oral proficiency intervieworal^1 adj
a term used to stress that a spoken form of language is used as opposed to a
written form, as in an oral test, an oral examination.
oral^2 adj, n
(of) a speech sound which is produced while the soft palate (the velum) at
the back of the mouth is raised so that the airstream from the lungs cannot
escape through the nose.
In English, all vowels, and all consonants except /m /, /n /, and /º/ as in /siº/
sing, are oral.
In generative phonology, oral sounds are marked [-nasal] to distinguish
them from nasalsounds.
see also manner of articulation, place of articulation
oral approach n
another term for situational language teaching
oral cavity n
see vocal tract, place of articulation
oral culture n
the culture of a society in which culture and cultural values are communi-
cated through spoken language rather than through writing. A society in
which written language plays an important part in culture and cultural val-
ues is said to have a literary culture.
see also non-literate
oralist n
see sign language
oral language n
see aural language
oral method n
a method for teaching the deaf, based on lip-reading and carefully articulated
speech. This method is now less commonly used than the auditory/oral
method.
oral mimicry ability n
see language aptitude
oral proficiency interview n
also OPI