West disagreed with the term “oral preference learner,” claiming orality is not “a ‘preference’ (as if an insider cultural participant could choose or not choose oral style), but . . . an identity.”17 Gee explained, “Saying that someone is in an ‘oral culture’ does not mean that they and other members of their culture are not literate; it means only that their culture retains a strong allegiance to thematically based, culturally significant face-to-face storytelling.”18 Continuing, Gee noted, Along with storytelling, though, the pervasiveness of orality may be signaled by interpersonal
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