LANGUAGE AND POWER : CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

This week I realized how much power language carries. I have never thought that language shapes our life so much . For example, it can make us being regarded as impressive, attractive or on the contrary, poor. What I am trying to say is that you are you, as long as you express yourself with your own way of language use. You can make everything to people with your language. You can bring news to them, teach something, lie, read a poem and affect them etc. That is what acts you out to ypur environment. I liked the passage in the readings which says ‘Language....does things: it constructs social categories, it gives orders, it persuades us,it justifies, explains,gives reasons,excuses. It constructs reality. It moves poeple against other people.(TRC,1998:7,124,294) (p.45). Language is really powerful because it constructs reality, the world.

It is good that language is powerful because we think we all know languages. But what about the disadvantages of it? Have you ever thought that language is dangerous? Dou you think it brings you trouble somehow? To be honest, I thought language is bad when you swear or say something breaking a friend’s heart. This is what lots of people do as me. However, after the lesson this week, I realized that it is so powerful that a word which is positive can also be negative for us in the long-term. It can create trouble and make us to make wrong choices and so on. The issue is other people can use the language more effectively than us. They can affect and dominate us with their language. This is the time where language is dangerous. But I know the solution; actually I have learnt it today. While you are reading ‘Critical Literacy’ must always be there. This is to read something with questioning and reasoning. You should always ask yourself questions such as Is this the reality? Is this true? Is this what the writer is trying to convey? Is there an implication? These questions will help you criticize the text and in the end you will end up with a consciously-read text which will make you get the real idea of it.  If you have critical literacy, you can protect yourself from being deceived. I decided to read with such critical approach from now on because I think I lost so much time. I hope I will be a reader who understands everything in and behind the texts.