stylistic:tone, linguistic:paraphrasing
Language

Bourdieu takes language to be not merely a method of communication, but also a mechanism of power. The language one uses is designated by one's relational position in a field or social space. Different uses of language tend to reiterate the respective positions of each participant. Linguistic interactions are manifestations of the participants' respective positions in social space and categories of understanding, and thus tend to reproduce the objective structures of the social field. This determines who has a "right" to be listened to, to interrupt, to ask questions, and to lecture, and to what degree.

The representation of identity in forms of language can be subdivided into language, dialect, and accent. For example, the use of different dialects in an area can represent a varied social status for individuals. For example, until the French Revolution, the differences in dialect directly reflected a person's presumed social status. Peasants and the lower classes spoke local dialects, while only nobles and the upper classes were fluent in the official French language. Accents can reflect an area's inner conflict with classifications and authority within a population.

Because language characteristics are acknowledged and noticed as signifiers of power they become mechanisms of power.

Bourdieu discusses language in his earlier work on education with sociologists Jean-Claude Passeron and Monique de Saint-Martin. This book, Rapport pédagogique et communication (1965) was translated into English in 1994. In their work, the authors argue that "Academic language is a dead language for the great majority of French people, and is no one's mother tongue ". This statement is widely cited by scholars working on second language acquisition, particularly in the context of teaching English academic writing to speakers of languages other than English.