Essay on "Critical Thinking and Language Roles"

Essay 3 pages (1102 words) Sources: 0 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Critical Thinking and Language

Language Roles

Over the road trucking is heaven compared to military work. Military work is hell. Although others may find driving a truck to be boring, it is an act of meditation for me. Being alone on the open road transporting goods from place to place gives me the chance to think and enjoy experiencing different scenes across the United States. Military service, on the other hand, is stressful, as one would imagine. While it is honorable work, military work is an exercise in concentration. Imagine being in the Middle East, in an unfamiliar culture, in the middle of gunfire, and seeing sand all around. The unfamiliar environment is unnerving and frightening, but does give a person necessary skill for competing in life. Still, people need to have some skills before going into the military. I was lucky to have developed these skills, such as emotion management, before going into the military. Going into the military without these skills is jumping into the ocean without a life raft.

Part Two

Imagine two classified advertisements in a newspaper. The first reads, "couch for sale," while the other says, "deluxe sofa available." While both advertisements convey the same basic message -- that one party wishes to exchange a piece of furniture with another party for a sum of money -- language plays an important role in their differences. The second advertisement makes the item up for sale seem elegant and costly, as well as making the seller seem less than desperate to get rid of it. Would the seller be able to get more money for the item using the second advertisement; it is a possibility. This scenario is an example of the importance of language in critical thinking, expression, and persuasion, suggesting that not only what one says, but also how one says it, is of vast importance in modern communication.

When a person thinks critically, he or she is asked to enter a conversation with those who have come before, to add his or her own unique views and interpretations of an idea, thought, work, etc. To the pool of ideas that are already circulating around that abstract object. While critical thinking can be as simple as meditating on an idea in order to come up with one's own views, language plays an important part in this process. First, language plays a role in the articulation of the idea itself. If a person is trying to think critically about the idea of racism, for instance, it matters significantly how the idea of racism was presented to that person in words. Further, language plays an important role in critical thinking as one meditates on the idea, as people often think in words, though this is not always necessary. Finally, language is used when the person describes his or her thoughts on the idea to others; language determines rather the essence of those ideas is communicated or not. Consider the example of the two classified ads again. One must engage in critical thinking when deciding which piece of furniture is the best fit for one's lifestyle. Although "couch" and "sofa" are synonymous, their connotations are different. One might interpret the "couch" as a less formal piece of furniture and a "sofa" as more formal. This diversity of language affects… READ MORE

How to Reference "Critical Thinking and Language Roles" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

Language and Comprehension Thesis

Language and Comprehension are both skills that are essential for learning. Without these two entities, society would not have the capacity to function. A great deal of research has been… read more

Thesis 6 pages (1763 words) Sources: 2 Style: APA Topic: Language / Linguistics

---

Language Development Among the Very Young Term Paper

Language Acquisition

The ways in which young people go about learning how to talk have been the subject of an increasing amount of research in recent years. The research to… read more

Term Paper 7 pages (2004 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Language / Linguistics

---

Second Language Oral Production in High School Within the Context of CLIL Research Proposal

SECOND LANGUAGE ORAL PRODUCTION IN HIGHSCHOOL WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF CLIL

This study is motivated by theoretical and pedagogical interests: to inform instructional design intended to integrate language and content… read more

Research Proposal 30 pages (10651 words) Sources: 40 Topic: Language / Linguistics

---

Role of APN Research Paper

Role of an advanced practice nurse (APN) has changed and evolved over the years to the point where an APN has more authority, more respect and more responsibility -- and… read more

Research Paper 10 pages (3411 words) Sources: 7 Style: APA Topic: Nursing / Doctor / Physician

---

Theory a Critical Discussion of Teaching Approaches Essay

Theory

A Critical Discussion of Teaching Approaches in TESOL

Language teaching practice often takes for granted that most of the complexities that learners face in the study of English are… read more

Essay 15 pages (4698 words) Sources: 10 Topic: Language / Linguistics

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>