Written Discourse and Oral Discourse

     Most aspects of human life deal with language. People use it to communicate something either verbally or literally – with others. That language may be composed of one or more well-formed grammatical sentences – and indeed it often is. But it doesn’t mean that there is no “mistake in it. However, people still understand each other’s message because there is coherence in communication. Cook (1989: 4) says that coherence is a quality, which is clearly necessary for communication and for foreign language learning. However, it cannot be explained by concentrating on the internal grammar of sentences. All the sentences that hold ideas are interrelated to form a discourse. Cook (1989: 5) invents that traditionally, based on a difference production there are two kinds of discourse, namely, written discourse and oral discourse. 

     Chafe in Renkema (1993: 86) states the differences between written and oral discourse. A written discourse takes longer than speaking. The writer does not have contact with the readers, and the involvement of the writer is not as great as in oral interaction, that is why passive sentences were frequently used. However, what is going to be the main concern here is about the oral discourse. 

     Cook (1989: 8) states that oral discourse is often considered to be less planned and orderly than the written one, more open to the intervention by the receiver (more reciprocal), and less socially structured. According to Chafe in Renkema (1993: 86) the differences between oral and written discourse can also be described in terms of ‘situation’. Oral interaction is part of a shared situation which includes both speaker and listener. In such a situation, information is also clarified by gesture, posture, facial expression, intonation, etc. 

     There is some sort of oral discourse, like lesson, lectures, interviews, trials and daily conversation. Humor situation, either in real life or in humor comic, can also be put together into this group since they share the same characteristic of oral discourse, such as less planned and orderly than the written one.