Kermit
Oral English vs. spoken English I have seen people saying here: “oral English”. Does any of the native speakers actually use the term "oral" when refers to spoken English? Does it sound natural? Corpus indicates it is still in use but I have never heard anyone using it this way. Is it one of the differences between AmE and BrE?
Dec 11, 2015 6:56 PM
Answers · 10
2
We say spoken English. there are some good explanations on an older question here http://www.italki.com/question/116600
December 11, 2015
1
Do any native speakers actually use the term "oral" when referring to spoken English? No. Does it sound natural? No Is it one of the differences between AmE and BrE? and No. In fact, it's a difference between Chinese English and native-speaker English. Nobody apart from the Chinese say 'oral English'. It sounds very odd to us. 'Oral' is to do with the mouth. For example, 'oral health' is about looking after your teeth and gums - it isn't usually about communication. We have oral examinations in language learning, but we don't refer to the ability as 'oral English'. We say 'spoken English'. For example, 'His spoken English is better than his written English.' Those are some answers. Now, a question: Does anyone know WHY the Chinese say 'oral English' instead of 'spoken English'?
December 11, 2015
1
I don't know, but 'spoken English' sounds more natural to me. The other does not sound wrong either. Oral sounds a little more vague, though, since 'oral' just means 'related to the mouth'. If someone says "put a little English on it" in sports, they mean to add add a bit of an extra whip to a pitch or or an action. Basically I'm just saying that, because these words have other meanings, it seems overall clearer to say 'spoken English'. However, 'oral exam' is a common term, so if someone says 'oral English exam', they really mean an 'oral exam of English', not an 'exam of oral English'. It would be uncommon to hear someone say 'spoken exam'. I doubt it is much of a Britishism, but I could certainly be wrong about that.
December 11, 2015
Thank you, Angela. These two words do look alike and sound like homonyms. Very confusing, indeed.
December 12, 2015
Even when talking about exam sections, English speakers don't often say "oral" to refer to the speaking section often because "oral" has the same pronunciation as "aural" (which refers to listening comprehension) so it is very confusing to know what you are talking about.
December 11, 2015
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