The power of the word

It's 11pm and I just got home and am licking my wounds after being beat up by SLA512 summaries. Yet.. despite my wretched state.. I feel inspired to write something before I forget it... as the blog is titled, this is uncut, raw, and unedited... so my apologies in advance!! (ok no i'm not sorry...)

I've titled this post "the power of the word" and the whole idea is summarized in what I put as my Skype 'mood':

"What is a 'word'? It is the embodiment of a construct, an idea, a doctrine. To teach words, is then, to teach much more than "mere language". It is a potent seed, if planted right,  able to transform a whole person, communities, and even nations"

I'll unpack this idea by once again starting where the idea started - in China teaching.

It was the second semester again, and I was really scratching my head as to what to teach my students. Even though I was there to teach English, I felt really dissatisfied if all they learned was mere English. After all, as I had experienced (and as I am learning the 'field' also agrees), English cannot be taught without a context. Besides that, I wanted them to grow as individuals. I honestly loved my students, and what I took on as my "teacher role" was beyond that of linguistic teaching. I wanted to see them develop as people. In character. In creativity. In every aspect of life. To some degree I had achieved this by exposing them to an entirely new way to experience a classroom. In contrast to their legalistic no-error-allowed teaching experiences, they were experiencing a new atmosphere where they were aloud to laugh, have fun, and most importantly: make mistakes ....and it was ok. They had already overcome their fear of failure and began to speak openly.. which to me is much more than merely a speaking achievement. Something changed in their view of themselves, that enabled them to do that. And that, is the area I want to reach.

Yet, inside, there was frustration for there was so much more I wanted to teach. But how? I can't exactly start doing a "life seminar" class, although much of my content was revolving around real life. How can I really unload something potent? How can I teach a principle or doctrine to them... in the context of an English classroom WITHOUT making the context explicitly clear? (Which the school would realize right away I am not teaching English and may cause stirrings - ie a CBI approach)

And then... an insight came to me. I had the ability to do so. and in a powerful way. I could do so, but choosing carefully the words to teach them. The power comes from understanding, what a "word" really is.

Simply put, a word, is the embodiment of a construct, idea, concept, or doctrine. And by teaching a "word", you are teaching all the concepts that are linked to it. Choose the right concept, and you've got a powerful tool.

Let me cut to the chase with an example. If someone asked you what the word "humility" means, how would you define it? What about if someone asked you to distinguish the word "grace" from "mercy"? What about the word "mediator"? What about "freedom"? "democracy"?  How would you do it?

By giving the definition, you are actually teaching (or revealing) a concept, that is represented by those words. This ties into a theory of mine (which I will post...later..when I'm awake) that behind every 'physical' word (I am speaking metaphorically), there is a linked 'concept'. (and then acquiring a language, is done by first identifying that  concept you wish to express, and knowing which word to use, and what form, to best express it - learning the "association" - which can be formed by habit leading to fluency; the 'will' determines the 'words')

By teaching the word 'humility', you are exposing the students to a concept that they may not ever have seen. Of course, this assumes that the teacher knows the meaning! (Humility is not weakness! It is the opposite! Immense strength...but under control).

Let me draw on another example.

The most popular book and the most translated book in the entire history of mankind, has a one place where the alteration of a single word has caused much controversy. Yes, this is the Bible, and the place I am referring to is found in Romans 3:25. There is a word that is in the original and translated in the famous KJV but is taken out of many modern translations. It is this word "propitiation". Instead, some translations use the word "atonement" or "sacrifice". How is it, that one word, can cause such a stir?

Rom 3:25 (KJV) "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, ..."

It is because that specific word, propitiation, denotes a specific and peculiar concept - namely the appeasement or satisfaction of God's wrath. This was a doctrine revealed in the Law given to the nation of Israel where a lamb had to stand in someone's place and be slaughtered for their sins (death was the punishment) and by offering such a sacrifice, it would propitiate God's wrath. The lamb would die in the place of the man. And God's righteous requirements of that wrong doing (death)... would be satisfied. Propitiated.

This understanding has huge implications for Christians because Jesus claimed to be that lamb (metaphorically), and by dying on the cross in humanity's place, he became a propitiation for the sins of mankind. The wrath of God which the guilty conscience recognizes is relieved only when one realizes that that wrath fell on Jesus, allowing God to remain just, and let convicted sinners go free.

This is the essence of the whole Christian/gospel message which is simply states that to be 'saved' is to simply 'see' or recognize the fact that Jesus did accomplish this for us and to accept it as truth and trust in it (ie "faith in his blood").

But if that one word is taken out, the whole understanding of God's wrath being satisfied by Christ's death is obscured... which can leave a Christian miserable, always wondering what will happen because of all the wrong he has done, which he knows must incur the wrath of a just God. And hence, why there was a controversy over the exclusion or alteration of that word.

Embodied in that one word, is a concept so rich and powerful, that can lift a man crushed and burdened with guilt, into a state of complete freedom, joy and peace!

The applications of this in the classroom are enormous!


Words have power. The power is not in the linguistic word itself, it's in the concepts they represent. And as a teacher, by choosing carefully the words you teach, you can tap into the heart, mind, and soul of an individual. You can plant ideas. You can influence thinking. You can expose them to concepts they have never dreamed of!

And by choosing the right words, you can tap into their heart. You can leave an impression deeper than you ever thought possible.

And that's how, as an English teacher, one can effect deep change, .....through simply teaching "English".


(Next post, I will share some practical class activities where you can do this)

Romans 3
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.