Language As A Barrier To Critical Thinking

 

Language As A Barrier To Critical Thinking

M. Bakri Musa

March 1, 2026

Updated excerpt from my Qur’an, Hadith, and Quran In Critical Thinking

 

A correlate of culture is language. Malay is Malaysia’s national language, and tied with that are her education and other policies. Language steers our thought processes, as per Whorf and Sapir.

Language influences the way we look at and thus think of reality. Whorf and Sapir Theory has been challenged or its scope narrowed. Regardless, learning another language would give us a different perspective on life and reality.

 

         Just the simple act of where you put the adjective, as before the noun in English (beautiful house) versus after, as in Malay “rumah cantek,” (house beautiful) can imperceptibly modify one’s thought processes.

 

         There is another aspect of language, its role in binding people to a group or organization. Thus the “secret” language of prepubescent teenagers and the specific lingos and slangs of cult groups including and especially religious ones. In her book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Amanda Montell uses the phrase “thought-terminating clichés,” the antithesis of critical thinking, to control thoughts and curb independent thinking in cult and religious groups. Consider such phrases as “Pendatang,” “Ketuanan Melayu,” and “Special Privileges.” When they are invoked, rational thoughts and discussions are thrown out the window.

 

         Examine religious discourses even at such places as at the universities. Once certain scholars or ancient revered texts are quoted, the discussion ends. In discussing Malay backwardness for example, religious leaders’ response would be a dismissive “We are concerned not with this material temporal world but the permanent Hereafter!” End of discussion! With that, the acceptance or at least tolerance of your current hellish state.

 

         Consider Malay and English. The two languages have, among other things, different intonations. With English, the emphasis is on the first syllable; in Malay, the last. When you haphazardly jumble between the two you would get the typical irritating “Manglish” (Malaysian English). Cognitive dissonance of the highest degree, akin to singing in jumbled keys!

 

           I find Manglish difficult to comprehend as well as disorienting and very irritating. There is something else more profound. Manglish reflects the cluttered thinking as well as underlying sense of inferiority complex of the speakers. Malays from esteemed professors to national leaders sprinkle their speeches with English to prove that they can also speak the language or that they have been educated abroad.

 

         I cannot remember the late Tengku Abdul Rahman, the country’s first Prime Minister, ever doing that. When he spoke in Malay while campaigning in the kampungs, he used pure albeit aristocratic or archaic Malay, but never rojak or the bazaar variety. Nor did he need to sprinkle his speeches with English words. The man went to Cambridge. 

 

            Today for a refreshing departure, watch how Canadian leaders speak. Canada is bilingual - English and French. When Prime Minister Mark Carney gives a press conference or addresses Parliament, he would give it in total English or French, and then translate that into the other language. No irritating jumbling a la Malaysian leaders. That also reflects the clear thinking of Canadians. There is more. Canadians respect both languages and their native speakers.

 

         Manglish reflects the basic inferiority and insecurity of Malays. Likewise, the promiscuous and haphazard “Malaynising” English words as with situasi (situation) and mengappresiasikan (to appreciate).

 

         More pernicious and ever irritating if not distracting is that Malay leaders are now adding flourishes of Arabic in their speeches in addition to their already irritating Manglish. They do so less for clarity more to impress their listeners with their religious knowledge.

 

         Witness Malaysian official functions. It is not enough for the speakers to just say “Selamat Datang” as in days of yore. Instead, there would be the inevitable long salutations praising God, the Prophet as well as the sultans, together with the long droning recitations of the Qur’an. They would run for hours as if the participants had nothing else to do except listen to long boring speeches. It is not that they do not have anything to say or do, more that they are incompetent. Hence any excuse to get distracted with such prolonged salutations and elaborate ceremonies.

 

Next:  Benefits of Bilingualism