Oral Interpretation Events Help Students with Empathy, Understanding

Casting spells. Solving a difficult mystery on the Orient Express. Flying to far off places like Never Never Land. Dramatically defending a client in court. This is the power of fiction to transport us to the beauties of an author’s imagination. The reader can experience, in part, complex and unique characters and circumstances that we are not likely to encounter in real life.

As psychologist Raymond Mar explains, when a reader is engaged in a story, the individual steps into the character’s shoes and personally experiences what the character is going through. “The reader learns life lessons from how he or she personally experiences the journey of the protagonist and other characters.”

Through this process, competitive oral interpretation programs in schools provide students the opportunity to explore literature and leave the world around them – for places and situations that might have previously seemed inaccessible.

Oral interpretation is the study of literature through performance by communicating one’s interpretation of an author’s work. This differs from acting in that the use of props or costumes are not allowed. Instead, the performer remains themself during the performance, using their voice and body to suggest the characters and mood. Students are taught how to use their bodies and voices to interpret poetry, drama, prose, children’s literature, world literature and documentary material. Participants often have the chance to combine literature from different genres into themed performance programs.

Students are asked to analyze the characters, the literary elements (including plot, setting, themes, conflicts), the language used and the author to determine how to portray the message to an audience. The performance decisions they make are determined by their understanding of and connection to the people in the story.

Oral interpretation is a unique style of competition. The performer, while participating, is experiencing something on a neurobiological level, because what the performer is doing taps into the same brain networks as real-life interactions and allows the individual to experience the mental state of the character. This may be true for those who are watching the performance as well.

This is a social cognitive skill called the theory of mind. The American Psychological Association defines theory of mind as “the understanding that others have intentions, desires, beliefs, perceptions and emotions different from one’s own and that such intentions, desires, and so forth affect people’s actions and behaviors.” This imaginative process creates a new world with characters that one may not have experienced in the real world.

For instance, when a student is performing a character who has been bullied, the student is able to understand, on some level, what it feels like to be isolated, picked on or afraid, even if the student has never experienced bullying personally. The student is able to recognize the feelings of others and share those feelings with those in the audience.

A student who has never had the opportunity to do something adventurous, like skydiving or sailing, is exposed to the thrill of the moment. A student-athlete can feel the rush of competing for gold in the Olympics, or a student who has never been to a foreign country can get a view of the richness of an unknown world.

An only child can learn about what it is like to grow up in a family with a dozen kids. A young person who has never experienced the loss of a loved one can get a glimpse of the struggle to grieve and yet keep going. A student who feels small can see that the small things are what make the hero great.

Tapping into the theory of mind is important, as it provides the ability to predict and interpret the behavior of others and is a foundational element for social interaction. It can teach and support values about social behavior, such as the importance of understanding those who are different from oneself and learning how to act and react to them.

Books are simulations of life. They allow the reader to see oneself in someone else and experience worlds they may never have the chance to experience themselves. And oral interpretation programs are a great way to bring this to life for students, not by just reading literature, but digging deeper and presenting new people and new worlds for a broader audience. This can be accomplished through introducing oral interpretation into speech and debate programs. Just imagine where literature can take your students. HST