Belonging for One, Belonging for All: Language as Covenant

Published on April 8, 2026
TESOL 2026
Carl Hernandez, BYU Vice President for Belonging
 
Fostering and maintaining a sense of belonging is at the heart of successful learning. Words matter. Language understanding promotes individual engagement in transitory matters such as making contracts. When viewed as covenantal in nature, language becomes an essential element of establishing and sustaining both individual and collective belonging in society.
 
Carl Hernandez, BYU Vice President for Belonging and law professor, was born into a migrant farmworker family in California’s Central Valley. He founded the BYU Community Legal Clinic and the No More a Stranger Foundation.
 
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