operations are often undertaken in smoke filled and noisy environments in which rescue teams must rely on haptic feedback for navigation and safe exit. In this paper, we discuss designing and evaluating a haptic interface to enable a human being to follow a robot through an environment with no-visibility. We first discuss the considerations that have led to our current interface design. The second part of the paper describes our testing procedure and the results of our first tests. Based on these results we discuss future improvements of our design.

Activity, Activity Theory, and the Marxian Legacy

How should Marxists approach the analysis, critique, and transformation of social practices and institutions (including education) within capitalist societies today? What theoretical tools do we need for this task and what should be our starting point? It is these fundamental theoretical and methodological issues that are the subject of this chapter.

BOOK REVIEW: "Discourse, Social Change, and the CHAT Tradition"

Those of us who had the good fortune to hear Chik Collins’s masterful presentation at ISCRAT 20021 will have recognized a striking new voice on the Cultural-Historical and Activity Theory (“CHAT”) scene, and I’m not just talking about his Scottish–English accent. Collins’s presentation was largely based on material in this book, which is the fruit of his doctoral research at the University of Paisley. What is new and exciting about Collins’s work is that it attempts a critical reorientation of the ideas of Vygotsky, Luria, and Leont’ev in the direction of an analysis of social change and, in particular, an analysis of the role of language in the developing consciousness of people involved in political and economic struggles. Here, Collins boldly and confidently reclaims for the CHAT tradition a territory which, in recent years, has been dominated by “discourse analysis” of one kind or another. Collins is defiantly not offering us an eclectic mix of CHAT and “postmodern” discourse theory. On the contrary, he is arguing that “in the work of analysis conducted on a materialist basis, the analyst can turn to language without embracing the ‘linguistic turn’” (p. 6) and, in his attempts to develop such analyses, he is aiming to show “the potential methodological value of a critical reflection on linguistic processes to those who adhere to a historical materialist perspective” (p. 6). From this perspective, Collins returns to the foundational discoveries and insights of the CHAT tradition and finds there, albeit in rather abstract form, the beginnings of an analysis of the relation between language and social consciousness which can be further developed through a careful appropriation of key ideas of Voloshinov and Bakhtin. Collins develops this “sociohistorical approach” in a careful, scholarly, and lucid fashion. He successfully combines penetrating discussion of theoretical issues with detailed and sustained analysis of the role of discursive processes in the development of forms of consciousness. Collins begins with a careful overview and constructive critique of the work of such influential contemporary language and discourse theorists as J. C. Scott, Michael Huspek, Norman Fairclough, and James Wertsch. Readers of this journal will find Collins’s discussion of Wertsch’s approach, which also attempts to combine Vygotskian and Bakhtinian ideas, particularly interesting. Collins finds much that is positive in the work of all these scholars, but identifies a general tendency to MIND, CULTURE, AND ACTIVITY, 11(2), 170–172 Copyright

The embodied mind: Contrasting visions

This article presents a critical examination and discussion of 2 arguments in support of the embodied mind position as developed within the philosophical literature of the Cognitive Linguistics paradigm. Employing the dialectical Materialist approach of Evald Ilyenkov (1997), closely allied to the cultural‐historical and activity theory traditions, the article argues that neither Lakoffs cases of reasoning from “typical examples” nor Thelen and Smiths (1994) example of dynamic cognition undermine a Materialist perspective on cognition as a process of knowing the objective properties of an independently existing reality.

Exploring Haptic Interfacing with a Mobile Robot without Visual Feedback

Search and rescue scenarios are often complicated by low or no visibility conditions. The lack of visual feedback hampers orientation and causes significant stress for human rescue workers. The Guardians project [1] pioneered a group of autonomous mobile robots assisting a human rescue worker operating within close range. Trials were held with fire fighters of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue. It became clear that the subjects by no means were prepared to give up their procedural routine and the feel of security they provide: they simply ignored instructions that contradicted their routines.