Critical reading
Read critically: separate fact from opinion, spot bias and weak arguments, and evaluate how reliable a source is.
In this lesson you will
- Distinguish fact and opinion
- Spot bias, loaded language and weak reasoning
- Evaluate sources
Learn
Fact vs opinion: facts can be checked (The bridge opened in 2019); opinions are judgements (The bridge is ugly). Many texts mix them — sometimes deliberately.
Loaded language pushes feelings: a reckless scheme, a heroic decision, so-called experts. Neutral: a plan, a decision, experts.
Weak reasoning: overgeneralisation (all young people…), false cause (A happened, then B, so A caused B), either/or (we ban it or society collapses), attacking the person instead of the argument.
Source check: Who wrote it? What’s their purpose (inform, sell, persuade)? Is there evidence? Is it recent? Do other reliable sources agree?
Examples
- Fact: Unemployment fell by 2% last year.
- Opinion: The government’s policy has been a disaster.
- False cause: Ice-cream sales and drownings both rise in summer, so ice cream causes drowning.
- Loaded: “so-called experts”.
Vocabulary
bias
unfair support for one side
loaded language
words chosen to create strong feelings
reliable
can be trusted
false cause
wrongly assuming one thing caused another
overgeneralise
make a claim too wide
In real life
Read the opinion piece and evaluate it.
Ban phones in schools — now. Every teacher knows that smartphones have destroyed children’s ability to concentrate. Since phones became common, test scores in our town have fallen, which proves that phones are to blame.
So-called experts who defend phones in class are clearly out of touch with real classrooms. Either we ban phones completely, or we accept a generation that cannot think. A school in a nearby city banned phones last year and its students are now happier, according to its head teacher.
The choice is obvious. Our children deserve better.
Practice
“Every teacher knows…” is an example of…
Speaking
Explain three weaknesses in the opinion piece, then say what evidence would make the argument stronger.
Writing
Rewrite the opinion piece (120–150 words) as a balanced, evidence-based argument without loaded language.
Lesson quiz
Which is a fact?
Review
Key points
- Fact vs opinion.
- Loaded language.
- Weak reasoning: overgeneralising, false cause, either/or.
- Check the source.
What you learned
- ✓ I read critically.
- ✓ I spot bias and weak arguments.
- ✓ I evaluate sources.