Talk:Psycholinguistics/Language and Thought
Add topicThe textbook chapter Language and Thought, written by Maged Aly, seemed to be an arduous read at first glance. However, the actual perusal of its contents revealed a pleasurable, informative and thought-provoking article. After several reads of the chapter in its entirety, I promptly consulted the rubric provided online, which directed any subsequent analysis to adhere generally to a few main aspects of the article, chiefly structure, organization, analysis, references and writing style. I have thereby attempted to use these key points as guidelines for my review of this chapter.
Right off the bat, it is made readily apparent by the author’s introduction that the chapter does indeed strongly possess the characteristics of cohesiveness and coherency. The presence of logical flow is established via the author’s initial overview on the topic. The introduction is effective in bringing the reader up to speed on the current state of research conducted on language and thought in a concise manner, breaking down the subsequent sections and presenting them clearly.
Moving onto the meat and potatoes of the chapter, the author guides the reader through the main concepts regarding language and thought in somewhat chronological order. The sections are divided clearly and logically; they are relatively easy to understand and are well-written, apart from a few spelling and grammar mistakes. References are cited for most points stated in the chapter, and the author has made an effort in being impartial and unbiased in the presentation of the theories. However, there were some aspects of the chapter such as the section on Memory and Language that could have been expanded further. There is an adequate amount of detail in the rest of the chapter, yet elaboration on certain points would most certainly have been welcome, the section on Aphasia and Thought being an example. Despite this shortcoming, the chapter was solid in its information overall.
Another point of concern is the dependency of the chapter on one specific journal article, namely the information cited from” Leva, 2011”. Although there is undoubtedly a variation in both references and viewpoints, there was still an unshakeable feeling that a substantial portion of the chapter did indeed stem from the aforementioned journal article. However, this does not serve as a detriment to the quality of the chapter, and it is imperative to note that there is still a wealth of information to be gleaned overall.
Ultimately, the author does a commendable job of integrating the many concepts and theories, presenting them in a way in which the relations between them are not difficult to comprehend. It was not a chore to read through the chapter, yet explanation or elaboration would have certainly softened the impact of the complexity of the information presented, especially for a reader like myself who is more or less ignorant about the topic. However, the chapter effectively did its job in conveying the ideas behind language and thought, and I am now considerably more knowledgeable about the topic than I was prior to reading it. The contents are written clearly using simple, understandable language, with a few exceptions mostly pertaining to the explanation of some of the more cryptic terminology used. As mentioned earlier, the author leads the reader on a logical train of thought, which results in a rather satisfying journey of knowledge by the time one gets to the end of the chapter. All in all, I find this chapter on Language and Thought to be informative, useful and an engaging read.