Running Head: THE POWER OF LANGUAGE 1

Guadalupe Vega

Los Angeles Pacific University

The Power of Language

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The Power of Language

From the beginning of time, God has been generous to humanity. He has lavished us

with gifts of all sorts and one of these most essential gifts has been the gift of language. From

the earliest centuries, where men were primates to today’s modern world, language has seen a

great deal of transformations over time. From making music like sounds to catch a mate to

making speeches that help people solve major injustices in a nation, language has gone a long

way (Yule, 2016). It is important to be aware, as a future educator, of the major implications of

the power of language as it becomes the educator’s role to ensure a student gains the skills in

language that will prepare them for this fast passed, always changing, 21st century world.

Any educator should know that their students are the future. They are the ones who will

be in charge of our world one day and the ones who will be making all the important decisions.

As such, it becomes the educator’s mission to ensure that they are preparing these students for

21st century citizenship. Before the educator is able to perform such a task, he or she must be

well trained in the area such as is language. The skills for teaching language are put into practice

as early as a child can form sounds. By the time a child is in school, they have developed what

Chomsky coined, “innate language”, aiding the educator to build on those already acquired

skills. Early on a student is familiarized with phonology (making sounds), morphology

(constructing words), and syntax (order of words) (Clarke, 2017). As a student masters these

skills at the basic level, the educator’s role is to take these skills and bring them to their highest

potential.

After all, it is in a learning environment that student’s skills are enhanced. With an

educator who is familiarized with the study people of good faith come about to make good use of

the power of language. Martin Luther King Jr was a master of language; with whom he took it
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upon himself to use his language power to help improve the lives of many underrepresented

people in the U.S. Education in language skills may not make every student a MLK but, it will

provide communication, creativity, critical thinking and collaborative skills (Ng & Deng, 2017).

These particular four C’s of language are highlighted because they each do more than improve

the English language; Sara Davila (2016) describes them as developing the following 21 st

century needs:

Perform independently and with groups in a highly technologically advanced

atmosphere.

Be ready for daily, global interaction.

Be cable of adaptive, flexible and creative thinking.

Understand how to plan for, build, and include collaboration with peers who are

colleagues and experts in the field.

In sum, the reason language is a critical skill for well-educated children of the future is all due to

the power that language has. Ng and Deng (2017) explain the two different branches of its

power. One being the power behind language and the power of language. The former, stems to

it revealing and reflecting power. The latter consist of “maintaining existing dominance”,

“unites and divides a nation”, and “creates influences through words, oratories, and

conversation.”

Be as it may, teaching language is a tedious task; I will take it upon myself to ensure that

I think outside the box when it comes to the lessons. Considering a fourth-grade class, I can

apply the suggestions from Mr. Carrera (2016) that allow for students to take control of their

learning with guided lessons (Davila). The goal is to have them put to real world scenarios what

they learn tediously in a textbook. Fortunately, the new textbooks that districts buy are up to
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date with 21st century critical thinking skills where they require peer discussion at some point

during all lessons. With this said, I hope to set the tone for a welcoming and safe learning zone

where students can all share freely their thoughts in hopes that they take control of their learning.

In hopes that students will move from being engaged to being involved and seeking more. I am

a fan of good books so to start off I would like to read stories like Wonder or Have you Filled a

Bucket Today. This with the intention of having these stories set the tone I want in my class of

kindness and respect because from here is that my plans with the lessons, such as Mr. Carrera’s

can be trusted to run smoothly.

On a different note, the ethical and spiritual implications of language study as a means of

preparing children for 21st Century citizenship is more of a civil duty. It is understood that

language will help enhance performance as an employee but in an ethical stance it helps with

teaching proper protocol and manners. Think back at the dark times in our U.S. history when

racism was a norm and language reflected that with derogatory words that were meant to

describe the slaves. Teaching students the correct way to communicate with people who are

different from them is a part of the civil duty. Along with this, it is a teacher’s moral imperative

to teach formal language that is universal to all in a way that will not be harmful to others. It

may even be as simple as teaching good manners as “may I” or “I appreciate…”.

The study of language and how it should be implemented by a teacher goes to show just

how important the task of a teacher is. They are not restrained to the little room in which they

teach, their message will influence the many minds of our future citizens. With such an

important task at hand it is necessary that the teacher has an understanding of the language, and

most importantly, that they can pass on their knowledge to their students. In the end this is all
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that matters for a teacher, to make sure that their students leave their classroom with new and

improved skills, as well as new and improved knowledge.

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Resources

Davila, S., (2016, July, 27). 21st Century Skills and the English Language Classroom [Blog

post]. Retrieved from https://www.english.com/blog/21st-century-skills/

Ng, S., & Deng, F. (2017, August 22). Language and Power. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of

Communication. Retrieved from

https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/ac

refore-9780190228613-e-436.

Clarke, A., (2017, June 11). How Children Learn to Read and Spell. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/embed/oCjsy2VZMj8?rel=0&autoplay=1&iv_load_policy=3&sta

rt=0

Yule, G. (2017). The Study of Language 6th Edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University

Press.