THE WAYS PEOPLE LEARN By Dr. James B. Slack Exploring the ...

THE WAYS PEOPLE LEARNBy Dr. James B. SlackExploring the Implications of Orality, Literacy and Chronological Bible StoryingConcerning Global EvangelizationIn order for literates to choose the proper communication style for presenting the Gospelto those within the scale from primary illiterate to highly literate, a “Learning Grid” hasbeen developed. Based upon educational research, Jim Slack developed the LearningGrid in the early 1990s for use in connecting pedagogical categories and principles withChronological Bible Storying technology. Until recently, no known graphic of thisnature had been produced by either secular or religious sources. An IMB worker in WestAfrica was the artist who drew the concepts which became the Learning Grid in a graphicformat. She did this during an advanced workshop in West Africa in the early 1990s.One should secure the demographics concerning the target people and place those figuresin the corresponding section, or sections, of the Learning Grid. The initial stage of anorality, literacy and Chronological Bible Storying workshop gives time to introducingparticipants to the terminology, demographic indicators, and dynamics of the LearningGrid. During this time, the positions, or categories are introduced that range from theprimary illiterate who has never “seen” a word to the highly skilled literate who performsat the highest level of prose, document, and quantitative activities. The Learning Gridfulfilled the need for a graphic presentation of many of the terms, concepts, and processesthat literates face when communicating with oral communicators. This graphic iscompatible, but not an exact correlation with the technology represented in theNALS/IALS and UNESCO studies in the United States and other countries. Had theybeen exactly the same there would be no need for this graphic other than to showthe correlation between Chronological Bible Storying and expositional andnarrative format uses. The content of this presentation should clarify therelationship between the Learning Grid categories themselves and representativecategories in the academic or technical communities.As you read this presentation, give close scrutiny to the way in which eachcategory overlaps according to whichever perspective you use to consider the contents.Remember that educational science, thus the science of learning, is a behavioral scienceand has to deal with multiple variables that can be minimized but seldom removed eitherin life or analysis.

The Ways People Learn--Slack 3There are multiple levels or categories ranging from primary oral learners to highlyliterate learners. Looking back on a century of educational and statistical demographics,one can see that at least five different categories of learning abilities or competencieshave emerged to become a functional reality in our time: (1) primary illiterates, (2)functional illiterates, (3) semi-literates, (4) functional literates, and (5) highly-literateindividuals. Only two of those were formally used in 1900--illiterate and literate.Primary illiterates are individuals who cannot read or write. A primary illiterate hasnever “seen” a word. To them, a written word is nothing more than meaninglessscribbles. Words do not exist as words, but as pieces of a picture, of events and situationsthey are seeing and experiencing. In fact, for oral communicators, words, as such, haveno exact dictionary type meaning. 1 Illiterates are oral communicators. The story is theirdominant communication style. (See Walter J. Ong's Orality and Literacy: TheTechnologizing of the Word for a comprehensive, technical presentation of these issues.)A functional illiterate is one who has begun to read and write within a school setting,but who did not progress beyond eight grades, and did not continue to read and writeregularly after dropping out of school. Within two years of dropping out of school, theseindividuals often can read simple writings but no longer receive, recall, or reproduceconcepts, ideas, precepts, and principles through literate means. Values, for them, are notreceived through literate means. Even though this type of individual is classified in everycountry of the world as a literate in their literacy percentage quotes, he or she learnsprimarily by means of narrative presentations. It is an error to consider these as literate.Numerous studies during the past twenty years has confirmed that. Therefore, functionalilliterates are, like illiterates, oral communicators. In France, the common terminology ormeaning of the words used to describe the functional illiteracy situation is “educationalwastage.” 2 France pioneered in the research and development of much of the originalunderstanding of functional illiteracy. The National Adult Literacy Study, known asNALs, which has been conducted in at least 30, mostly Western countries, has enhancedwhat was previously known about functional illiteracy. (Again, see Adjunct Readings3.2. and 3.3. for the spreadsheets presenting samples of this NALs data on the USA.Remember, NALs is a close but not exact representation of the Learning Grid.)Semi-literates have usually progressed to at least the ninth or tenth grade in a school thathas middle school grades consisting of sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. For thosecountries that do not have these middle school grades, the semi-literate level wouldextend to the equivalent of a high school graduate in those countries that do have at leasttwelve grades. These individuals function in a gray transition area between oralcommunication and functional literacy. If their personal high school training includeda significant emphasis on reading, writing, and liberal arts skills, they have probablyprogressed to a literate classification rather than semi-literate. However, those individuals1 Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word (London: Routledge, 1991), 75.2 Ibid.

The Ways People Learn--Slack 4who completed ten years of school or secured a high school diploma but did not spend alot of time in developing reading and writing skills, almost always test out to be semiliterate.Semi-literates learn best and most comfortably by means of oral communicationstyle presentations rather than through literate style presentations. However, most aredeveloping competencies that move them in the direction of full literacy. Even so, all ofthose in this category, and most of those in the functional illiteracy category wouldbe classified by every school system and every country as literate, when in realitymost prefer and can best handle oral communication learning styles. This is one ofthe many reasons why most published literacy percentages cannot be trusted and used.The published percentages are as much driven by incorrect definitions of literacy;financial lending agency criteria for country loans and aid; and by "saving face" reasonsThe fourth category is literate. Some countries and some of those who work in literacyeducation refer to this category as functional literacy. This is not to be confused with aprevious category of functional illiteracy which is just the opposite. Literates are usuallythose individuals who have continued to exercise their ability to read and write up to andbeyond the equivalent of ten grades of school. They have not only gone through thegrades in school, but have in fact attained the competencies equivalent to those grades.They are literate learners. Information such as ideas, precepts, concepts, and principlesare easily understood and handled by them through literate means. Functional literacy is aterm that has been chosen to describe literacy in a way that is not dependent upon thenumber of years in school. 3 A gifted and/or applied learner, usually a self-starter andhighly motivated person, could become functionally literate after only a few years ofstudy, whether in or out of school. It would also be true that some could study wellbeyond twelve years and not be functionally literate.The average literate person, on the way to becoming literate, has lost or given up ameasure of his or her oral communication skills. Like physical body parts, oral skillstend to atrophy if not used regularly. Numerous academic studies in the fields ofeducation, psychology and anthropology have been conducted relative to this issue.Atrophy of oral skills is the price of becoming literate. The literate’s memory has becomeless and less dependent upon recalling what has been heard orally, and has progressivelybecome dependent upon recorded notes and information contained in books and otherrepositories. These individuals are no longer classified as oral communicators. This doesnot mean that they do not appreciate oral communication or that they will not respond tooral communication. It only means that they are less characterized by orality than byliteracy. A few do carry significant oral skills with them into functional literacy.The fifth, and final category is highly literate. A highly literate person has usuallyspent time daily developing and using reading and writing skills at a very advanced level.Such individuals have usually attended college and are often professionals in liberal artfields. They are thoroughly word-culture individuals. Like literate level individuals, theyare no longer predominately oral communicators, but are literate communicators. Theyhave, through education, moved progressively from being an oral communicator to a3 Ibid.

The Ways People Learn--Slack 5highly literate communicator. As Walter Ong comments, many of these highly literateindividuals do not remember and thus do not appreciate the oral roots from which theyemerged.Not only does the status of a person change as they progress from oral communicationlevels to literate communication levels, but their style of communication has changeddrastically. Oral communicators — illiterates, functional illiterates and semi-literates —are not comfortable with, and cannot easily understand information that comes in theform of outlines, precepts, principles, and steps in a process. It is difficult, if notimpossible, for them to engage in true analysis. They find it very difficult to outlineand reduce bodies of information to “bottom line” statements. Oral communicatorsprefer that information come to them in the form of narratives or stories. They cannoteasily handle, and are definitely not comfortable with information that comes by othermeans. In fact, if they have a teaching, a concept, or a principle they want toremember, they will clothe it in a story. Narrative styles are the common vehiclesthat oral communicators use to process and “carry around” information. Expositionalpresentations such as outlines, steps, principles, or lists of any kind are formidableobstacles for them. They find it difficult to understand them, and certainly cannot recallthem. They cannot use what they cannot recall. Knowledge for oral communicators,and especially illiterates, consists only of what can be recalled.There are two important considerations. First, oral communicators — illiterates,functional illiterates, and semi-literates — can learn as well as literate persons. Theirability to learn is just as good as literates and their memory is superior to the averageliterate person’s memory. The problem is not that of learning but of the presentationformat through which information comes to them. Information must come to oralcommunicators through stories, parables, poems, ballads, and similar types of formats.Format is the key for them.Second, and conversely, most literates mistakenly believe that if they can outline theinformation or put it into a series of steps or principles, anyone, including oralcommunicators, can understand it and recall it. That is a misconception concerninglearning, and how different individuals process information. Most oral communicators donot understand outlines, steps or principles, and they certainly cannot remember them.For that matter, neither can the literates, but they store information in notes and can “lookit up” to refresh their memory. Illiterates cannot “look anything up,” and have nopersonal means of refreshing their memory if they have forgotten something.It is very important when literate individuals prepare to communicate with others thatthey determine what learning category — illiterate, functional illiterate, semi-literate,literate, or highly-literate — the hearer represents before choosing the presentationformat. The Learning Grid illustrates the relationship between each learning category andthe corresponding presentation format.When communicating with oral communicators — primary illiterates, functionalilliterates, or semi-literates — the story is the best “vehicle” that carries the information

The Ways People Learn--Slack 6to be understood, recalled, and reproduced. 4 When communicating with literates andhighly-literate persons, expositional formats are excellent presentation formats to use. Asone moves “to the right” in the Learning Grid, more exposition can be used in thepresentation. As one moves “to the left” in the Learning Grid, less exposition should beused. For oral communicators, the story is the preferred style.Failure to match the proper presentation style with the corresponding learning preferenceor category hinders learning and effective discourse. When there is an improper match,the presenter speaks, but the receiver seldom “hears.”The Learning Grid was devised to present the five major categories and to showwhen a literate should be careful about using expositional formats when communicatingwith oral communicators. The shaded areas are those places or times, duringpresentations, when the literate should refrain from using much, if any, expositionalpresentations. Within the shaded areas or times, the literate, for optimum learning tooccur, should use narrative, story formats for presenting whatever concepts, teachings,ideas, or principles are being presented.4 Ong, 12 and 15.