ORALITY AND LITERACY

ORALITY AND LITERACY

Orality and Literacy

Orality and Literacy

To understand the functions of literacy and to understand its relationship with orality, we first have to look at its unique characteristics. Empirical research shows that written texts are usually shorter than oral communication in transferring the same message. In the beginning, there was only orality. Literacy then arrived and secured its place in our history, a firm place. Our culture is based upon writing and reading, although not a few people manage to live without these capacities. From a technical viewpoint, compared with orality, literacy is slow to send, but fast to receive. These last facts are related, of course, but not in a simple, linear way. The more time is spent on composing a text, the more the text is usable for readers, the more attention is attracted, and the more reading time is bought; but, together with this, the more efficient this reading can be. Readers accord such a text little reading time, but if they have to read the text because it is very important for them, or if reading it is compulsory (as in education), the reading time that effectively is spent can be much higher than for carefully written texts. Another technical feature is the existence or absence of immediate feedback. Undesirable responses in oral encounters, if they become apparent, can be corrected on the spot. In that sense, a speaker is in an advantageous position compared with a writer. Only in electronic chat-rooms can you get written communication approaching the same level of interaction.

Generally speaking, it is a difficult task for the writer to gain insight into the process of reception. He cannot see his receiver and is deprived of the use of (often non-verbal) signals that tell him how his message is being interpreted. The writer does not have, on his part, the opportunity to use non-verbal cues, like his mimes, gestures, tone of voice, with which his authentic intentions can be shown. For speakers, these signals are more difficult to manipulate and are therefore used by the listener as a check on what is said verbally. On the other hand, the writer can use pictures more easily. Therefore, oral communication is much more redundant and more often uses stories, metaphors, and vivid examples. Written texts allow for more differentiation and can deliver complex figures and data. Understanding these details can be helped by the phenomenon of “internal pacing,” which means that the reader can vary the pace of the reception according to his interests. The listener lives with the speaker in one time frame, the pace of which is fixed (“external pacing”). Readers can look away from their text, but listeners cannot “hear away” that easily, although they can vary their attention level considerably. (Longman, 1987, 160)

Discussion and Analysis

Empirical research on decoding behavior shows us that readers look more at the details, at words and syntax, whereas listeners are more occupied with the intentions of the sender and the gist of ...