CHAPTER 4 (BOOK)

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking

Ability to create an opinion with factual supporting evidence that is rational

Message

final concept of the idea formulated by the sender

Various forms of sending a message

spoken words, written words, nonverbal, pictures, film, advertisements, memes, visual, and performing arts

Different purposes of a message

To inform or educate, To entertain, To persuade

To inform or educate

your message should be neutral and unbiased

To entertain

your message should give your audience an enjoyable and relaxing feeling

Usual platforms for the purpose of "to entertain"

music, movies, television, sitcoms, sport broadcasts, social networks, and entertainment media

To persuade

you should direct your audience towards your point

To persuade

the most challenging purpose of messages

To persuade

you have to change the mindset of your audience and make them believe the idea you are offering

Usual platforms for the purpose of "to persuade"

advertisements, political speeches, political blogs, and social media posts

people who transmit and control most of the messages you receive

mass, interactive, and emerging media, corporations, governments, and individuals

Corporations

also called media conglomerates

Corporations

They own most media forms we consume (e.g television, radio, film, music, websites)

Goals of Corporations

to prosper their respective business

Government

also known as state

Government

owned media

Government

media produced or funded by the government

Individuals

refers to independent media

Individuals

forms of media free from the influence of the corporate or the government

How to convey the message

Have an objective, Consider your Audience, Be clear, Check for understanding

Have an objective

you should identify why you will communicate with the person

Consider your audience

consider who, tone, sentence structure, topic, word choice (best way to communicate the message)

Be clear

Make sure your audience understands what you mean. Keep the message short and direct, no irrelevant information, no unfamiliar jargon, and no ambiguous terminologies

Check for understanding

make sure the conversation is two-way, and listen to their reactions and answer their clarifications.

Understanding the audience

You should realize that the person or the audience you are communicating with has a purpose; you should identify that purpose and consider their motivations to fit the message to their point of view

Demographics

Ethnicity, race, religion, sex and gender, marital status, age, group affiliation, occupation/socioeconomic status regions

Psychographics

Motivation, values, level of agreement or attitude, beliefs

Situational information

environmental factors and temporal factors

environmental factors

Nature of event, location, size of audience, physical arrangement, technology

temporal factors

Time-of-day, speaking order, length of speech

Reading

Connect ideas from the page to your mind. It allows you to be as imaginative as you can

Critical reading

Is a more active way of unveiling information and ideas presented by the text

strategies in critical reading

Monitor comprehension, metacognition, graphic organizers, answering questions, recognizing story structure, summarizing

Monitor comprehension

You should identify your limits on vocabulary, understanding important ideas presented, connecting ideas to form a logical conclusion etc.

Metacognition

You should also recognize how you process thinking

Graphic organizers

If you are a visual learner, you may use graphic organizers to make it easy for you to understand text. Maps, graphs, frames, clusters, webs, storyboards, and venn diagrams are some examples of it.

Answering questions

Asking questions will give you a purpose for reading critically

Recognizing story structure

You can use this strategy when you are reading fiction

Summarizing

You can use this strategy when writing research. You determine what is important or what the main idea is in the text and write it using your own words.

Listening

is significant in oral communication

Critical listening

Is a logical process of scrutinizing what you have listened to

be attentive but relaxed

focus on what the speaker is saying by mentally screening out distractions

avoid interrupting the speaker and imposing your ideas

A good listener will encourage the speaker to say more, you can do this by asking questions like "why?" to prompt the speaker to go on and continue speaking

Wait for the speaker to pause before you ask clarifying questions

Do not ask questions while the speaker is still speaking

pay attention to nonverbal cues and look beyond the spoken message

as the receiver, you should learn how to decode the spoken message and the nonverbal signs that go together with the message sent

keep an open mind and be empathic

do not let your biases and prejudice affect how you listen to a speaker. You cannot listen well if you criticize the person

listen and try to visualize what the speaker is saying

create visuals in your mind while listening to the speaker

give the speaker regular feedback

you may use gestures like nodding, smiling and frowning to give the speaker feedback.

Critical viewing

Is just as important as critical reading and critical listening. It entails comprehension, interpretation, and evaluation of the information presented

Extended comprehension strategies

Broaden learning around video and streaming content and opportunities for more complex thinking about that content