Orality

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[edit] Introduction


Orality refers to the style of communication between individuals and generations that functions without the use of a writing system. However, it is a deeper concept than the mere absence of writing. It produces its own thought forms and processes that constitute ways of learning, conceptualising, and communicating that are quite distinct from those of literate thinkers and communicators. Oral thought processes are less linear, and logic is associative rather than deductive and sequential. Orality also affects worldview, particularly in the area of truth perception. For literates “truth is seen as consisting in facts – specific descriptive statements about an objective, perceivable reality. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts. The oral culture, on the other hand, places priority on relationships, which produces a concept of dynamic truth […] This focuses on relational skills, and truth is seen in terms of personal integrity and fulfilment of relational and family obligations” (Orville Boyd Jenkins,“Orality and the Post-literate West” [1]). An oral culture is characterised by relational, face-to-face communication using stories, proverbs, drama, songs, chants, poetry and others forms of participative, communal and interactive events. These various means of communication are also called communication art forms.

[edit] Who are the oral learners?


Around two-thirds of the world’s population, either by necessity or choice, are oral communicators, and they are found in every cultural group in the world. Among unreached people groups – those not highly penetrated by the gospel – or language groups without the Scriptures, the figure is significantly higher. One people group that interestingly and perhaps unexpectedly often displays many of the traits that scholars associate with the term orality (although it cannot properly be called “oral”) is deaf people.

Apart from those who have known only oral communication all their lives (“primary orality”), an increasing number of previously literate communicators, influenced by the audio-visual impact of mass media (TV, radio, telephones, interactive computer software, movies, music, etc), are adopting orality as their preferred communication style (“secondary orality”). This is often referred to as “post-literacy”. It should also be noted that many members of so-called literate societies are in fact only semi-literate at best, and are more comfortable with oral communication (in the USA for example up to 50% of the population have poor literacy skills [2]).

On the spectrum of learning styles from primary oral learners to highly literate learners, there are generally recognised to be five broad categories: 1) primary illiterates; 2) functional illiterates; 3) semi-literates; 4) functional literates; 5) highly literate. (The categorisation is that of James B Slack, reproduced in Making Disciples of Oral Learners, Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation (Lausanne Covenant) and International Orality Network, page 22f. [3]) Only the “highly literate” primarily use a literate communication style, while even “functional literates” learn and communicate a significant amount in oral ways. While there are many people who use only oral communication styles, there is not really anyone who exclusively uses literate means of learning and communicating. This does not diminish the value of literate learning, but rather brings the value of oral learning into perspective. Needless to say, these categories bear no necessary relation to intelligence. Many primary illiterates, for example, have memorisation skills that are superior to many highly literate learners. (See for example James B Slack’s article “Oral Memory and its Implications Concerning Chronological Bible Storying”. [4]

[edit] History


Scientific study of oral tradition can be traced back at least to Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic (1787-1864), and was later developed by such scholars as Antoine Meillet (1866-1936), Milman Parry (1902-1935), and Albert Lord (1912-1991). But a more direct influence on Christian communication was the work of media theorist Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980 – see his The Medium is the Message and The Gutenberg Galaxy), combined with the work of his protégé, the Jesuit Walter Ong (1912-2003 – especially his famous Orality and Literacy (1982) but see also his more specifically Christian The Presence of the Word (1967)). In 1986 John Miles Foley was instrumental in founding the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition at the University of Missouri “as a national and international focus for interdisciplinary research and scholarship on the world’s oral traditions”. [5]

[edit] Mission implications


Literates (who make up the majority of cross-cultural Christian workers) use such things as lists, outlines, word studies and analytical presentations to communicate, but for those ensconced in an oral culture (whether primary or secondary) this approach will be hard, sometimes impossible, to understand. James B Slack in “The Ways People Learn” writes:

Oral communicators prefer that information come to them in the form of narratives or stories. In fact, if they have a teaching, a concept, or a principle they want to remember, they will clothe it in a story. Expositional presentations such as outlines, steps, principles, or lists of any kind are formidable obstacles to them. They find it difficult to understand them, and certainly cannot recall them. Knowledge for oral communicators, and especially illiterates, consists only of what can be recalled.

This creates a significant challenge for the mission enterprise of the Church which has been used to using literate communication styles to present the gospel. Since at least the last quarter of the twentieth century there has been a growing recognition that many literate communicators of the gospel working in cross-cultural situations must learn appropriate oral communication skills if they are to have any real chance of being heard and understood by those they seek to reach, and there are now many initiatives seeking to achieve this goal.

Using oral communication to pass on the Christian gospel goes back at least to Jesus himself who “used stories when he spoke to the people. In fact, he did not tell them anything without using stories” (Matthew 13:34, CEV). Down the centuries many Christian communicators have ably adapted their presentation style to accommodate their hearers’ needs and preferences, and this has often entailed learning oral communication skills. (Some examples have been usefully collated by J O Terry of the International Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, in “In Defense of ‘Storying’”.) So the current emphasis on oral communication is not new. But the 1980s saw the start of a more systematic approach to the subject, a far greater readiness to acknowledge the value and need of oral communication, and a much wider collaboration between media specialists, educators, linguists, mission agencies, and others in learning and using oral communication skills and developing specifically orality-based programs for sharing the Christian gospel. A range of influential networks and initiatives has been launched to promote awareness of orality issues, train workers in oral skills, and facilitate the spread of the gospel using appropriate oral communication. Some of these are:

[edit] International Orality Network

[edit] Chronological Bible Storying

[6] – a widely-used scheme for telling the Bible’s story in chronological order using dramatised episodes taken from the Scriptures.

[edit] Storytelling: Some Frequently Asked Questions:

[edit] A Case for the Longer-Term Use of Oral Storying

[edit] Storytelling among the Kao Bu

[edit] Awakening Through Storytelling

[edit] OneStory Partnership

[7] – a network uniting five mission agencies (Campus Crusade, International Mission Board, Wycliffe International, YWAM, and Trans World Radio) in the oral proclamation of the gospel.

[edit] Why Bible translation?

  • A veteran missionary told us in many cultures people do not read. They rely on word of mouth communications rather than the printed word. That might seem to diminish the need for the printed word, but actually the printed word is the very foundation for oral-based evangelism and discipleship materials. People need the Scriptures in their own language before someone can produce Bible skits, parables, radio programs, films, etc. for them. How people can memorize Scripture verses, if there no translation in their language? Therefore, there is no way getting around the urgent need for Bible translation, even with oral cultures.

[edit] External Link

[edit] External Link

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