Speech code theory refers to a framework for communication in a given speech community. As an academic discipline, it explores the manner in which groups communicate based on societal, cultural, gender, occupational or other factors.

A speech code can also be defined as "a historically enacted socially constructed system of terms, meanings, premises, and rules, pertaining to communicative conduct." (Griffin, 2008).--T.Bowser (talk) 04:49, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

A basic definition of speech code by sociologist Basil Bernstein is, "...a coding principle is a rule governing what to say and how to say it in a particular context" (Miller, 2005).

According to communication professor and author Katherine Miller (2005), speech code theory has a background in anthropology, linguistics and communication.

History and important works

Work by Gerry Philipsen has been influential in the development of speech codes theory. Work in the 1960’s influences the theory as it stands today in the field of communication.

Works by Basil Bernstein heavily influenced Philipsen. Bernstein used the term speech codes in sociology and further elaborated on speech codes and their contexts. He also contributed his concise definition, "a coding principle is a rule governing what to say and how to say it in a particular context" (Miller, 2005). Lisa Coutu, an ethnographer, helped to formulate the second proposition of Speech Codes Theory. This proposition states that within any given speech community, there are multiple speech codes. Her evidence comes from a large body of research surrounding Robert McNamara

Robert McNamara

Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...

's book, "In Retrospect."

Another important influence is the work of anthropologist and linguist Del Hymes (Miller,2005). His focus was on local speech practices in various cultural and social situations.

The SPEAKING model

Hymes constructed the SPEAKING model to aid in the search for speech codes in specific speech communities and the letters stand for the following (as reported by Miller):

Situation (setting or scene)
Participants (analysis of personalities and social positions or relationships)
Ends (goals and outcomes)
Acts (message form, content, etc.)
Key (tone or mode)
Instrumentalities (channels or modalities used)
Norms (framework for producing and processing messages)
Genre (interaction type)

Teamsterville and Nacirema

An often cited study, the “Teamsterville” study, was conducted by Philipsen in Chicago. The study took place in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. According to Miller, the “Teamsterville” nickname was given to the area of Chicago studied because truck driving was a primary job in that area for men. He studied the speech codes of the men and was able to pinpoint the style of interaction and highlighted important aspects such as styles of child discipline and talk among coworkers. As a follow up, another study, the “Nacirema

Nacirema

Various anthropologists and sociologists have used the term Nacirema to examine aspects of the behavior and society of American people—citizens of the United States of America...

” (American spelled backwards) study was conducted that contrasted the speech of Teamsterville with that of the average American (Miller, 2005).

Using these two studies, Philipsen outlined statements that summarize the work within speech code theory. The statements are reported by Em Griffin as follows:

• The distinctiveness of speech codes (In any given culture, there is a speech code.)
• The multiplicity of speech codes (Multiple speech codes exist in any given speech community.)
• The substance of speech codes (A speech code has a distinctive psychology, sociology and rhetoric.)
• The meaning of speech codes (The speech community assesses the meanings of speech.)
• The site of speech codes (The terms, premises, and rules of a speech code are inextricably woven into the speech itself).
• The discursive force of speech codes (Speech Codes impact life.) (Griffin, 2008).

Examples of places and situations with speech codes

• Within cultures Example: A speech code could be bilingual
• In workplaces (note that workplaces often also have official speech code
  Speech code
  A speech code is any rule or regulation that limits, restricts, or bans speech beyond the strict legal limitations upon freedom of speech or press found in the legal definitions of harassment, slander, libel, and fighting words. Such codes are common in the workplace, in universities, and in...
  
  s in the legal sense)
• Within social groups such as special-interest clubs and organizations.
• Bilingual speech codes

England's National Curriculum “hardly acknowledges the learning practices of different minority groups” ( Gregory and Williams, 2003 , p. 103). "Through observation and interview, this study examines the repertoire of languages that six children for whom English is an additional language (EAL) choose to use at home and in their primary school settings in the West of England. The study bears out and extends previous research, which indicates that children from various ethnic backgrounds are involved in a struggle where they construct and reconstruct their identities according to the social situations they find themselves in. In addition to code switching between languages, the study reports on children using ‘bilingual parallel speech’, a topic that has not been thoroughly researched . This research shows that there may be a tension between schools' efforts to build upon the children's use of the home language and the children's reluctance to use it in a school setting, where the dominant institutional language is English, and where they would prefer to appear ‘like everyone else’. Social capital would appear to be an important factor affecting children's use of language and this may make them reluctant to maintain and develop their home language. Schools may need to consider strategies that value bilingual children's commonality with the school culture." (Gregory and Williams, 2003)http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=12&hid=24&sid=ec3357e0-a229-4092-92c9-74b4504a6a9e%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=8946602--T.Bowser (talk) 04:47, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

Citations

• Griffin, E. (2008). "Speech Codes Theory." Introduction to Communication II. New York: McGraw-Hill Primis.
• Downs, Donald (1993). Codes say darnedest things. Quill; Vol. 81 Issue 8, p19, October.
• Miller, Katherine. (2005). Communication Theories. New York: McGraw Hill
• Gregory and Williams (2003). Literacy; Nov2006, Vol. 40 Issue 3, p137-145, 9p, 5 Diagrams, 2 Charts--T.Bowser (talk) 04:55, 29 November 2011 (UTC)