ABSTRACT
If chapter 1 was about packaging, the thrust of this second chapter is content - the ideas we convey to our readers through language. One of the main assumptions of critical linguistics is that the language in the text affects the way we think. In a trivial sense this is obviously true - most people would agree that the main reason for communication is to influence the thoughts of others by what we say. Practitioners of critical discourse analysis, however, consider the effect of language on thought in more important senses:
(1) The vocabulary and grammar of a particular language predispose the speakers/writers of that language to think in certain ways about themselves, other members of society and the world around them.
