Orality
If you are interested in missions or unreached people groups, then gaining a working knowledge of orality will be a great benefit to you. The majority of unreached people are oral learners that process information very differently than we literates. If we do not understand how oral people learn and communicate, our work with them will be less effective.
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The following quiz demonstrates how different they can be:
Which one does not belong? Click an item to see results.
You must be an original thinker because no one usually chooses the saw. What would most oral communicators choose?
The axe is the only vertical object, but most people will not choose this one. What would most oral communicators choose?
Literates will say that the log doesn't belong. A “group of tools” is an abstract, literate concept. What would most oral communicators choose?
Oral communicators will likely say the hammer doesn't belong because it can't “work” the log.
Which one does not belong? Click an item to see results.
Literates will say that the orange doesn't belong because it's the only food item. What would most oral communicators say?
Oral communicators will say that the cup doesn't belong since the cup is not used to slice fruit.
The knife is the only vertical item, but what would most oral communicators choose?
Most oral and literate people agree that it's not the plate. What would most oral communicators choose?
Orality Defined
Orality can be defined as thought, and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are unfamiliar to most of the population.
There are different types of orality. Walter J. Ong, a key scholar, says that primary orality refers to cultures that are untouched by writing or print. Primary oral people have never “seen” a word.
In contrast, secondary orality (or post-literacy) refers to people who may have the ability to read and write, but prefer not to. Secondary orality displaces written words with audio/visual technologies like radio, television, telephones and internet.
Unreached People Groups Need an Oral Mission Strategy
Many of the unreached people groups in the world are not just oral; they live with no written language at all. They and other unreached people need an oral mission strategy that communicates to them in their context. You may want to find out more about the Story Bible which was specifically designed to help you effectively reach oral people.
Explore More
Find out more about orality by viewing these Web pages and PowerPoint presentations:
