Critical Thinking and Language Essay

Running head: CRITICAL THINKING AND LANGUAGE ESSAY

Part I.

        I am writing about my rug rat, Jelani. Jelani was born on May 20, 2004 at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. She was born at 9:31 in the morning. Born the size of a Christmas ham, Jelani weighed six pounds, six ounces and was nineteen inches long. As soon as Jelani was born she became the light of my life. Jelani is growing too fast for me. Once she started walking at nine months, I have not been able to keep up with her. She thunders around the house laughing and squealing like a pig. She talks a mile a minute in a language that only her and her daycare buddies can understand. I cannot wait until I can understand exactly what she wants. Jelani has a bubbly personality that is shown through her smile and laughter. When I talk or think about her, my face lights up with joy. I am so proud to have a beautiful and loving daughter. Jelani is the apple of my eye!

Part II.         

Language is one the most important aspects of human life. Without it how would we voice our feelings or beliefs? In this paper, I will discuss the importance of language and language diversity in the critical thinking process.  Language can have a major impact on our thought process and how we share our thoughts with someone else. Lastly, I will discuss the role critical thinking has in persuasion.  

Language and language diversity play an important role in the critical thinking process. Language is the human use of spoken or written words as a communication system. (Encarta, 2005). Words are symbols in which we as humans use to communicate with each other. “We think with words. We have defined thinking broadly as the activity of the brain that can potentially be communicated. Although we may think in other ways besides language, such as with images or feeling, language plays a central role in our thinking.” (Kirby & Goodpaster, 1999). When we are babies, words are thrown at us and as we grow, we associate words with objects. When we think of different words, images for those words enter our mind.

        Language diversity can either limit or broaden our critical thinking process. Depending on the language we speak can determine how we think. We can learn a foreign language, but not necessarily think the same words as we know them. For example, if an English speaking American is having a conversation with a Spaniard that has learned English, the Spaniard may know what the American is talking about, but may not be thinking the same way the American would be thinking. Americans can think of many different examples for different words. When we think of the word car, we think of Ford, Chevrolet, compact, sport utility, four doors or two doors, and so on. When speaking to a Spaniard about cars they may only think of a car as something with four wheels. Americans can put many different images with a single word and some foreign languages are limited in their thinking ability. They may only think of one or two images for a certain word.