Tertiary orality, a new challenge for oral proficiency acquisition at university level

La oralidad terciaria, nuevo reto para la adquisición de la competencia oral en la universidad

Abstract

Orality develops in three stages: primary, linked to intuitive communication in ungrammatical cultures; secondary, related to writing and formality in academic contexts; and tertiary, typical of the digital era, integrating technologies such as videoconferencing and podcasts. This implies that orality continues to adapt to social and technological contexts, thus strengthening interaction and communicative skills. This article aims to discuss the results of the research: “The Academic Podcast as A Tool to Strengthen Formal Oral Competence” that was carried out in 2023, which addressed the development of communication skills of fifty-two students of Civil Engineering and Architecture of Unitrópico, through three methodological phases of action research: diagnosis, design and implementation, and discussion of results. Thus, the potential of tertiary orality is highlighted, since it is conducive for digital natives to interact fluently in contemporary communicative environments, which requires integrating academic and digital literacy to achieve oral communicative competence. In addition, tertiary orality, linked to multimodal formats that develop reading, writing and oral communication skills, adapting to new technological realities. However, latent challenges are identified so that higher education can take advantage of the suitability of tertiary orality in the classroom: updating programs, training teachers in ICT, and improving infrastructures. It is concluded that tertiary orality can be an opportunity to enrich scientific dissemination; while maintaining academic rigor and responding to real contemporary communication environments.