The Importance Of Oral Language

Language has a complex set of symbols and speech patterns that is only used by human beings. We convers using oral language in conjunction with body language and take spoken language a step further with written language. Language is a cognitive process, whether it be talking, drawing, writing, sharing heritage through story time or revising and learning through reading written works. In each case, the use of our physical bodies to make phonic speech patterns or write a dissertation for the learning of one’s self and others is involved in speaking and writing. Once oral language and reading and writing is mastered, meaning that the components of language are understood and practiced (which is on-going for life), a person is deemed literate.

Oral language requires both verbal and non-verbal (body languages: gesture/facial expression) mechanisms for successful communication. Fellows and Oakley (2014), describe oral language further by elaborating on expression and interpretation between two (or more) people involved in a conversation. They refer to it as “encoding” (expressive) and “decoding” (receptive), where one person interprets what is said and responds in kind. The way a person holds themselves (posture), personal space, expression and gesture, as well as a person’s use of tone, volume and pitch (intonation) attribute to the way others decode information presented during discourse. In accordance with this, context is relevant including the setting and environment the conversation takes place (Fellows & Oakley, 2014 and Gee & Hayes, 2011). The factors above are unlikely to be used when writing, either formally or informally. For example, in the home or at a café where people converse in person about many kinds of things, slang, shortened words, one’s physical signals are taken into account and contribute to

Body language is replaced with punctuation and assertion of emphasis through the use of exclamation marks or underlining, for example. The written word is also permanent allowing for organisation and structure so readers will be able to analysis, follow, understand and develop a viewpoint about the writing, however, most often the reader does not interact with the writer. This is evident in online learning and other types of study. The structure of writing includes design properties like vowels, consonants and syllables, names, verbs, sentences and grammar which help to convey meaning and can be written in a formal or informal capacity Berk, 2006; Bright, 2012: and Crystal, 2005). The structure of writing is set in such a way to imply greater understanding in the absence of body language, facial expression and