When Word Becomes Thought: An Analysis of the Written Word Creating Critical Thinking in an ESL Setting

Abstract

The ability to read and fully comprehend is a major step in an individual's education. The same text on the page speaks differently to each person. Historically, information was disseminated orally through storytellers and scribes, as Jean-Paul Sartre notes in his autobiography ‘Les Mots’ (1964), where he describes the difference between being told a story and being read one by his mother. The path of understanding whatever subject matter is being read subtly alters everything, moving the words from the page to the conscious grasp of meaning and the ‘texture’ of the words. What do we mean by ‘texture’ in this context? Texture, broadly, can be contextualized and broken down into superficial meaning, detailed in-depth meaning, subconscious meaning that may be attributed to it, and the reader's grasp of it. Mikhail Bakhtin speaks of heteroglossia, and Louise Rosenblatt speaks of the efferent-aesthetic scale while reading and assimilating the written word. We use the term ‘language’ even though the spoken word differs from what is on the page or in other media, such as a computer screen. Our understanding also brings about dimensions and grades of perception. In an ESL setting, especially, being able to layer multiple processes of literary theory and outlook helps to deepen and widen understanding and perspective significantly. Readers can tether their reading to these to enhance their reading experience rather than be confined to rote learning and explanatory frameworks. They build their own scaffolding, and this architecture is unique to each reader.