How language influences critical thinking and interpretation

Critical Thinking and Language

My friend Mark's life at work is a hurricane of activity. Some customers bark at him. It is good he is both a ray of sunshine and a workhorse. Fortunately for his company (and him), he is an Energizer Bunny who simply never quits! He used to be a clown before he started with these slave drivers, but now he's just too tired to tickle anyone's funny bone. People who don't know him well probably think he's a lazy sloth because he's an open-mouthed trout staring at the television when he's home. He used to be a fountain of interesting information, but now he's a blank page. That is because he's a zombie. When he does sleep, his roommates say he's a rock.

The poor devil works at Liberty Tax, where his job is a merry-go-round of preparing and filing income tax returns. He's the office hummingbird, flying about at top speed. Others are glad he's a busy bee, since their supervisor is a snake, always sneaking up and biting them with even more demands.

Mark says most customers are pussycats, but some are bears, especially if he tells them they owe income tax. Last week he had avalanches of tax returns to prepare, about twenty-five of those monsters in one day. I'm glad he's a tower of strength on days like that! His boss is a mule: everything must be done his way. His heart is stone. Every day last week, Mark had to be a lark and arrive at his office (a cracker box) by 7 A.M. sharp. He didn't leave that hole in the wall, either, until the cows came home. Now that's slavery!

I'm not sure people know what a brain he is. There, he's just part of the herd. The only thing they probably see is his looks. He's no ugly duckling! The company president would probably appreciate them all more if he weren't an old goat.

Part Two: Address the following questions:

1)What role does language play in the critical thinking process?

The role language plays in the critical thinking process is a crucial one: language is never independent of the context in which it is written or spoken. Language may encourage, discourage, help, or hinder critical thinking, but language is never neutral. Examples of ways language impacts critical thinking occurred often in the recent 2004 presidential campaign. When President Bush said, in one of the debates, "Freedom is on the march!" (referring to America's role in Iraq) it was up to those watching to use their critical thinking skills (or not) to decide for themselves if the President's words had weight merely because he was President; if their idea of "freedom" matched his; or if progress (e.g., the "march" toward "freedom") was occurring as he said. One cannot have critical thinking without language, and most language at least invites critical thinking (even if critical thinking does not take place).

3)What is the role of critical thinking in persuasion?

Persuasion requires use of logic of some sort, and logic cannot be constructed, expressed, or appreciated without ability to first recognize it, and then evaluate it using one's own critical thinking capacities. Persuasion also involves convincing others that, for instance, action must be taken; something must change (or remain the same); a certain decision (instead of another decision) must be made, etc. Critical thinking about material meant to persuade involves filtering the message according to one's standards, ideas, or beliefs. On the other hand, to be "persuaded" about something objectively true (or false) requires no critical thinking. If someone states, "A week has eight days," no critical thinking is required to remain un-persuaded. However, if someone else suggests, "A week should have eight days," one may be persuaded of that, based on one's perception of what the statement means; one's own values, concerns, and reasoning, and the perceived reasoning behind the statement. Therefore, persuasion may or may not require critical thinking, depending on content and context of the intended message, the way the speaker uses language, and (in some cases) the credibility or authority of the speaker. Speakers may or not persuade audiences, too, again based on those factors.