Importance of Language Essay Example

Throughout each individual’s life, they will experience much growth and change. The many factors surrounding them bend and shape their character. The main influence of growth and character is, without a doubt, their language. Language is the beginning of everything in the average person’s life. Language is what allows people to express themselves and blossom as a person. Cesar Chavex once said, “Our language is the reflection of ourselves.  A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers”. The authors Lakoff, Troutt, and Gannon work together to support this quote by Chavex by displaying examples of language influencing growth and character. 

The Source “From Ancient Green to Iraq”, by Robin Tolmach Lakoff, displays how language reflects growth and character because it describes the language used by soldiers towards their opponents in wars. It explains how, in order to cope with the killing aspect of war, soldiers will use nicknames for their opponent to dehumanize them. One example of  soldiers doing this is, “The Greeks and Romans referred to everyone else as “barbarians”-etymologically those who only babble, only go “bar-bar” (Lakoff 1). By doing this, the soldiers are able to think of their opponents as less than human, and it creates the illusion for them that they are not killing actually full developed human beings. This quote shows how their language, or use of nicknames, reflects how they grew to cope with the horrors of war. Growing to deal with pain is a direct reflection of a person’s character. Someone who hasn’t been forced to deal with this issue will have a much softer character, as opposed to those with a hardened character from the horrors of war.

The source “Defining who we are in a Society”, by David D. Troutt, is about ebonics, the language many African Americans speak. It discusses how there is much debate about whether it is a version of English or, rather, its own language. The long history of ebonics is born through segregation, which still happens to this day. This source proves that language drives growth and character by stating, “Once we as toddlers are given the gift of the communicating self, we can forever discover, learn and expand in a world of common symbols” (Troutt 718). The quote supports the prompt because it talks about how once toddlers can speak, or use their language, their life unfolds and expands. Without the discoveries found through language, growth would be close to impossible to achieve. This is because these discoveries can stimulate new ways of thinking, which is classified as growth because it changes the individual’s ideas of the world. It also defines each person’s character because depending on what language the toddler learns to speak in, can either open or close opportunities for them. Unfortunately, those who learn to speak in formal English will likely have more opportunities than that of someone who learns in ebonics due to years of racism and segregation.

“English 99”, by Frank Gannon, follows the experience of a teacher who taught a class designed for people who couldn’t handle on-level English. He begins the story as a new teacher who is hired to teach a class deigned for students likely to drop out college. It is explained that “…English 99 was there so that the college could get some money from these kids before they flunked out or quit” (Gannon 215). The author divided the class into three distinct groups based on their personality and the way they write. Each of these groups spoke and learned in their own way, which prompted their character to be vastly different from one another’s. This is a perfect example of language defining people’s characters through the way the author could effortlessly distinguish each group by the way they speak and write. For example, the group he called “…The bored looking girls” had a vastly different character than the group he called “…The refugees” (Gannon 216). Since the bored girls had a vastly different language in their writing as opposed to the refugees, their character and the way they sorted themselves was different as well. Altogether, English 99 displays a perfect example of language defining character. 

Language is the greatest defining factor towards each personality. Without language or any form of communication, life would be dull and meaningless. No matter what form language takes, it is unquestionable that it is crucial to growth and character. Language allows everyone to grow and thrive throughout their entire life.