Dialogic aspects in speeches
Submitted by:
Per Arne Michelsen
Abstract:
Abstract
Key words:
Rhetoric, oracy, dialogic education
Background
This Project, Dialogic Aspects in Speeches, is a study of a number of speeches made by pupils in Norwegian lower secondary school. In a large school project all pupils in 8th and 10th grade at a school in Bergen were introduced to the art of speeches. The school project was designed in details by the teachers at the school, who were inspired by a larger project called “To talk like TED”. They also invited researchers from Western Norway University of Applied Sciences to teach the pupils about rhetoric and how to give a speech.
The pupils made one English and one Norwegian version of their speeches. All speeches were filmed. However, the main material in this study contains of written transcriptions of a selection of the speeches from the school project.
Research question
A speech whether it is juridical, political, epideictic or of another, more mixed kind, is often considered as a monologic genre. My research question is: Does a speech have dialogic qualities as well?
Theoretical framework
Rhetoric is one important theoretical premise for the study.
In Norwegian school oracy is crowned as one of five fundamental skills, together with reading, writing, numeracy and digital skills. However, oracy has not received the same attention among teachers and researchers as the other skills. This is a pity, since oral activities are dominant in all education.
I want to study the dialogic aspects and the conceptual understanding in the speeches. Dialogic education is therefore another important premise for the study. Dialogic education deals with how to learn and think through dialogue, to see things from different points of view and to be open for other ideas and think critically.
Methodology
My study is a literary close reading of the transcribed material using rhetorical-hermeneutic methods.
References
- Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1986. «Methodology for the Human Sciences» i Speech Genres & Other Late Essays, University of Texas Press.
- Kjeldsen, Jens E: 2004: Retorikk i vår tid. Oslo: Spartacus forlag.
- Phillipson, Neil and Rupert Wegerif (2016): Dialogic Education. Mastering Core Concepts Through Thinking Together. Routledge.