The Power of Language Portfolio

Sabrina Zintzun
Engl 420 Principles of Language
12/18/2023
 Language is powerful, meaningful, and connects everyone and everything to one

another. Language is all around the world and sometimes your own language is made up of

other languages as well. It is important to understand why language is important to know learn

and understand. The more you understand of this language that is consistently evolving the

more you will understand others and the world around you. It is the one constant that humans

and animals have had in common since the existence of time.

Language has come a long way since the first living animals and human beings had

communicated with each other. Language started off from either a simple grunt, sound, and

then to a full word which would later turn into sentences. According to McNamara, she states

that language is multidimensional, and that it is more than just words and literature. She

believes that language is much deeper than that. Language has emotion and depth to it.

Language is not just words that do not have an effect on other humans because they it can

cause catastrophe and it is important to understand language and the power it holds. Language

can provide a picture in your mind and make you feel any way imaginable depending on the

language that is used. With language comes great power and the responsibility on how to use

language.

Language holds an endless amount of power. It has the power to end or even start wars.

It is used to maintain dominance in a relationship or superiority when making decisions.

Therefore, when you attend a ceremony or a lecture you are giving the speaker the power to

communicate and pass their objectives or beliefs onto you. It is important to do your research

and before committing to one because they will either have a negative or a positive influence on
you. Each person has their own language which gives them a self of identity. For example, it has

such an impact on people that the moment people hear a different language they will associate

that language with a religion or even a political stance. It’s the way language is used and who

uses it that provides language so much power. For example, if a child were to say “We should

buy ten packs of water for emergencies” versus if the President of the United States were to say

the same thing it would cause a different reaction. Different languages have different influences

as well. For example, the United States is viewed as strong and powerful and if someone knows

the English language they are normally automatically associated as being strong and with

freedom.

Because language is multidimensional and very powerful it is important for children to

be well-educated and have language as a critical skill. Depending on how the speak, their

grammar, and how literate they are will have a bigger impact on their audience. If there was

someone that was illiterate that started to speak people would dismiss that person thinking

they do not know what they are speaking of and is not well-educated. The way someone speaks

provides the image they will be projecting on others.

It is the teacher’s responsibility to provide resources and help the children be well

educated. The students are the future, and they will change our future. It is important to put

them on the path of positivity so they can change the future for the better. If teachers do not

have a moral imperative to help educate the students and help them become the better version

of themselves then things will start to fall. Potentially, policies will change for the worst. It is a

butterfly effect that we will see not immediate but, in the future, when it really does matter.
 There will be strategies and priorities for me to push into my classroom to help the

students become more knowledgeable. I will focus on root words so if they come across a word

they do not recognize they can break the word down and get an idea of what it could be. I will

focus on phonics and games that will make learning and reading for them. That way they will

enjoy it as they get older, and it will become a hobby they enjoy. Ethically, I would like to have

the students read child verses. I feel that it would strengthen the students’ morals and make

their conscious stronger as they age, so they do not make wrong decisions. However, if I were to

work in a public school it might be an issue. Therefore, I would have some verses on my desk

and change it every now and then or a daily calendar that will have verses on it as well.

In conclusion, language is very powerful, and it can define you in so many ways. People

have the power to either hurt or bring each other up. As a future teacher I hope to teach this to

my future students and let them know that they have so much power just by using their voice. I

hope to have the students be well educated so they are not looked over and to help strengthen

their morals so they can make wise decisions.

 Citations

Mcnamara, Danielle. “YouTube.” Www.youtube.com,

www.youtube.com/embed/bSdJYhID_AQ?rel=0&autoplay=1&iv_load_policy=3.

Ng, Sik, and Fei Deng. “Language and Power.” Oxford Research, 22 Aug. 2017.