How does critical thinking relate to the study of a Foreign Language?
Let’s get to the “bad news” first: There are many things to memorize in language-learning, especially vocabulary and grammar. We typically think of memorization as the opposite of thinking, especially critical thinking. However, memorization is only the beginning. The good news, the part that means we get to use our creativity and higher thinking, is that language is not about just memorization, or else we could simply memorize a dictionary and a grammar book and spit out perfect sentences. Even computer-translation programs cannot do this. When we use that vocabulary and grammar, we are continually putting together the things we memorize into something meaningful. This involves many thinking processes. Grammar is like a puzzle… You have to look at and analyze the different parts of a sentence in order to know what’s being said and how you could use those words later to say other things. Every time you make a sentence in your new language, you figure out (identify) what you want to s
