Critical Response: The Decline of Public Language

Running head: CRITICAL RESPONSE: THE DECLINE OF PUBLIC LANGUAGE 1
Critical Response: The Decline of Public Language
Name
Institution

CRITICAL RESPONSE: THE DECLINE OF PUBLIC LANGUAGE 2
Introduction
Wente’s discusses the importance of the public language. She goes against the views of
many people and argues that public language has a deeper meaning that it can be seen from the
face value point of view. Margaret Wente is a writer and one of the leading Canadian columnists.
Her writing is mainly focused on social, education and health care issues (Globe and Mail,
2018). In the column “The Decline of Public Language” Wente states that the language of the
market is influencing public language. From Wente’s perspective, public language is an essential
tool and therefore, it should be characterized by specific values like love, emotion, hope and
show the possibility for change.
Summary
Wente presents language as the usual conversation between individuals in public. She
mentions a hockey player in the studio who is referring to the game as a product. Secondly, she
sees citizens as clients even in the political sphere. Wente also talks of management speak where
everyone appears to like to be in a homeless shelter since charitable organizations, museums
universities and hospitals do not have a strategic plan, vision or vision. According to Wente,
people in the civil service depend on the management speak since they have to assure their
shareholders they are operating on a business-like a model. At this point, the author strives to
show how ambitions, plans, and visions are influenced and progressed by leading Canada’s
outstanding personalities in communication, business, politics, and science.
Wente judges that public language is a conversation between people “It is a language for
formal conversation between people in public” (p. 31). As a conversation, the language should
encompass aspects like love, emotion, hope, and change. In using love and emotion in the public
language, Wente seems to show that a good public language should possess the attributes of care,