Magic Words

Dealing with new developments and the need to change brings me ever closer to a topic that has been dear to me since my childhood: The fascination with language.

Language can define the borders of what we allow ourselves to see and think. But language can also open a door to new understanding and a wider awareness. When I decided to study linguistics - and not something that would have seemed more practical - it was because I hoped to uncover the mystery of language.

I was reminded of the power of words several times last week.

The first instance was in a in a workshop about the future of education. In the course of the project, participating companies would dive into emerging opportunities in education for them as individual companies but also as a network. But at this early stage, the point was to get a common understanding for all relevant developments that affect education. It was our belief that these developments were visible in all forms of learning, be it at school, university or in company trainings. Yet, time and again a debate started whether we should make a distinction between primary education and further education already now. It became clear that the words we used and our belief that developments affect learning in general were out of sync. We dominantly spoke of "students" and "teachers", thus evoking a primary education setting. A colleague had the clarity to suggest that we start using more general terms - "learner" and "educator". Language evokes scenarios and sometimes we are simply not aware of this.

On my flight back I picked up an issue of US Today and browsing through the pages, I got stuck at the headline "Fighting Age and Illness with all natural products" that turned out to be an advertising slogan for American Rena. Fighting? Was it really appropriate to use metaphors of struggle and aggression in this context? Age and Illness? Since I don't belief that growing old is similar to having a disease I found the conjunction of the two words manipulative. The scenarios that Reno was trying to evoke through language felt totally wrong and my interest in Rena was gone.

The heavy book that I am currently carrying around with me adds still another angle: In Theory U. Leading from the Future as It Emerges, Otto Scharmer uses grammar as a metaphor to describe shifts in social systems. Social grammar is described as "the hidden rules, structures, and inflection points that enable certain types of evolution and emergence to happen." By understanding and using this grammar, change can come into being. The question how to make the leap from observed developments to structural change is exactly, what is often puzzling and challenging for me today. So here I am again with applied linguistics and my choice of study makes more sense than ever :-)