Elements of Rhetoric for the World Language Classroom
Simply put, rhetoric is the art or study of writing or speaking effectively or persuasively. 1 At first blush, it might seem that the application of rhetorical canons and devices would be too advanced a concept for beginning language learners. Here one might begin to imagine powerfully worded political speeches or ancient and serious philosophical debates more clearly than question-and-answer paired practice around such mundane moments as ordering food at a café or introducing family members. Yet by distilling these rhetorical elements down to their core and tweaking them to our language-learning purposes, I believe that they become powerful allies in the pursuit of smooth speech and oral confidence.
I'd like to conceptualize the way we think about the elements of persuasion and how they apply to fluency as akin to a pinwheel and how it works. 2 Because it isn't really a matter of a first step followed by a second step; rather, all these elements work in tandem to create an overall effect of fluency (or not). Unlike a map of steps to take in a logical order, the path to fluency requires a blend of elements that can be combined in innumerably different ways, some of which I will explore in depth in the following sections. Elements of fluency and perceived fluency overlap and intermingle, folding over on themselves and into the next like the spokes, or vanes, of a pinwheel. Yet no matter what techniques are highlighted or what strategies are employed, it is the student who will ultimately breathe life into them with his or her own point of view and personality, as carried by the voice that issues from the mouth like the breath that blows the pinwheel, to initiate and sustain that appealing, fluid, satisfying spin of communication.
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