How do we use languages?
The idea that “language is for communication” is a huge oversimplification of its profound role in human life. While language indeed facilitates interaction, it also serves as a powerful mechanism for thought, self-expression, and personal understanding.
However, language is also intricately tied to cognition. It organizes thoughts, categorizes experiences, and frames our understanding of the world. Through language, we reason, solve problems, and refine our ideas.
As a social tool, language enables us to communicate, cooperate, and build relationships. It is through language that we share information, negotiate meaning, and influence others, shaping the social fabric of our lives.
As a medium for self-expression, it enables individuals to articulate emotions, beliefs, and desires, allowing for deeper connections and unique perspectives. And much of our daily language use occurs internally—rehashing past events, planning future scenarios, or exploring personal thoughts. Far beyond external communication, language is integral to self-reflection and planning, making it a core aspect of our identity and mental processes.
Language Shapes Perception and Identity
Nelson Mandela famously said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” Language is an entry point into the way people think, feel, and perceive the world.
Learning a new language does more than expand our ability to communicate; it transforms how we see the world and understand ourselves. Research shows that language influences perception, and bilingual individuals often report behaving or feeling differently depending on the language they use.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis provides insight into this phenomenon. Indeed, linguistic determinism, one aspect of the hypothesis, suggests that language defines thinking, implying that concepts absent in a language may be inaccessible to its speakers. Linguistic relativism, a softer stance, proposes that language influences but does not dictate thought, acting as a lens that can shape and shift our understanding of life.
For bilinguals, these lenses multiply, often giving rise to distinct identities tied to each language. Grosjean, in Bilingual: Life and Reality, highlights how language functions as a filter through which individuals perceive and understand their experiences. Similarly, Aneta Pavlenko, in Bilingual Minds, examines how bilinguals navigate these multifaceted identities. This complexity enriches their worldview and contributes to a nuanced understanding of themselves.
Limitations of Traditional Language Teaching
Traditional language teaching methods, such as the Communicative Approach, focus heavily on transmitting messages. Success is measured by whether the message is “understandable enough,” which often sacrifices precision, correction, and pronunciation. The result? Learners may achieve basic fluency but risk becoming “fluent bad speakers,” with ingrained mistakes and limited ability to achieve higher levels of proficiency.
This approach overlooks a crucial distinction: communication and expression are not the same. Communication is about transmitting information, but expression is about articulating one’s inner thoughts, emotions and ideas. Authentic self-expression requires deep mastery of the language—grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation—not just the ability to make oneself understood.
In practice, the Communicative Approach often mirrors the outdated grammar-translation method, and learners end up mentally translating from their first language, without any genuine expression in the second. This leads to a limited and superficial grasp, neglecting essential features that makes the language unique.
Teaching should prioritize expression as a fundamental goal, emphasizing the ability to think, plan, and reflect in the target language. Such an approach allows students to internalize the language, enabling them to express themselves with clarity and precision—skills that extend beyond transactional communication into the realm of personal growth and identity.
Teaching for Self-Expression
Effective language teaching needs to integrate the target language into a student’s thoughts and emotions as naturally as their first language. This involves building a strong foundation in spoken language, which must precede writing. Speech offers the foundation for fluency, and excellence should be the standard.
Accuracy is paramount. From grammar and syntax to pronunciation, students must learn to use the language correctly at every stage of proficiency. The ultimate goal is to enable them to express themselves clearly, accurately, and authentically.
Instead of rules and explanations, language teaching requires working on the students’ “inner criteria”. They need to use their new language as intuitively as their first, and develop a sense of “what sounds right.” This internalized knowledge allows learners to move beyond mechanical usage and engage naturally with the language’s unique characteristics.
Effective language learning also requires genuine emotional engagement. Through contextual learning, students get exposed to the language in meaningful situations that are relevant to them, helping them see how vocabulary and structures function naturally. During the lessons, they speak about what’s in front of them and, progressively, about what’s on their mind. This approach not only makes learning more engaging but ensures a deeper connection with the language, with strong, lasting mental associations.
So, will learning a language change who we are? The answer depends on how we approach it. When language is taught for self-expression, it becomes a powerful tool for personal transformation. Teachers help students unlock the deeper dimensions of language, enabling them to articulate their ideas, connect authentically, and uncover new aspects of their identity. In doing so, learners don’t just acquire a skill—they open a whole new realm for their thoughts, emotions, and their connection to the world around them.
Leave a Reply