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The power of language: How words shape people, culture

Speaking, writing and reading are integral to everyday life, where language is the primary tool for expression and communication. Studying how people use language – what words and phrases they unconsciously choose and combine – can help us better understand ourselves and why we behave the way we do.

Linguistics scholars seek to determine what is unique and universal about the language we use, how it is acquired and the ways it changes over time. They consider language as a cultural, social and psychological phenomenon.

“Understanding why and how languages differ tells about the range of what is human,” said Dan Jurafsky , the Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor in Humanities and chair of the Department of Linguistics in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford . “Discovering what’s universal about languages can help us understand the core of our humanity.”

The stories below represent some of the ways linguists have investigated many aspects of language, including its semantics and syntax, phonetics and phonology, and its social, psychological and computational aspects.

Understanding stereotypes

Stanford linguists and psychologists study how language is interpreted by people. Even the slightest differences in language use can correspond with biased beliefs of the speakers, according to research.

One study showed that a relatively harmless sentence, such as “girls are as good as boys at math,” can subtly perpetuate sexist stereotypes. Because of the statement’s grammatical structure, it implies that being good at math is more common or natural for boys than girls, the researchers said.

Language can play a big role in how we and others perceive the world, and linguists work to discover what words and phrases can influence us, unknowingly.

How well-meaning statements can spread stereotypes unintentionally

New Stanford research shows that sentences that frame one gender as the standard for the other can unintentionally perpetuate biases.

Algorithms reveal changes in stereotypes

New Stanford research shows that, over the past century, linguistic changes in gender and ethnic stereotypes correlated with major social movements and demographic changes in the U.S. Census data.

Exploring what an interruption is in conversation

Stanford doctoral candidate Katherine Hilton found that people perceive interruptions in conversation differently, and those perceptions differ depending on the listener’s own conversational style as well as gender.

Cops speak less respectfully to black community members

Professors Jennifer Eberhardt and Dan Jurafsky, along with other Stanford researchers, detected racial disparities in police officers’ speech after analyzing more than 100 hours of body camera footage from Oakland Police.

How other languages inform our own

People speak roughly 7,000 languages worldwide. Although there is a lot in common among languages, each one is unique, both in its structure and in the way it reflects the culture of the people who speak it.

Jurafsky said it’s important to study languages other than our own and how they develop over time because it can help scholars understand what lies at the foundation of humans’ unique way of communicating with one another.

“All this research can help us discover what it means to be human,” Jurafsky said.

Stanford PhD student documents indigenous language of Papua New Guinea

Fifth-year PhD student Kate Lindsey recently returned to the United States after a year of documenting an obscure language indigenous to the South Pacific nation.

Students explore Esperanto across Europe

In a research project spanning eight countries, two Stanford students search for Esperanto, a constructed language, against the backdrop of European populism.

Chris Manning: How computers are learning to understand language​

A computer scientist discusses the evolution of computational linguistics and where it’s headed next.

Stanford research explores novel perspectives on the evolution of Spanish

Using digital tools and literature to explore the evolution of the Spanish language, Stanford researcher Cuauhtémoc García-García reveals a new historical perspective on linguistic changes in Latin America and Spain.

Language as a lens into behavior

Linguists analyze how certain speech patterns correspond to particular behaviors, including how language can impact people’s buying decisions or influence their social media use.

For example, in one research paper, a group of Stanford researchers examined the differences in how Republicans and Democrats express themselves online to better understand how a polarization of beliefs can occur on social media.

“We live in a very polarized time,” Jurafsky said. “Understanding what different groups of people say and why is the first step in determining how we can help bring people together.”

Analyzing the tweets of Republicans and Democrats

New research by Dora Demszky and colleagues examined how Republicans and Democrats express themselves online in an attempt to understand how polarization of beliefs occurs on social media.

Examining bilingual behavior of children at Texas preschool

A Stanford senior studied a group of bilingual children at a Spanish immersion preschool in Texas to understand how they distinguished between their two languages.

Predicting sales of online products from advertising language

Stanford linguist Dan Jurafsky and colleagues have found that products in Japan sell better if their advertising includes polite language and words that invoke cultural traditions or authority.

Language can help the elderly cope with the challenges of aging, says Stanford professor

By examining conversations of elderly Japanese women, linguist Yoshiko Matsumoto uncovers language techniques that help people move past traumatic events and regain a sense of normalcy.

FAQs about Language and Linguistics in Writing

by  Laura Aull and Shawna Shapiro

Critical Reflection

The two authors of this piece come from distinct institutional contexts: Laura Aull works at a large, public, research university, and Shawna Shapiro at a small, private, liberal arts institution. We each think a lot about language and writing as we do our work—Laura while training new writing instructors in a large writing program and Shawna amid multi-institutional outreach, for example. We both share training in writing as well as linguistics—Laura especially in corpus and applied linguistics, and Shawna especially in sociolinguistics and TESOL. We both believe in (and write about) supporting linguistic knowledge as part of students' rhetorical agency, and in our work, we regularly hear questions and concerns from writing educators about language and linguistics. The most common queries we hear from colleagues at our institutions and elsewhere, including through the CLA Collective ( http://clacollective.org/ ), relate to three frequently-asked questions, which we explore here by drawing on linguistics and writing research.

Many writing instructors, administrators, students, and scholars share important questions about how rhetoric and linguistics are similar and different, what linguistics offers to writing studies, and how to support writing development and linguistic equality. We've consolidated the most common queries we receive into the following three FAQs.

• What does linguistics add to rhetorical approaches to writing?
• What linguistics insights might be most useful for writing teachers and researchers?
• How can linguistics help us to work more effectively and equitably with student writers?

It is understandable that these questions come up so regularly. A number of writing studies scholars have pointed out that especially since the 1970s, language study has had a tenuous or unclear position in US writing studies research and teaching, which tends to focus on writers, writing contexts, and language ideologies, more than on language itself (Connors, 1997; MacDonald, 2007; Aull, 2015). Below, we answer these three FAQs in an effort to provide foundational knowledge about linguistics and language that build on conversations in our field. We have structured our responses to each question as a set of concise points, followed by an “upshot” summary at the end of that section.

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1.  What does linguistics add to rhetorical approaches to writing?

Training in rhetoric and writing pedagogy focuses on important macro-level writing concepts and sociocultural and sociopolitical concerns. Macro-level concepts, for instance, include audience, purpose, and genres as social actions, or, in some composition textbooks, rhetorical modes such as narration and description. Sociocultural concerns include language-related themes in curricular content, such as language ideologies (e.g., monolingualism, native-speakerism), language policies (e.g., English-only legislation in the U.S.), or reflections on first-hand language experiences (e.g., in literacy narrative assignments).

Although social and political aspects of language are also prevalent concerns for linguists, linguistics also offers tools for systematic examination of language itself, including micro-level patterns (word and phrase, or lexicogrammatical patterns, such as noun phrases) and meso-level patterns (sentence and paragraph patterns, such as subject/verb coordination or rhetorical moves) as they inform or challenge language ideologies. When instruction in writing studies does address paragraph or sentence-level concerns, it often focuses on insights from analyzing one text at a time rather than on insights from patterns analyzed across many texts. This leads to rich insights about situated language use and rhetorical concepts in a few texts, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee that writing instructors or students have writing knowledge regarding systematic language norms and patterns (Matsuda et al., 2013; Eckstein & Ferris, 2018; Aull, 2020; Gere et al., 2021; Rossen-Knill & Hancock, 2021).

Here are some pedagogical trends related to a greater emphasis on macro-level concepts and sociocultural concerns:

• Teachers are often told to "focus on writers, rather than writing itself," as in the recent NCTE position statement on writing instruction in school .
• Teachers are often encouraged to "focus on meaning, not form."
• Teachers might feel unsure how or whether to focus on students' language use in writing assessment (Lee, 2016; Matsuda, 2012).
• Teachers (and/or students) might conduct or read a rhetorical genre study focused on style and audience in one or a few texts, rather than lexicogrammatical patterns and moves across dozens of examples.
• Teachers might discuss characteristics of language use in a particular genre or type of writing (e.g., "avoid passive voice in academic writing"), but these ideas might not reflect actual practices (Junqueira & Payant, 2015; Lea & Street, 2006; Olinger, 2021).

Why these trends? A key historical reason is the US disciplinary and institutional divide between rhetoric/composition and linguistics/applied linguistics (Matsuda, 1999; Aull, 2015; Gere et al., 2021). The former has traditionally emphasized humanistic research methods and graduate training and been linked to English departments, while the latter has drawn from more social scientific theories and research methods. Today, these disciplinary separations tend to hold within the US, though there are important overlaps in commitments and student populations (e.g., support for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds) and there are several important exceptions—for example second language writing (e.g., Hyland, 2019; Wang, 2022) and discourse studies of student writing in and out of coursework and across disciplines (e.g., Cunningham, 2014; Nero & Stevens, 2018; Lancaster & Olinger, 2014). They include humanistic rhetorical insights as well as scientifically based information about what languages are, how they function, and how they are learned.

The Upshot of FAQ 1: Rhetorical traditions draw important attention to macro-level concepts, sociocultural details, and sociopolitical beliefs about language, with meaning in context as a priority. Linguistics traditions draw important attention to patterned language use as it follows descriptive rules and crosses contexts, with form and meaning systematically intertwined. Given their respective emphases, we have observed that linguistic traditions can complement rhetorical traditions in writing, and we address how they do so in the second FAQ.

2.  What linguistics insights might be most useful for writing teachers and researchers?

We have especially found that attention to language and linguistics helps us cultivate two areas of writing knowledge: (A) awareness of the difference between usage preferences, on the one hand, and what is grammatically possible and meaningful in English, on the other; and (B) evidence-based understanding of linguistic equality across all language use.

(A) Usage preferences versus what is grammatically possible and meaningful

First, linguistics insights help highlight the difference between usage preferences or norms (language choices often associated with "correctness") and what is grammatically possible and meaningful in English (all forms that are available within the constraints of English as a rule-governed system). While usage preferences are socially-constructed, what is grammatically possible is linguistically-constructed within the structure of English. This is true of all varieties of English, regardless of whether they are privileged in school assessment; all shared varieties follow rule-governed norms (Smitherman, 1986; Young & Barrett, 2018).

In short, form and meaning always work hand-in-hand. Even if students’ linguistic or rhetorical choices diverge from what is typical or conventional in school assessments (i.e., according to usage preferences or norms articulated by teachers, handbooks, style guides, etc.), there is some form (i.e., some governing structure) being employed, because all shared language use is rule-governed. Language without form or structure (or any language knowledge) would be incomprehensible, and unlikely, because we learn language from the structures of language used by people around us. Form includes rule-governed options for words and sentences (i.e., morphology and syntax) as well as options for the structure of a paragraph or genre of writing (or speech).

When teachers and scholars express a concern about whether to attend to “form,” or they critique a focus on “form,” they are usually concerned about a prescriptivist view of form–i.e., the idea that there is one universal set of rules for “correct” language use regardless of context, or the idea that there is one inherently “correct” dialect of English. Linguists tend to take a descriptivist view—i.e., they look for patterns in language use (spoken, written, signed, etc.) that have social meaning within communities and contexts. Put another way, while prescriptivists are interested in what language users should do according to socially-constructed usage preferences and norms, descriptivists attend to what people actually do with what is grammatically possible in a language within particular contexts and communities (see, for instance, how the Linguistic Society of America addresses the issue of 'correctness' in language ).

(B) Evidence-based understanding of linguistic equality

A second and overlapping point is that linguistics insights can help us promote evidence-based understanding of linguistic equality across all shared language use. An evidence-based understanding underscores that all shared language use is rule-governed and responsive to community needs. The social value of different kinds of language use is socially-constructed, not inherent in the linguistic forms themselves.

• Linguistic equality means that all shared language use follows patterns that can be analyzed and learned through practice and exposure. There is no such thing as a language, register, or dialect that is more rule-governed than another, and there is no language, register, or dialect in which "anything goes" or no rules apply. Linguistic equality underlies Students’ Right to Their Own Language (SRTOL) and the # BlackLanguageSyllabus work spearheaded by scholars such as April Baker-Bell (2020) and Carmen Kynard (2007), whose work informed the 2020 demand for Black Linguistic Justice (NCTE/CCCC).
• Socially-constructed value is determined by contexts and communities and who has social power within them; and every language, register, and dialect is useful in some rhetorical contexts and not in others. Even though no dialect or register is inherently superior, there are people and contexts that value the norms of particular language varieties more. This means there is a much bigger world of language—and a lot more language knowledge—than what is represented in conventional school and test approaches to "correct" English, which are based on particular socially-constructed usage preferences and norms.

Linguistics insights and methods help us explore different language varieties in term of both linguistic patterns and socially constructed values. For example, Geneva Smitherman (1986), Staci Perryman-Clark (2013), and April Baker-Bell (2020) have investigated patterns and variation in the historical influences, purposes, genres, and linguistic patterns of African American or Black English. They observe context-specific variation, including both informal and formal registers (e.g. Dyson & Smitherman, 2009; Mufwene et al., 2021; Young, 2010), and they illustrate how we can describe (versus prescribe) linguistic patterns and social values associated with language varieties we explore. In other words, these studies explore language in terms of what/when rather than right/wrong.

We can similarly explore the what/when (versus right/wrong) norms and patterns in formal, standardized written English (SWE), the variety we are asked most about by writing instructors. Like Black English, SWE follows linguistic norms and is socially constructed to have value in some contexts and not others (Smitherman, 2017; Lippi-Green, 2012; Barrett et al., 2022). And like all language varieties, SWE varies by context, encompassing both formal and informal registers and both spoken and written genres .

Below, for example, are some features of SWE that have been identified in empirical studies by linguists:

• Historical influences: SWE has been rewarded in school learning and tests since English replaced classical language curricula during the 19th century. It includes standardized spelling conventions dating back to 15th and 16th century spelling reform in England, and standardized usage preferences dating back to 18th century usage guides in England and the US. Before these usage guides, more variation was expected and normalized in English (Lynch, 2009; Tieken-Boon van Ostade, 2010).
• Purposes: SWE commonly favors impersonal and informational language goals, which prioritize research processes and abstract concepts, versus personal and interpersonal language goals, which prioritize people, sensory experiences, and explicit connection between people (Biber & Gray, 2010; Thaiss & Zawacki, 2006).
• Genres: SWE favors genres such as college papers and academic research articles, versus genres such as text messages, emails, and social media posts (Tannen, 2013; Nesi & Gardner, 2012).
• Linguistic patterns: SWE favors more nouns than verbs (versus a balance of verbs and nouns), more independent and relative dependent clauses (versus more adverbial dependent clauses), more dense noun and prepositional phrases (versus common nouns), more rigid spelling and punctuation norms, and more hedges (such as perhaps, might suggest, or possibly) than boosters and generalization (really, totally, everyone). It tends to include first person pronouns focused on unfolding information (e.g., I will argue; we conducted three trials), rather than focused on connection or experience (e.g., I will never forget; we will be there). Example patterns like these relate to what many instructors mean when they say "concise" and "formal" (Aull, 2020).

Analysis of disciplinary writing has also found specific patterns within academic fields; for example, humanities writing tends to use first person pronouns to foreground one's own interpretive reasoning (e.g., I argue that; in my view), while natural sciences might use first person to emphasize the replicability of research activities (e.g., our results show that) (Hyland, 2005) (see all research based on the British corpus of Academic Written English ).

Exploring historical influences, purposes, and patterns is a way to describe (versus prescribe) language, approaching it as socially-constructed and linguistically-patterned. In the case of SWE, doing so can help us avoid vague messages, such as that academic writing is "concise" or "sophisticated,” when we really mean "phrasally dense" or "more hedged." Likewise, knowledge of social norms and linguistic patterns can help us avoid labels like "correct," "elegant," and "lucid" that are not only hierarchical but often mystifying for students, potentially making them fall back on school language rules (such as "don't use first person") rather than language knowledge (such as "informational or interpersonal first person"). No language variety is inherently more "correct" or "lucid." Instead, all shared language varieties are rule-governed and responsive to community needs—and can be a matter of informed choices, or rhetorical agency, which we return to in FAQ 3.

The Upshot of FAQ 2: No one kind of shared language use is linguistically better, or more systematic, than another. Knowledge of language patterns allows us to descriptively investigate language norms toward awareness and informed choices, rather than perceiving or labeling language norms according to hierarchical or unclear terminology. Language knowledge helps us say as well as show that all registers and dialects are linguistically equal, and helps foster informed choices about what we use and value.

3. How can linguistics help us to work more effectively and equitably with student writers?

Recognizing that form and meaning are inherently interconnected and that all language varieties are linguistically equal but have differing social value within communities, we can draw on linguistics to help us support thinking about language less in terms of following abstract, universalist rules (e.g., “Never use ‘I’; “Avoid passive voice”) and more about making rhetorical choices. In other words, our writing curricula and instruction should aim to build students’ rhetorical agency—i.e., their ability to make informed decisions as language users (Lorimer Leonard, 2014; Shapiro, 2022; see also Charity Hudley’s “ Students’ Right to Their Own Writing ”). With this agency, students can use evidence-based language knowledge to decide for themselves when and how they wish to conform to particular writing conventions and where there might be possibilities for divergence from those conventions. Some of the strategies we can use to build this agentive capacity include:

(A) Giving students opportunities, strategies, and tools for identifying and experimenting with a range of written linguistic norms (Aull, 2023). This is one way to help students make informed decisions about conforming, resisting, and playing with patterns associated with dialect, genre, style, and modality, from grammatical patterns in SWE and other varieties of English, to moves in media for academic and public audiences, to help expose students to the range of linguistic choices available to them. As we explore the differences across genres, we can also discuss standardization within historical and political contexts: What is it? How does it occur? Who benefits and doesn’t, from the privileging of standardized language at school and in larger society? Thus, we take an approach to standardized language that is both progressive and pragmatic (Curzan, 2014; Delpit, 2006; Shapiro, 2022).

(B) Teaching (explicitly!) the skills of linguistic analysis to make space for exploring language through rhetorical reading and critical response. For example, students doing narrative writing can examine writing samples that use past tense versus present tense verbs, noting how the former helps to create a linear sequence while the latter can engage readers differently. Whichever choice students make in their own writing, we encourage them to be consistent, to avoid confusing the reader. Students can conduct in-depth analyses of linguistic data as a focus for original research, using data from surveys/interviews, databases like  MICASE or MICUSP or COCA , and from their own lives—including online! Our goal is to help students see the range of possible variation within the discourses they are writing in, rather than to teach a single/universal set of “rules” for “good writing.”

(C) Investigating texts (written or otherwise) as cultural artifacts. Learning about linguistic norms and conventions can increase students’ understanding of academic cultures and communities. We know from decades of qualitative research that literacy education is a form of socialization—i.e., a means by which students come to see themselves (and come to be seen) as members of a community, whether it be an academic discipline or another community connected to students’ backgrounds, interests, or goals. Being able to analyze texts as cultural artifacts helps students to recognize community values, norms, and tensions (Bawarshi & Reiff, 2010; Duff, 2010; Lillis & Scott, 2007). For example, the use of passive voice in the Methods section of a scientific article reinforces a value of objectivity, by—literally—making the “object” the grammatical “subject” of the sentence. Of course, this value at times comes into tension with other values, such as the importance of recognizing who is providing the labor—which often gets obscured by passive voice. Conversations like these build on the rich tradition of WAC scholarship focused on making disciplinary genres and values more transparent (Thaiss & Zawacki, 2006; Wilder, 2012).

(D) Reflecting on our own language use —including our experiences with language and power—and modeling that reflective process for students. We can talk with students about the choices we make in our own writing, including the persona/tone we convey in our syllabi, during class discussion, and our feedback to students. Where appropriate, we may want to discuss the rhetorical choices in our scholarly work as well. We can convey a critical awareness of language and power by considering actions such as the following.

• Including a language acknowledgement statement in syllabus or during class (see also Mihut, 2019).
• Inviting the use of multiple languages and language varieties in course readings/media, writing assignments, and research.
• Bringing language explicitly into DEI, anti-racism, and other social justice work (See, e.g., the newly revised NCTE/CCCC position statement on Language, Power, and Action).

(E) Centering our feedback and assessment practices on rhetorical agency. Prioritizing rhetorical agency means that we emphasize concepts such as choice (versus intangible criteria such as “voice”—see Shapiro, 2022), clarity (vs. “correctness”) and effectiveness in our feedback practices. Strategies that are aligned with these emphases include:

• Providing feedback on different aspects of their writing as students progress through various stages of the writing process. Feedback on tone/word choice, style, and conventions is much more helpful after students have already had the opportunity to work on content and structure. We can therefore sequence our feedback to give them what is most useful at given points in an iterative writing process.
• Focusing on quality over quantity of feedback. We can guide our feedback according to answers to questions like the following. What are students' goals on a particular project? What linguistic choices might be helping or hindering achieving those goals? What comments will most help my students to grow as writers/language users, in terms of what language is doing and how it works (versus a single version of "correct" language)? And how can I get feedback to students in as timely a manner as possible?
• Taking reflection, growth, and labor (e.g., Carillo, 2021; Inoue, 2019) into account in assignment or course grades—while also offering language-focused feedback! We can ask students what kind of feedback they wish to receive, in light of their writerly goals, so that students get feedback they want on linguistic and rhetorical choices but are not penalized for being linguistically minoritized and/or having had less instruction in academic writing in the past. Attending to student writing goals, process, and language-level choices can help us work toward a fuller representation of writing in assessment (Poe et al., 2018; Aull, 2022).

The Upshot of FAQ 3: Descriptive attention to language allows students to recognize how form and meaning inform one another, including in SWE, so that they can make informed choices with awareness of patterns and variation. Attention to language itself supports students' rhetorical agency, our reflections on our own language socialization and use, and feedback practices that are effective and empowering for writers from a variety of language backgrounds.

Concluding Remarks

We hope the insights and strategies presented here, informed by insights from linguistics and writing studies, might empower instructors to attend to language with curiosity and criticality, recognizing the social and political tensions around linguistic patterns and norms while also building students’ (and our own) rhetorical agency vis-a-vis adopting, negotiating, and challenging those patterns and norms.

For readers who would like to learn more about working with language in the writing classroom and curriculum, stay tuned for a forthcoming Annotated Bibliography we are working on.

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Aull, L. L. (2020). How students write: A linguistic analysis . Modern Language Association.

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Aull L. L. (2023). You can't write that…8 myths about correct English . Cambridge University Press.

Baker-Bell, A. (2020). Linguistic justice: Black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy . Routledge.

Barrett, R., Cramer, J., & McGowan, K. B. (2022). English with an accent: Language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States . Routledge.

Bawarshi, A. S., & Reiff, M. J. (2010). Genre: An introduction to history, theory, research, and pedagogy . Parlor Press; The WAC Clearinghouse. https://wac.colostate.edu/books/referenceguides/bawarshi-reiff/

Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2010). Challenging stereotypes about academic writing: Complexity, elaboration, explicitness. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9 (1), 2-20.

Carillo, E. C. (2021).  The hidden inequities in labor-based contract grading . University Press of Colorado.

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Curzan, A. (2014). Fixing English: Prescriptivism and language history . Cambridge University Press.

Delpit, L. (2006).  Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom . The New Press.

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Eckstein, G., & Ferris, D. (2018). Comparing L1 and L2 texts and writers in first‐year composition. TESOL Quarterly, 52 (1), 137-162.

Gere, A. R., Curzan, A., Hammond, J. W., Hughes, S., Li, R., Moos, A., ... & Zanders, C. J. (2021). Communal justicing: Writing assessment, disciplinary infrastructure, and the case for critical language awareness. College Composition and Communication, 72 (3), 384-412.

Hyland, K. (2005). Stance and engagement: A model of interaction in academic discourse. Discourse Studies, 7 (2), 173-192.

Hyland, K. (2019). Second language writing . Cambridge University Press.

Inoue, A. B. (2019). Labor-based grading contracts: Building equity and inclusion in the compassionate writing classroom. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/labor

Junqueira, L., & Payant, C. (2015). “I just want to do it right, but it's so hard”: A novice teacher's written feedback beliefs and practices. Journal of Second Language Writing, 27, 19-36.

Kynard, C. (2007). “I want to be African": In search of a Black Radical tradition/African-American-vernacularized paradigm for "Students' Right to Their Own Language," critical literacy, and "class politics.” College English, 69 (4), 360- 390.

Lancaster, Z., & Olinger, A. R. (2014). Teaching grammar-in-context in college writing instruction: An update on the research literature. WPA-CompPile Research Bibliographies, 24 , 1-22.

Lea, M. R., & Street, B. V. (2006). The "academic literacies" model: Theory and applications. Theory into Practice, 45 (4), 368-377.

Lee, J. W. (2016). Beyond translingual writing. College English, 79 (2), 174-195.

Lillis, T., & Scott, M. (2007). Defining academic literacies research: Issues of epistemology, ideology and strategy.  Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4 (1), 5-32.

Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States . United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.

Lorimer Leonard, R. (2014). Multilingual writing as rhetorical attunement. College English, 76 (3), 227-247.

Lynch, J. (2009). T he lexicographer's dilemma: The evolution of 'proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park . Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

MacDonald, S. P. (2007). The erasure of language. College Composition and Communication , 585-625.

Matsuda, P. K. (1999). Composition studies and ESL writing: A disciplinary division of labor. College Composition and Communication, 50 (4), 699-721.

Matsuda, P. K. (2012). Let's face it: Language issues and the writing program administrator. Writing Program Administration, 36 (1), 141-164.

Matsuda, P. K., Saenkhum, T., & Accardi, S. (2013). Writing teachers’ perceptions of the presence and needs of second language writers: An institutional case study. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22 (1), 68-86.

Mihut, L. (2019). Linguistic pluralism: A statement and a call to advocacy. Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric, 18 (2), 66-86.

Mufwene, S. S., Rickford, J. R., Bailey, G., & Baugh, J. (Eds.). (2021). African-American English: Structure, history, and use . Routledge.

Nero, S., & Stevens, L. (2018). Analyzing students’ writing in a Jamaican Creole- speaking context: An ecological and systemic functional approach. Linguistics and Education, 43 , 13-24.

Nesi, H., & Gardner, S. (2012). Genres across the disciplines: Student writing in higher education . Cambridge University Press.

Olinger, A. R. (2021). Self-contradiction in faculty's talk about writing: Making and unmaking autonomous models of literacy. Literacy in Composition Studies, 8 (2), 1-38. https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1533&context=facult y

Perryman-Clark, S. M. (2013). African American language, rhetoric, and students' writing: New directions for SRTOL. College Composition and Communication, 64 (3), 469-495.

Poe, M., Inoue, A. B., & Elliot, N. (2018). The end of isolation. In M. Poe, A. B. Inoue, & N. Elliot (Eds.), Writing assessment, social justice, and the advancement of opportunity (pp. 3-38). The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2018.0155.1.3

Rossen-Knill, D. F., & Hancock, C. (2021). Linguistic Knowledge, Effective Communication, and Agency: Moving Forward in Writing Pedagogy With A Progressive Agenda. Journal of Teaching Writing, 36 (1), 1-10.

Shapiro, S. (2022). Cultivating critical language awareness in the writing classroom . Routledge.

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Tannen, D. (2013). The medium is the metamessage. Discourse, 2 , 99-117.

Thaiss, C. J., & Zawacki, T. M. (2006). Engaged writers and dynamic disciplines: Research on the academic writing life . Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.

Tieken-Boon van Ostade, I. (2010). The bishop's grammar: Robert Lowth and the rise of prescriptivism . OUP Oxford.

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Essay Writing

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Modes of Discourse—Exposition, Description, Narration, Argumentation (EDNA)—are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these approaches and students’ need to understand and produce them.

This resource begins with a general description of essay writing and moves to a discussion of common essay genres students may encounter across the curriculum. The four genres of essays (description, narration, exposition, and argumentation) are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres, also known as the modes of discourse, have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these genres and students’ need to understand and produce these types of essays. We hope these resources will help.

The essay is a commonly assigned form of writing that every student will encounter while in academia. Therefore, it is wise for the student to become capable and comfortable with this type of writing early on in her training.

Essays can be a rewarding and challenging type of writing and are often assigned either to be done in class, which requires previous planning and practice (and a bit of creativity) on the part of the student, or as homework, which likewise demands a certain amount of preparation. Many poorly crafted essays have been produced on account of a lack of preparation and confidence. However, students can avoid the discomfort often associated with essay writing by understanding some common genres.

Before delving into its various genres, let’s begin with a basic definition of the essay.

What is an essay?

Though the word essay has come to be understood as a type of writing in Modern English, its origins provide us with some useful insights. The word comes into the English language through the French influence on Middle English; tracing it back further, we find that the French form of the word comes from the Latin verb exigere , which means "to examine, test, or (literally) to drive out." Through the excavation of this ancient word, we are able to unearth the essence of the academic essay: to encourage students to test or examine their ideas concerning a particular topic.

Essays are shorter pieces of writing that often require the student to hone a number of skills such as close reading, analysis, comparison and contrast, persuasion, conciseness, clarity, and exposition. As is evidenced by this list of attributes, there is much to be gained by the student who strives to succeed at essay writing.

The purpose of an essay is to encourage students to develop ideas and concepts in their writing with the direction of little more than their own thoughts (it may be helpful to view the essay as the converse of a research paper). Therefore, essays are (by nature) concise and require clarity in purpose and direction. This means that there is no room for the student’s thoughts to wander or stray from his or her purpose; the writing must be deliberate and interesting.

This handout should help students become familiar and comfortable with the process of essay composition through the introduction of some common essay genres.

This handout includes a brief introduction to the following genres of essay writing:

• Expository essays
• Descriptive essays
• Narrative essays
• Argumentative (Persuasive) essays

Importance Of English Language Essay

500 words importance of english language essay.

The English Language is becoming more and more common in the world. As a result, increasingly people are dedicating time to study English as their second language. In fact, many countries include it in their school syllabus to teach children this language from a young age. However, the true value of this language is that it helps remove many barriers from our life. Whether it is to find a new job or travel the world. In other words, it helps to progress in life both on a personal and professional level. Thus, the Importance of English Language Essay will help you understand all about it.

Importance Of English Language

Language is our major means of communication; it is how we share our thoughts with others. A language’s secondary purpose is to convey someone’s sentiments, emotions, or attitudes. English is one such language in the world that satisfies both the above purposes. English has been regarded as the first global Lingua Franca. It has become part and parcel of almost every existing field. We use it as the international language to communicate in many fields ranging from business to entertainment.

Many countries teach and encourage youngsters to acquire English as a second language. Even in nations where English is not an official language, many science and engineering curriculum are written in English.

English abilities will most certainly aid you in any business endeavours you choose to pursue. Many large corporations will only hire professional employees after determining whether or not they speak good English. Given the language’s prominence, English language classes will be advantageous to you if you want to work for a multinational organization and will teach you the communication skills needed to network with professionals in your area or enhance your career.

The English Language opens an ocean of career opportunities to those who speak this language anywhere in the world. Similarly, it has turned into an inevitable requirement for various fields and professions like medicine , computing and more.

In the fast-evolving world, it is essential to have a common language that we can understand to make the best use of the data and information available. As a result, the English Language has become a storehouse of various knowledge ranging from social to political fields.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas  

Reasons to Learn the English Language

As the importance of the English Language is clear now, we move on to why we must learn the English Language. First of all, it is a global language. It is so common that one out of five people can speak or understand this language.

Further, learning the English Language can help in getting a job easily. As it has become the language of many fields, it automatically increases the chances of landing a good job in a good company.

In addition, it helps with meeting new people. As it is the official language of 53 countries, learning it helps to break the language barriers. Most importantly, it is also the language of the Internet.

Another important reason to learn this language is that it makes travelling easier. Being a widely used language globally, it will help you connect with people easily. Similarly, it is also essential in the world of business.

It does not matter whether you are an employee or employer, it benefits everyone. Students who wish to study abroad must definitely study this language. Many countries use their schools and universities. So, it can offer a good opportunity for students.

Why and where do we need the English language?

• Use of English on the Internet – Because of the tremendous rise of information technology, particularly the internet, English is the language of choice for Internet users. The internet has also played an important role in promoting and spreading the English language throughout the world, as more and more people are exposed to it, and English has also become the language of the internet.
• Use of English in Education – English has become one of the majorly used languages to understand, learn and explain concepts from various fields of knowledge. The majority of instructional tools, materials, and texts are written in English. The global educational systems at colleges all over the world need English as a foreign language.
• Use of English for Travel purposes – As we all know, English has been named as the official language of 53 countries and over 400 million people in the world speak English, the English language comes in handy for communicating with everyone when anyone travels around the world be it for tourism, job opportunity, settlement, casual visits, etc.
• Use of English for Communication – The most important function of a language is to allow people to communicate effectively. For many years, English has been the most widely known and valued language on the planet. In other words, English becomes an efficient tool for communicating with people all over the world.

Conclusion of Importance Of English Language Essay

We use the English Language in most of our international communications. While it is not the most spoken language in the world, 53 countries have named it their official language. Moreover, about 400 million people globally use it as their first language. Thus, being the most common second language in the world, it will be beneficial to learn this language to open doors to new opportunities.

FAQ on Importance Of English Language Essay

Question 1: How does the English Language help you get a job?

Answer 1: the  English Language is the language of many things like science, aviation, computers, diplomacy, and tourism. Thus, if you know English, it will increase your chances of landing a good job in an international company.

Question 2: Does the English Language help in connecting with people globally?

Answer 2: Yes, it does. It is because English is the official language of 53 countries and we use it as a lingua franca (a mutually known language) by people from all over the world. This means that studying English can help us have a conversation with people on a global level.

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Using Appropriate Language in Essay Writing

Writing essays, articles, novels, or any other types of work isn’t easy as it seems, that’s why students prefer to choose an essay writing service. Let’s take an essay for example; in order to impress your professor or client you have to make sure it has everything that good essay should include. You have to  understand the question , come up with concept, choose the essay topic , and find quotes, statistics or other data to support your arguments. But, that’s not enough. Using appropriate language is equally important.

I like to compare essay to a puzzle; it only counts if all pieces are at their places to form a certain picture. Without appropriate language, carefully crafted concept and other aspects equally represented in the work it doesn’t make a great impact on reader’s mind. In this article, I’m going to list a few tips and tricks that will help you use appropriate language in writing. Let’s start.

Formality Level

Most students and essay writers struggle to decide level of formality when writing, particularly when they’re composing essays or other argumentative papers. Ideally, formality level should be determined bearing in mind target audience and purpose of the work itself.

For instance, essays and other argumentative works, cover letters for job applications, or articles for reputable journals require formal style. On the other hand, emailing a friend, writing for websites that target average reader requires different language.

To make this part easier, you can just bear in mind that there are three levels of formality:

• Formal – written to unknown audience (when sending email etc), essays and other academic works
• Semi-formal – written to well-known individual or in works that are meant for general audience
• Informal – humorous content, correspondence with friends and family members, personal conversation etc.

Want more essay writing advice?

Read an ebook created by edusson.com, click below to find it out :, “essay survival guide”.

Jargon is defined as a type of language that is used in a particular context and may not be well understood outside of it. It’s also characteristic for groups of people; individuals outside that group might not understand their jokes or expressions. This also applies to different national backgrounds etc.

Why is jargon important? When writing, you have to include jargon that target audience will understand. For instance, when writing for medical journal you have to implement medical expressions in your work. When, essay writing  for school or client you have to demonstrate vast knowledge of English language by feeling free to introduce jargon regarding certain topic or niche but also making sure you’re not overdoing it.

Slang and Idiomatic Expressions

Ideally, you should avoid using slang (y’all, cool) and using idiomatic expressions (spill the beans) in academic writing. Although idioms seem quite harmless to us, they can degrade the quality of your essay. If you’re not native English speaker then idioms are something you should be careful about. They are specific to certain people, their language, and even their country and you might not understand their true meaning. Misplaced idiom is a huge no-no.

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Writing Your Essay

As I’ve already mentioned, using appropriate language is highly important for your work, regardless of the type. However, most people usually struggle finding right language for their essays. After all, writing articles or novels is somewhat easier. You already know the target audience and it makes it easier for you to choose right language. When writing essay, your job is to demonstrate knowing of the subject, develop your argument, and use formal language that is still not perceived as “arrogant” by your professor or client. Let’s see how you can accomplish that.

Create a Confident and Objective Voice

Ideally, you should use the third person most of the time. Why? It’s because using “I” in academic work depicts your personal arguments and subjectivity which isn’t practical as this type of paper should be objective .

Example: This essay discusses the importance of…

Pay attention to tense! Tenses are tricky and they pose as hidden obstacles that most people don’t avoid. Think about the purpose of the paper, it’s topic, and argument you should develop and determine the tense, past or present and make sure you don’t end up writing one sentence in past tense, next in present tense and so on.

Example: The new study published in the British Medical Journal claims that….

The Industrial Revolution had major impact upon society in multiple ways…

Avoid Complications

Just because you’re writing an academic work, it doesn’t mean you should make it complicated. It’s possible to write in formal language without making reader think “what does all this mean”.

First, always avoid contractions.

Example: instead of “don’t”, “can’t”, “shouldn’t”, “wouldn’t” you should use “do not”, “cannot”, “should not”, “would not”.

Second, use full forms of words without abbreviating them.

Example: instead of “memo”, “TV”, “quote” you should use “memorandum”, “television”, “quotation” etc.

Third, use “smarter” versions of “ordinary” words.

Example: instead of “buy”, “get” you should use “purchase”, “obtain”.

You should also:

• Avoid using too many “big words”. Keep a balance between scientific and academic expressions and ordinary language i.e. don’t use more than two academic expressions and big words per sentence. Otherwise it will look like you grabbed a thesaurus and found synonyms for every word you came up with
• Make sure that every word you write should contribute to the overall meaning of the sentence, paragraph, essay i.e. don’t fluff
• Use strong and specific verbs
• Use appropriate transitions from one sentence or paragraph onto the other
• Avoid using vague words or phrases, use specific and precise expressions
• One more time, using cliché phrases and idioms isn’t appreciated
• Avoid using taboo language, sexist expressions, assumptions, stereotypes, and generalization.

These tips are useful for type of writing but sometimes students don’t think about their necessity. To avoid mistakes while you write a speech essay ask for help from Edusson  speech writing service .

To get the best possible reaction from reader(s) of your essay, you have to adjust the language to the type of essay you’re writing . While using appropriate language is largely overlooked the truth is – it can make or break your paper. Ideally, your work should be formal and level of formality adjusted to target audience. Before you start writing, think about purpose of the paper, type of work and other parameters that tell you what type of language you should use.

Related posts:

• Ways to Improve Readability of Your Essay
• All You Need for an Exceptionally Good Compare and Contrast Essay
• How to Use Sentence Starters for Essays
• How to Write a Hook for your Essay or Paper [Examples Included]

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