Language, the brain and behaviour: A lesson from George orwell

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 10.42.38 amEric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, wrote one of the most popular 20 -century English novels in 1949, Nineteen Eighty-Four. The book’s appendix was referred to as “The Newspeak Appendix” and it described a new language, the purpose of which was to control thought. Orwell showed how language affects the brain, the mind (thought), and behaviour.

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A Newspeak root word served as both a noun and a verb, thereby reducing the total number of words in the language. For example, “think” is both a noun and verb, so the word thought is not required and could be abolished. Newspeak was also spoken in staccato rhythms with syllables that were easy to pronounce, thus making speech more automatic and nonconscious and reducing the likelihood of thought.

According to this scenario, if the word “freedom” or “liberty” were not in the vocabulary, the concept would not exist. By this logic, if a language had a word such as democracy (demo = common people + cracy = rule or government by), that term would carry with it a significant concept.

In my discipline and learning system, the four vocabulary terms were chosen specifically because of the concepts they represent. For example, the reason that the Hierarchy of Social Development is so powerful in having students want to behave responsibly and achieve at the highest level (Level D, Democracy) is that at this level a person feels satisfied by being motivated to do what is right. All the levels are clearly explained and illustrated in Children of the Rainbow School.

Here is another example of how vocabulary is so important and related to behaviour: Summer vacation is over, and your self-talk is, “I have to go to school tomorrow.” Now compare this with, “I get to go to school tomorrow.” Changing self-talk from have to into get to changes not only our attitude but our feelings as well.

This is the reason that young people should be spoken to with empowering terms and empowering questions, such as, “I’m sure you can do it; I know how capable you are.” And “If you could not fail, how would you handle this?”

One salesgirl in a candy store always had customers lined up waiting while other salesgirls stood around. The owner of the store noted her popularity and asked for her secret. “It’s easy,” she said. “The other girls scoop up more than a pound of candy and then start subtracting some. I always scoop up less than a pound and then add to it.” People are like magnets. They are drawn to the positive and are repelled by the negative. This is an important principle to understand when working with others. People who are effective in influencing other people phrase their language in positive and empowering terms.

When you walk into a restaurant, which would you rather hear: “I can’t seat you for thirty minutes” or “In thirty minutes I will have a wonderful table for you”? The result is the same, but the perception and feelings are different.

The language we use can have a dramatic effect on young people’s behaviour. The first step is awareness. To assist in becoming aware of negative statements, listen to yourself. When catching yourself saying something that paints a negative picture, take the extra step of thinking how it could be rephrased to paint a positive picture. Adults do not purposely set out to deprecate young people; awareness of empowering language can ensure they do not. For example, rather than saying, “Did you forget again?” say, “What can you do to help yourself remember?” Rather than, “When will you grow up?” say, “As we grow older, we learn how to solve these problems from such experiences.”

Many years ago, the first day of school began on a bright note for the new teacher who was glancing over the class roll. After each student’s name was a number 118, 116, 121, and so on. “Look at these IQs,” the teacher thought. “They have given me a terrific class!” As a result, the elated teacher challenged his students, raised their expectations, and communicated his confidence in them. The teacher tried innovative techniques and involved students so they became active learners. The class did much better than expected. Only later did the teacher find out that the numbers placed by students’ names on new class roll sheets were locker numbers.

A starting point is always to ask yourself, “How can I say that in an empowering way?” because the language used affects the brain, thinking and behaviour.

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Dr. Marvin Marshall


Dr. Marvin is an international staff developer and the author of the best-selling book, Discipline Without Stress, Punishments or Rewards: How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning. His approaches demonstrate how using internal motivation and non-coercion is far more effective and significantly less stressful than using threats, punishments, rewards, and other manipulations aimed at obedience. www.marvinmarshall.com