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The English Is Not English

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English 191 is NOT English The English language has been around for more than 1,400 years. This means that the language has been debated for many years. Studying English is required by all high schools across our nation. We have studied grammar, written texts, and applied our knowledge with our own writings. English 191 is not English because the class studies communication, focuses on critical thinking, and the course outcomes are centered on how to use this class for future classes at St. Cloud State University. First of all, all of the topics we have covered so far in class have been focused on communication. The subject of communication is an entirely different area of study. It is independent of English. Our basis of knowledge in …show more content…

Not only do we study communication in general, but two of the three pieces of work we have analyzed in class are speeches. The evidence I have outlined above points to the theory that English 191 is a communications class because of the units we study, the course description, the course outcomes, and what certain types of texts we study. English 191 is a course that engages us to become critical thinkers and actively participate with our peers. This class is a precursor to English classes. The syllabus indicates that we will spend most of our time dealing with “how we think and what we know”. This lays the groundwork for critical thinking. We use how we think and what we know to make judgements, which is critical thinking. This statement alone proves that this class deals a lot with critical thinking. The syllabus goes on even further to say: “Our focus will be on critical thinking and challenging our assumptions.” English is the study of language. From my viewpoint, we must be open-minded critical thinkers in order to study English. I prefer to think of this class as a precursor to all English classes, and even arguably, all college-level courses. Secondly, this class encourages engagement between our fellow students. Part of our grade is based on participation. This means offering insight in class discussion and listening to other students. We are also required to share at least five of our in-class writings out loud. These components do not

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