This article argues that fresh thinking is needed in research methodologies and a special focus needs to be given to oral research methods. The issue is the hegemony of the ‘textʼ in its formal and logical forms ‘as a privileged cannon in scientific thoughtʼ (Turkle & Papert, 1992). Examining this issue could help us to deal with the challenge of knowledge transformation in South Africa. Attention needs to be given to the ‘dialectic of orality and textualityʼ in research. This is about the manner of interface and interaction between oral sources and written sources and the implications that this has for the kind of knowledge which gets produced. This is important, given that many African communities are more ‘orateʼ than ‘literateʼ. The challenge of the social sciences is the tendency to have ‘oralʼ sources subordinated, even though inadvertently to ‘textualʼ sources. The dominance