Literacy, oral language and rhetoric

Linguistic awareness develops when a language learner experiments with all aspects of language such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. While emergent literacy may be considered a relatively natural process, competence is more deliberate on the part of the language learner. This paper explores the impact of rhetorical study as a vehicle for achieving communicative competence in oral language (speaking) performance of undergraduate students. The Krashen’s Monitor theory of language learning is the theoretical base for this study. The choice of this theory is necessitated by the theory’s explanation of competence development and input hypothesis in language learning. The data for this study is drawn from twenty-nine final year students who volunteered to undergo a three-week practical and intensive course on Aristotle’s rhetorical theory. At the end of the course period, it was observed that the 29 students developed interest in public speaking and oral presentation which reflected in the choices of their final year viva research topics. Also observed at the end of the course, an oral assessment showed that the 29 students performed qualitatively better than other students who did not offer the said course.