In the section “Speaking, writing, and literacy” in the text “Old Media, New Media, and Knowledge” by J. D. Applen, he discusses Walter Ong’s idea that both orality and literacy communication “affect the way we think and understand our worlds.”
The Dialectic Method
The media and platforms we choose today carry almost as much weight as the words we use when expressing our ideas. Applen states that the written word just sits on a page. Unless you are there to clarify for those reading what you wrote, you can’t adjust to your audience. However, I believe in today’s media, these words take on something different depending on where you hit “publish” or “post.” Additionally, he says that blogs today, although written, can include a more engaged back-and-forth. Specifically, the blog author can respond to comments, similar to the oral dialectic method.
With new media today, specifically social media, I think the dialectic method is prevalent in their communication, and that online discourse is common. While the words in posts themselves are stagnant, the number of Facebook arguments I’ve seen between family members says otherwise. Social media comment sections are flooded with discussion and debate over every topic under the sun. I’d argue that, though the words are frozen, lively debates are still had. Similar to Applen’s example of blogs and clarification of ideas, even though they are not in person.
Even with the scholarship I’ve engaged with in classes, many professors have recommended reaching out to the scholars who authored the texts. Email, social media, text messaging, etc., offer so many ways to connect with others that we didn’t have before to clarify and engage in written texts.
Learning Styles
Applen also discusses an interesting concept, comparing how people learn in oral tradition cultures versus written cultures. In oral cultures, most learning happens by emulating others, whereas in written cultures, you learn a lot through “studying.” He then poses the question, “What kinds of things are best learned by reading versus emulating the actions of others?”
As an education major, I find the texts and scholarship I’m given to help me become an educator valuable. However, I would say I learned (& retained) the most in the semester I got to observe actual elementary school teachers. That said, people learn in different ways. So, what works best for me is different from what works best for someone else. In this sense, I found this to be an example of how orality shapes how I think about teaching. Getting to talk and have communication with educators in the field I’m aspiring to be a part of, I feel, gave me insight I can’t find in a book.
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