The World Is Predominantly Oral

Orality in History

According to orality experts, in Jesus' day the literacy rates in Palestine were between 3 and 12 percent. Dr. Søgaard, of the United Bible Society (retired) estimates that only 5 percent of the people in the New Testament churches were literate. So we should not be surprised that Jesus used stories to teach about the Kingdom of God. “He taught them many things by parables…”—Mark 4:2.

Orality Today

But what about today? Aren't most people in industrialized nations literate? The National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) was designed to measure the literacy of adults in the United States in 1992. According to NALS, about 50 percent of U.S. adults operate on an illiterate or functionally illiterate level, and another 30 percent operate at a semi-literate level. The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) showed that some other industrialized countries performed only slightly better than the U.S. and non-industrialized countries performed worse.

Every country in the world counts functionally literate and semi-literate people as literate for statistical reporting, so literacy statistics can be misleading. UNESCO reports world illiteracy at only 20 percent. Surveys like NALS, IALS and the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) better describe how people actually perform.

Orality and Literacy Statistics

All statistics are quoted from Making Disciples of Oral Learners unless otherwise noted.

58 percent of the U.S. adult population never read another book after high school.
42 percent of U.S. university graduates never read another book.
Adults in the U.S. spend four hours per day watching TV, three hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.
British teenagers' pleasure reading declined by about a third from 1991-1998.
In Denmark one-third of adults do not do any significant amount of reading.
More than half the adults in the Netherlands hardly ever read a book.
Dutch 12 year old school children spend, on average, less than half an hour a week reading in their leisure time.
Up to 85 percent of Muslim women—and 65 percent of Muslim men—are oral learners, ranging from completely non-literate to functionally illiterate. (IMB)
Over 70% of the Unreached People Groups in the world today are oral cultures. (M. David Sills)
Some 90 percent of the world's Christian workers still use literate communication styles among oral peoples.
About two-thirds of the world's population are oral learners. (ION)

What Can We Do?

The world is and has always been predominantly oral, but national and international agencies and NGOs have been fighting illiteracy for decades. We can fight illiteracy with them, or we can work with oral people where they are, using communication styles that they understand and appreciate. Ministries who use oral mission strategies like the Story Bible find that Bible stories actually give oral people the desire to learn to read.

Lastly, let us not forget the oral people living in our own communities, most of whom are low income. They are afraid to come to any church function where reading and writing might be required. You can find out more how to reach oral people locally at the Java Club.