Dictogloss

This method was introduced by Ruth Wajnryb in 1990. It is a classroom dictation activity where learners listen to a passage, note down key words and then work together to create a reconstructed version of the text. It was originally introduced by Ruth Wajnryb (1990) as an alternative method of teaching grammar. The original dictogloss procedure consists of four basic steps:

1. Warm-up when the learners find out about the topic and do some preparatory vocabulary work.
2. Dictation when the learners listen to the text read at a normal speed by the teacher and take fragmentary notes. Thelearners will typically hear the text twice. The first time the teacher reads the text, the students just listen but do not write. The second time, the students take notes.
3. Reconstruction when the learners work together in small groups to reconstruct a version of the text from their shared resources.
4. Analysis and correction when students analyze and compare their text with the reconstructions of other students and the original text and make the necessary corrections (Wajnryb, 1990).
   

Wajnryb argues that this method gives students a more precise understanding of English grammar than do other approaches and consequently leads to higher accuracy in language use. Compared to other more traditional approaches to teaching grammar the value of dictogloss is in its interactive approach to language learning. Text reconstruction promotes both the negotiation of meaning and the negotiation of form. It is a co-operative endeavour which forces learners to stay actively engaged in the learning process. “Through active learner involvement students come to confront their own strengths and weaknesses in English language use. In so doing, they find out what they do not know, then they find out what they need to know.” (Wajnryb, 1990:10). Wajnrub also argues that this integration of testing and teaching stimulates the learners’ motivation. Rather than having the teacher select specific grammatical features and have the students practice them, the students identify their grammar problems and the teacher teaches in response to their needs. Dictogloss has been the subject of a number of studies and commentaries, which have, in most part supported the use of the technique (Swain & Miccoli, 1994; Swain & Lapkin, 1998; Storch, 1998; Nabei, 1996; Lim & Jacobs, 2001). The supporters of the method pointed out that dictogloss are a multiple skills and systems activity.

Variations on Dictogloss
We have used several variations on dictogloss. No doubt, others exist or await creation. The following are dictogloss variation described by George Jacobs and John Small on The Reading Matrix Vol 3, No, 1 April 2003.

Variation A
Dictogloss Negotiation

In Dictogloss Negotiation, rather than group members discussing what they heard when the teacher has finished reading, students discuss after each section of text has been read. Sections can be one sentence long or longer, depending on the difficulty of the text relative to students’ proficiency level.

1. Students sit with a partner, desks face-to-face rather than side-by-side. This encourages discussion. After reading the text once while students listen, during the second reading, the teacher stops after each sentence or two, or paragraph. During this pause, students discuss but do not write what they think they heard. As with standard dictogloss, the students’ reconstruction should be faithful to the meaning and form of the original but does not employ the identical wording.
2. One member of each pair writes the pair’s reconstruction of the text section. This role rotates with each section of the text.
3. Students compare their reconstruction with the original as in Step 5 of the standard procedure

Variation B
Student -Controlled Dictation

In Student -Controlled Dictation, students use the teacher as they would use a tape recorder. In other words, they can ask the teacher to stop, go back, i.e., rewind, and skip ahead, i.e., fast-forward. However, students bear in mind that the aim of dictogloss is the creation of an appropriate reconstruction, not a photocopy.

1. After reading the text once at normal speed with students listening but not taking notes, the teacher reads the text again at natural speed and continues reading until the end if no student says “stop” even if it is clear that students are having difficulty. Students are responsible for saying “stop, please” when they cannot keep up and “please go back to (the last word or phrase they have written).” If students seem reluctant to exercise their power to stop us, we start reading very fast. We encourage students to be persistent; they can “rewind” the teacher as many times as necessary. The class might want to have a rule that each student can only say “please stop” one time. Without this rule, the same few students – almost invariably the highest level students - may completely control the pace. The lower proficiency students might be lost, but be t oo shy to speak. After each member of the class has controlled the teacher once, anyone can again control one time, until all have taken a turn. Once the class comprehends that everyone can and should control the teacher if they need help, this rule need not be followed absolutely.
2. Partner conferencing (Step 4 in standard dictogloss) can be done for this variation as well. Student-Controlled Dictation can be a fun variation, because students enjoy explicitly controlling the teacher.
3. Another way of increasing student control of dictation is to ask them to bring in texts to use for dictation or to nominate topics.

Variation C
Student-Student Dictation

Rather than the teacher being the one to read the text, students take turns to read to each other. Student-Student Dictation works best after students have become familiar with the standard dictogloss procedure. This dictogloss variation involves key elements of cooperative learning, in particular equal participation from all group members, individual accountability (each member takes turns controlling the activity) and positive interdependence as group members explore meaning and correctness together.

1. A text - probably a longer than usual one - is divided into four or five sections. Each student is given a different section. Thus, with a class of 32 students and a text divided into four sections, eight students would have the first section, eight the second, etc. Students each read the section they have been given and try to understand it. If the text is challenging, students with the same section can initially meet in groups of three or four to read and discuss the meaning.
2. In their original groups, students take turns reading their section of the text as the teacher would for standard dictation while their groupmates take notes.
3. Students work with their partners to reconstruct the text, with the students taking the role of silent observer when the section they read is being reconstructed.
4. For the analysis, Step 5 of the standard procedure, each student plays the role of the teacher when the section they read is being discussed. Every group member eventually plays the role of teacher. Student-Student Dictation can also be done by students bringing in the own texts rather than using a text supplied by the teacher.

Variation D:
Dictogloss Summaries

While in the standard dictogloss procedure students attempt to create a reconstruction of approximately the same length as the original, in Dictogloss Summaries, students focus only on the key ideas of the original text.

1. Steps 1, 2, and 3 are the same as in standard dictogloss, although to encourage summarizing rather than using the words of the original text, the teacher might ask students not to take any notes.
2. Students work with a partner to summarize the key points of the text. Here, as well as in other dictogloss variations, we can provide visual cues (sketch, flow chart, photo, mind map) that represents some elements of the story. This aids comprehension and may help students structure their reconstruction. Additionally, students can create visuals to accompany their reconstructions, as another means to demonstrate comprehension and to promote unique reconstructions.

Variation E
Scrambled Sentence Dictogloss

Scrambled Sentences is a popular technique for teaching a number of language skills. Scrambled Sentences Dictogloss employs this technique to raise the difficulty level of dictogloss and to focus students’ attention on how texts fit together.

1. The teacher jumbles the sentences of the text before reading it to students.
2. When students reconstruct the text, they first have to recreate what they heard and then put it into a logical order.
3. When analyzing students’ reconstructions, the class may decide that there is more than one possible correct order. This fits with the overall spirit of dictogloss, i.e., that there is no one correct way to achieve a communicative purpose, although there are certain conventions that should be understood and considered.

Variation F
Elaboration Dictogloss (Airey, 2002)

In Elaboration Dictogloss, students go beyond what they hear to not just recreate a text but also to improve it.

1. This dictogloss method may be preceded by a review of ways to elaborate, such as adding adjectives and adverbs, examples, facts, personal experiences, and causes and effects.
2. After taking notes on the text read by the teacher, as in Step 3 of the standard procedure, students reconstruct the text. Then, they add elaborations. These can be factual, based on what students know about the topic of the text or research they do, or students can invent elaborations. For instance, part of the text read by the teacher might be:

Today, many students use bicycles.

Students could simply elaborate by adding a word or two:

Today, many Japanese college students use bicycles.

Or, a sentence or two could be added:

Today, many students use bicycles. This reduces air pollution and helps students stay fit. However, bicycle riding in a crowded city can be dangerous

Variation G
Dictogloss Opinion

In Dictogloss Opinion, after students reconstruct the text, they give their opinion on the writers’ ideas. These opinions can be inserted at various points in the text or can be written at the end of the text. If student commentary is inserted throughout the text, it promotes a kind of dialogue with the original authors of the text.

Variation H
Picture Dictation (Airey, 2002)

Dictation does not always have to involve writing sentences and paragraphs. Instead, students can do other activities based on what the teacher reads to them. For instance, they can complete a graphic organizer. Another possibility, described below, is to draw.

1. The teacher finds or writes a description of a drawing. The description should include a great deal of detail. Relevant voca bulary and concepts can be reviewed in the discussion that occurs in Step 1 of the standard dictogloss procedure.
2. Students listen to the description and do a drawing based on what they hear.
   
3. Students compare drawings with their partners and make one composite drawing per pair.
4. Students compare their drawing with the original.
5. Alternatively, students can reconstruct the description text read by the teacher, as in standard dictogloss, and then do a drawing.

Dictogloss is, of course, just one of many innovative language teaching techniques that embody the current paradigm in education, that are well-suited to cooperative learning, that can benefit from their use with global issues content, and that lend themselves to a host of variations developed by creative second language teachers. The current paradigm is not just about how we teach and how students learn. It is just as much about why students learn and why we teach. It is about seeking to create an atmosphere in which students are self -motivated and take an active role in their own learning and that of their classmates and teachers. Furthermore, as can be seen in this article in the choice of topics for dictogloss, part of this classroom atmosphere can include a desire to understand the world and to make it a better place.