Dictation in The English Language Classroom: Techniques of Dictation
by Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi
Dictation is a classroom task where a word, phrase, or sentence is spoken aloud by the teacher or heard from the voice on the audio recorder and the learners are asked to write it down.
Dictation is a new methodology for an age-old exercise. This is an attempt to put a useful but now undervalued area of work back on the language teaching map and to endow it with a methodology that makes it attractive to a broad range of teachers and learners within current approaches to language learning and teaching.
How a variety of dictation exercises can be used in an English Language class room so as to make it more appealing and interesting for the learners. Some of the tasks are as following:
I Sounds, Spellings and Pronunciations
II Text reconstruction
III The Telephone
IV Using the student’s text
V Single word dictations
VI Finding about each other
VII Thinking about meaning
VIII Where on the page?
IX Community Language Learning
I. SOUNDS & SPELLINGS
A learner who hears the sound /s/ during a dictation can write:
s, ss, se, ‘s, c, ce, sc, st, sw, ps, etc.
Look at these words with sound /s/
Us
Pass
Promise
John’s
Recite
Once
Science
Listen
Sword
Psychology
Thus a learner ought to know the different usage of the sound /s/ in order to spell correctly and this can only be achieved with practice.
Sounds, spellings and punctuation: -The tasks in this section concentrate on different aspects of the speaking or writing of English
1. Silent letter
2. Past endings
3. Interference
4. Listening for word stresses
5. Firing questions
6. Program punctuation
II. TEXT RECONSTRUCTION
Text reconstruction gives learners practice in writing with the help of a text.
1. Whistle gaps
2. Words dictation story
3. Cheating dictation
4. Cheating with mime
5. Piecing it together
6. Dictogloss
7. Mutual dictation
III. THE TELEPHONE
The telephone is an excellent device to be used as an aid for dictation.
1 Taking a message
2 Quick calls
3 Telephone tree
4 Seeking information
5 Instant lesson
IV. USING THE STUDENTS’ TEXT
Learners already have enough vocabulary to create their own texts. They themselves prepare the texts which are later dictated to them.
1. Adjective
2. Word by word
3. Before and after
4. What have I done?
5. Opinion poll
6. Half the story
7. Student story
V. SINGLE WORD DICTATION
This deals with vocabulary and offers a variety of revision and deepening exercises.
1 Connections
2 Collocations
3 Words change
4 Sounds American
5 The senses
6 Word sets
7 Picking your words
VI. FINDING OUT ABOUT EACH OTHER
Dictation can be integrated with other activities of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). It can exploit the personal language and experience of the learner.
1. The Teacher’s autobiography
2. About myself
3. How can you say that?
4. Who can you say what to?
5 Stairs
VII. THINKING ABOUT MEANING
English Language is full of ambiguities. Make the learners play with meanings and make judgments about what things mean and if they mean anything.
1. Associations
2. Does it mean anything
3. Translating ambiguity
4. Qualifying sentences
5. Him or Her?
VIII WHERE ON PAGE?
In picture dictation’ we have a fairly common communication game in which students’ comprehension is checked by their ability to reproduce on paper the spatial and descriptive information that has been dictated to them. In normal use, language behaviour is generally accompanied by other activity involving the eye, the hand, the brain, etc. There is a lot to be said for reproducing this complexity in the learning situation.
IX. COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING
This is more of a communicative process. Learners dictate to each other thus developing the skills of Speaking, Listening, and Writing.
1. Student transcription
2. Community Language Learning for larger classes
3. Shadow Community Language Learning
Dictation of any kind provides a nice blend of listening, writing and checking through reading. This appeals to students whether they learn primarily in an auditory or visual or kinesthetic way.
1. Words on a picture
2. Import / export
3. Handguns
4. Around and about
5. Picture Dictation
6. Time Dictation
Dictation, thus, is a well-tried technique. This technique serves as a bridge from traditional learning to exciting new ways of teaching. It is a useful area for self -study now with available programs on computers and Microtext.
MICROTEXT: – When should the machine react to a mistake?
The moment a wrong letter is typed in?
At the end of the word in which there is a mistake.
At the first full stop.
At the end of the passage.
How should the machine react?
By writing the word correctly in a box at the top of the screen.
By flashing a question mark over the wrong letter.
By writing the sentence at the top of the screen with the type of error identified. Eg: word, segmentation, punctuation, spacing, spelling etc.
How should the machine react to mistakes from a sensory point of view?
Jumping letters
Burglar alarms
Sound effects
Music
Colour
Thus today in this world of technology, a microtext can be a useful device to aid learners in their spellings and pronunciation. Dictation today has taken on a new skill, which is the skill of Listening. There could be pre-listening tasks, while-listening tasks and post-listening tasks. The above Dictation tasks can easily be categorized under these Listening tasks. With the advent of occupations and professions like Medical Transcription, Legal transcription, Call Centers etc, developing the skill of listening has become all the more important be it in the garb of Dictation or Listening.
** ELTWeekly would like thank Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi for contributing this article.
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