J.D. Applen brings to our attention how writing has evolved over time, from pencil and paper to a computer and keyboard. Walter Ong points out how orality and literacy affect how we think and understand our world. How we speak or pronounce things is oral speech. Ong states we can “hear” the language we are reading as if it is being spoken. I would agree because when it comes to sending text messages, I tend to say I can hear it in that person’s voice even though they aren’t verbally saying it. It’s like this unspoken understanding of tone or pronunciation. According to Ong it’s because ‘thought itself relates in an altogether special way to sound.” When you think about it, we learned how to speak before we learned how to write. Orality came first and literacy followed after.
When it comes to what Ong labeled as oral culture, this consists of learning by speaking and hearing. It’s based on apprenticeship and learning by doing rather than by reading something. However oral culture is the process of being able to express yourself, share ideas, and describe something. For example take slang, slang can be misconstrued when written down. Without verbally hearing it, you could take it and perceive it in a different way than it was meant. You are able to get your point across successfully with orality. There are many languages that only exist in oral form but not written.
Literacy Impact
As for literacy culture, you have the ability to refer back to a written document such as notes or research data. You can break down something you might have misread or misinterpreted within your own pace. However, sometimes due to lacking orality, you may not be able to successfully write what you are trying to say. Literacy and orality are both critical roles in our everyday lives. I believe they both help in understanding language better as well as human consciousness.
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