Running head: POWER OF LANGUAGE 1

Power of Language

Lilian Vargas

Los Angeles Pacific University

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Power of Language

Language stands at the forefront of power and communication amongst humans. Ng and

Deng (2017) explain that through language, humans can express and communicate what is

occurring within their minds, as well as communicate feelings and social functions. Language

comes with cognitive, communicative, social, and identity functions, which enable language to

be the most fundamental form of human communication. Because language has a wide range of

function and versatility, it is extremely powerful and can create influence and dominance (Ng &

Deng, 2017). With language being extremely powerful, it is important for students to be well

versed in language to prepare for their future within the workforce and to survive within the 21st

century.

Children begin to learn language from the moment they are born, by hearing language

around them through their parents and caregivers. By the time the child is in preschool years,

Duff and Tomblin (2018) explain that children begin to use their newly developed language skills

for learning and social interaction and negotiation. Children in school must learn a system of

language which represents meaning, sound structure, and being able to use words to form

sentences with proper grammatical structure. Most of this learning is done without formal

instruction, as it is simply learned naturally. However, as children get older, several skills are

required to be taught such as learning, listening, recognition, and comprehension. Evidence is

also compelling which finds that a strong foundation in spoken and written language is vital for

successful academic achievement and social competence. Children that have poor language skills

become at risk for reading and social problems. By creating strong foundations for children via

language, it will help them succeed both academically and socially as well (Duff & Tomblin,

2018).
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In today’s 21st century, technological world, Dr. McNamara (2017) explains that we use

the written language more than ever, due to social media, email, and smart phones. Children

learn language via Natural Language Processing (NLP), which is an automated analysis of

language produced by humans. Through NLP, humans can use words to convey actions, skills,

interactions, emotions, and thoughts. Language serves as more than just a source of

communication but can also give an insight into the human though process (Dr. McNamara,

2017). Davila (2016) explains that through language, we must prepare our students to have 21st

century skills that will allow them to fulfill future employment via innovation, and development

and advances across technological industries. The skills needed do not necessarily have to be

developed within a technologically savvy classroom, but by implementing the 4C’s. The four C’s

of 21st century skills include: communication, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration.

Through these skills, students will be able to perform independently and as a part of groups

within a technologically advanced environment, be ready for global interaction, be able to be

adaptive, flexible, and creative with thinking processes, and understand how to properly plan,

build, and collaborate with peers and colleagues (Davila, 2016).

One of the main reasons that I wanted to become a teacher was to inspire children to

believe they can truly accomplish whatever they set their minds to. However, for children to

accomplish their goals, they must be equipped with the proper tools, and as teachers, we can

prepare our students with the proper resources and skills that they need to succeed. Davila (2016)

explains that one way to improve student engagement and focus on 21st century skills is to

inspire students to use their critical thinking skills to be encouraged to learn. Natural curiosity is

vital for students to discover their true learning potential and to be self-guided and innovate

learners. Although allowing students to be self-guided is a good concept in theory, it may not be
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feasible within a classroom that must abide by a curriculum. In order to implement the 4C’s,

educators can create content that is relevant, useful, and that will allow for innovation through

the student’s interactions. One way to allow students to use the 4C’s is to create activities in

which students can implement the 4C’s while still abiding by the curriculum. One example of an

activity that Davila gives is to do the typical ELL Lesson of “What is your favorite food?”. This

lesson allows for collaboration through dividing students into groups and having them survey 10

different foods that they are interested in. To communicate, students use the information they

gathered to create charts which will communicate results of favorite meals. Students then use

critical thinking to compare their answers to answers of other groups and see if there were

similarities and differences in the results they obtained. Creativity comes into play when students

use the information they collected and work together to create advertisements for foods that

students didn’t have the most interest in. The advertisements are intended to make food that isn’t

as popular, more appealing and tastier as a choice for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This

lesson implements the 4C’s and allows for students to experience what it is like to collaborate,

communicate, use creativity, and use their critical thinking skills. Without proper knowledge of

language, students may not be able to properly use the 4C’s method because language is the key

to communication. Without language, students would not bel able to properly collaborate or

express their creativity (Davila, 2016).

Ethically, as educators, we must prepare our students and equip them with the necessary

skills that they will need to thrive within the 21st century world. If we slack on implementing the

proper tools, they need for survival within the 21st century world, we are only hindering them

and serving a disadvantage for their growth. I have had to learn these 4C’s skills on my own

through my own work experience, as the teachers that I had in the past did not take much time to
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implement any of these skills in our learning activities. At times, we did do collaborative

projects, but creativity and critical thinking and problem-solving skills was greatly missing in my

education. When I took my first corporate job, it was difficult to collaborate with others in a

group and talking to many different worldly people left me exhausted by the end of the day. I had

to figure out a different way to speak to individuals within a corporate setting and use different

language to communicate with people from various backgrounds. If I didn’t have a proper grasp

on language, I don’t believe that I could have learned to properly be a productive and essential

team member that was able to communicate and collaborate effectively and efficiently. Being

able to teach students these vital skills will give them an advantage they need for succeeding in

their future both socially and within their employment opportunities.

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References

Davila, S. (2016, July 27). 21st Century skills and the English language classroom. Pearson.

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

Duff, D., Tomblin, J. B. (2018, October). Literacy as an outcome of language development and

its impact on children’s psychosocial and emotional development. Encyclopedia on Early

Childhood Development. Retrieved from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/language-

development-and-literacy/according-experts/literacy-outcome-language-development-

and-its

Ng, S.H., Deng, F. (2017, August). Language and power. Oxford Research Encyclopedias.

Retrieved from

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

refore-9780190228613-e-436

McNamara, D. [Tedx Talks]. (2017, May 5). The power of words and the secret of language |

Danielle McNamara| TEDxASU. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=82&v=bSdJYhID_AQ&feature=emb_lo

go