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Debate Info

21
21
SPOKEN LANGUAGE WRITTEN FORM
Debate Score:42
Arguments:28
Total Votes:42
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 SPOKEN LANGUAGE (14)
 
 WRITTEN FORM (13)

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"Consider the view that spoken language is more important than the written form."

SPOKEN LANGUAGE

Side Score: 21
VS.

WRITTEN FORM

Side Score: 21
5 points

My stand is that spoken language is more important than written form when your job requires more of speaking and interactions than to write reports. For example, for salespersons, their main job is to promote the product they are selling. Hence, they are required to speak well and promote to the customers. However, this does not mean that the written form can be entirely neglected. The salesperson may still be required to do certain paper work, which requires writing skills, but their main scope of work is to advertise their product. Hence in this case, the spoken language is more important than the written form.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
2 points

I support the view that spoken language is more important than the written form, as without spoken language, taking records in the form of written language is not possible.

As a matter of nature,spoken language comes before the written language. The language artificially constructed using written language is meaningless for communication as the majority of population do not know how to speak. One such example is Esperanto, developed using Slavic and Romance languages, did not gain significant speakers.

Thus,I support the view that spoken language is more important than the written form, as without spoken language, the entire language is meaningless as a tool of communication.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
seanB(950) Disputed
1 point

This isn't entirely true. There are written languages that can be understood but not pronounced, and there are cultures which have had different languages for writing and for speaking. There are also many concepts that are easier to write than to verbalize.

For communication between peoples on an everyday platform, verbalized language is more useful. But for the translation of complex concepts across verbal barriers, written communication is undoubtedly superior.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
2 points

Furthermore,the view that spoken language is more important than the written form is accurate due to some languages having no direct link between the spoken form and written form. One such example is the Danish language, where the sleeping in the written do not coincide with the spoken form of language, making the foreigners havong a difficult time understanding the language.Thus,the view that spoken language is more important than the written form may be more accurate than the opposite view.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
2 points

Spoken language is more important than the written form as it is a clearer way of expressing sincerity and emotions towards people. To individuals, spoken language allows people to understand the emotions and feeling of the speaker so as to make conversations more heartfelt and less prone to communication while it is harder to convey the mood of the writer through written form. To government, spoken language allows the representative of a country to pass down the message to her citizens as well as to build friendly relations with other nations. For exampke, PM Lee had made a four day official visit to Tokyo to meet his Japanese counter partner. He was able to talk to his counter partner verbally instead of just writing a letter to his counter partner which shows that he is more sincere towards him. Therefore, spoken language is more important than written from.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1 point

The spoken language is more important than the written form as it is how people communicates with each other. As it is easier and faster to talk than write, the spoken language is how we normally do face to face communications with others and it is what we used to make friends, interact and bond with others. Also, the spoken language allows us to better express our feelings through using different tone compared to the written form where the words show no emotions.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1 point

Spoken language forms the ability for social interaction. When we meet individuals or get to know someone, we do not reach out to one another by writing but through the gift of speech. Through the conversations that we form with others, we find that both parties create first bonds using the fabric of speech. That of writing only suffices once we know an individual or where we work with an individual. Even if our writing fails us, the emotional attachment created through speech discounts our failures as the first impressions from speech allows us to conform to the norms of society thus resulting in social acceptance.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1 point

Spoken language is more important than written form when it comes to cultivating good interpersonal skills. In today world, having good communication skills is the key to success as it display a form of confidence. In circumstance of a job interview, it can be case where your testimonial is written beautifully but if you are not able to showcase your sincerity and commitment for the job in spoken language, the probability of losing out may be huge. Some may even doubt the reliability of the written form if its not being shown as what it is in real life when speaking. Therefore, spoken language is more important than written form since its a clearer indicator of one's self confidence

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
MarTAM(6) Clarified
2 points

Does this mean that writing skill is not important in achieving success? Why are we doing GP then? and most of Universities need personal statement that requires us to WRITE about certain things

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1 point

Spoken language is more important than the written form when it concerns the interaction between individuals. Though both the writing and speaking can ensure that message is being passed on, emotions and feelings can never be passed on through written form. From face to face interaction, one can easily portray their emotions and feelings through their tone and facial expressions. For example, when someone is very angry, it is very obvious to others from their loud tone and knitted brows. However, through writing, it is hard to decipher whether or not someone is angry. It is debatable that using exclamation marks or caps locks can be an expression of excitement instead. Therefore spoken language is more important as it can deliver messages better than written form.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1 point

I feel that spoken language is more important than written form when spoken language is used to express our emotions and feelings. It can express our feelings more succinctly as compared to writing in words. Without gestures, facial expressions and speech, people will cease to understand one another and this may lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding. For example, when one individual is upset or disappointed, he can express his anger through the way he speaks, in order for him to bring his points across. However, some may argue that written form is more important in the case for physically disabled people such as deaf or mute. The disabled may not be able to communicate effectively through spoken language and hence, written language is crucial for them. As this only applies to the minority in the society, thus, I feel that spoken language is more important than written form.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1 point

I feel that spoken language is more important than written form when spoken language is used to express our emotions and feelings. It can express our feelings more succinctly as compared to writing in words. Without gestures, facial expressions and speech, people will cease to understand one another and this may lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding. For example, when one individual is upset or disappointed, he can express his anger through the way he speaks, in order for him to bring his points across. However, some may argue that written form is more important in the case for physically disabled people such as deaf or mute. The disabled may not be able to communicate effectively through spoken language and hence, written language is crucial for them. As this only applies to the minority in the society, thus, I feel that spoken language is more important than written form.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1 point

The spoken language is more important than the written form when it comes to engaging people. Despite advances in technology and communication methods where people can write to express their feelings or school of thoughts through platforms like blog or email, they hardly capture the hearts of the presenters' audiences as there are little engagement, between the presenter and receiver. However, with the spoken language, it is easier to grap the attention of our audience as we can change the tone of we are saying based on the audiences' reaction. Thus, communication becomes more engaging and an idea can be put across better to others when someone conveys a message via speech.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1 point

There are levels to communication in the animal kingdom. It starts with visible cues, whether those be dance, posture, facial expressions, whatever. It progresses to simple sounds - grunts and coos and such. Then comes spoken language. Then comes symbolic writing and imagery aka written language. To an advanced animal life form every one of these is important and part of the whole package. But generally you have to master the levels beneath before you can use the more advanced levels. Meaning you have to know how to talk to each other before you can make use of writing. And on a daily basis people exchange information orally more than in writing, and even after conversing in writing they usually still depend on oral face to face discussion to talk about what was written, make decisions, etc. So even though writing has far greater capability to store and access information it really cannot be considered more important than the spoken form.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE

Spoken language has always been more primary. Languages were initially only spoken.

Even now, you're just subvocalising what I've written.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
3 points

Although spoken language is important in order to communicate effectively in person, the use of language in the written form is often more important than spoken language in terms of assessing one's qualifications. For example, in the Singapore education system, from primary school up-till one's university education, students are constantly being assessed in the form of written examinations and their future depends on how well they can show their knowledge to the examiner through the use of writing as a medium. Some may argue that in schools, there are also oral examinations and presentations that also count towards their final assessment. Be that as it may, the bulk of the student's results still rely on their ability to write well and hence, language in its written form is more important.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
3 points

Written language is more important than the spoken form because information is passed down to different generations via written language. For example, information and details of wars from the past are written on history textbooks and students from future generations will then acquire information from these textbooks. Without written language, the future generations would have no means of accessing important information and knowledge from the past as they would not be conserved. The spoken language may be important to communicate ideas effectively in real life but it will not help to formalise information in black and white so that they can be conserved and passed down to future generations. Hence, the written language is more important than the spoken form.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
2 points

One limited argument against the the view that spoken language is more important than the written form is the ease of storage of information, which the spoken language do not possess. As we know, the historical records in the past are mostly written as there was not means to store information in the spoken form. As such, the written language at some point possessed more importance than the spoken language due to the ease of storage of information than the spoken counterpart.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
ShiQing(4) Disputed
1 point

Consider times in history where the people are unable to record information in written form. e.g when the people were oppressed. In such situations, wouldn't passing information in spoken form be easier than recording it in written form.

Side: SPOKEN LANGUAGE
2 points

The written form is more important than the spoken language in capturing ideals and traditions to be pass down from generations. Written forms records down the communication of the human civilisation and the views of people which can be lost through the perpetual of time. The written role can be helped in preserving culture and history of a country. Histories and discoveries have been recorded down and store in libraries or the internet in order for the future generations to understand the past. Even though spoken language can have the same function, but words can be lost through different mouths, leading to the credibility of such sensitive information to decrease. As such, written form is still important in keeping track on information that have a high degree of importance.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
2 points

Another limited argument against the the view that spoken language is more important than the written form is the ease to convey information in A RELATIVELY SHORTER PERIOD OF TIME. As we know, we are able to know a wide range of information such as the stock market trends as well as historical records in places such as the library without the teacher teaching them verbally one by one.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
2 points

In this modern society, where technology advances, most communication and interaction are conducted through the use of technology such as email and text message. Most interviews now require people to send an email beforehand, proposals required to be typed out before presentation, hence showing that written form is a more determining factor in terms of the first impression given to people as compared to the spoken form. One example would be that the testimonials and resumes that were being written, are assessed by the schools and companies respectively before they decide whether to accept the applicant. This shows the importance of written form as without a clear and persuasive letter, the schools or companies may not even provide an opportunity for the applicant to show off their verbal skills.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
1 point

Although using language in written form can be confusing because it is more difficult to express our emotion in written form, written form of language is more important as it can always be checked and edited and thus, avoiding any mistakes. The recent mistake made during the Oscars, when the host and the announcer announced the wrong winner, has made it evident how spoken language can bring about problems as the result written on the sheet of paper was actually correct. After those mistakes, they had to do press release and all those complicated things and it also brought about embarrassment not just to the announcer, but also to the wrong winner. Therefore, it is easier to avoid mistakes with written form of language rather than spoken language.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
1 point

Written language is more important WHEN it delivers content that is meant to be recorded for posterity. Spoken words, expressed spontaneously, may need to be re-expressed, and each attempt at rephrasing could potentially add or deduct a nuance that alters the original meaning. ON THE OTHER HAND, the context of the an idea in its written form is clearly shown in the writing itself. This leaves less room for misinterpretation. E.G. It is important for a legal document such as to be written rather than spoken so that all the specific are clear, and literally, in plain sight. E.g. It is crucial that literary works be written down because oral transmission will lead to a loss intricate details, and ultimately, a loss in our cultural heritage.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
1 point

The written form is more important when documenting or containing important information such as decisions and agreements. Since the beginning, the written language has been more highly regarded than its spoken form due to the fact that most of the time, once written down, the statement is set in stone and cannot be changed. Unlike the spoken language, there is no visible evidence that the statement had once been spoken. For example, in the court, audio evidences often hold much less importance than written evidences such as contracts and testaments which are also validated by signatures, this suggests that the written language is regarded as more reliable and trusted than the spoken language.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
1 point

Written form is more important than spoken language as it is more credible. Written forms can come in the form of official documents and letters. It is more credible as it provides a physical evidence. For example, laws were passed down and stated clearly in black and white to prove that it is officially passed. In addition, when dealing with family assets, the presence of will will have the ultimate say in the distribution of the assets as compared to verbalizing it unrecorded. In these scenarios, spoken language is less reliable because one can change his words anytime. Hence, written form is more credible than spoken language.

Side: WRITTEN FORM

Without a recorder,with spoken language, it is difficult to determine the authenticity of an evidence when an ocassion demands a vivid description of history(history of no tangible record).

It could be twisted to favour anyone.

Side: WRITTEN FORM
1 point

Consider the Telephone Game. Where there is a line of people and one person starts a sentence, that sentence then needs to be whispered in the ear of the other person who in turns whispers it to the next and so on and so forth. How often can the person at the end say 100% exactly what the original person said? Obviously it depends on the length of the line but the chances of the original statement being twisted will increase the longer the line is. Now, if it were written down and that note was passed along the line, it will be the same at the end as it was in the beginning.

There is no question as to the importance of spoken language, however without written form the original story can lose its intended meaning, it can be twisted to favor the victor, or can be lost throughout history.

Side: WRITTEN FORM