The Best Dictation Activity to Use with Language Learners

[@EugeneSaven]

Thank you for your videos!!!

[@MatthewNobleELT]

Your YT channel has really come along! This video + description with links is really fantastic. It will be the first thing that comes to mind when someone asks about Dictogloss! Thanks Martin. :)

[@ELTExperiences]

Thanks Matthew. I really appreciate this and makes it all worthwhile. Let me know how it goes when you try dictogloss.

[@Satelliteua]

Great video and great channel! Could you share a few thoughts about the technology tools you use? I've read your blog post about top websites for students, but was wondering if you use any tools for teachers like quizlet or kahoot in your classroom?

[@khadidja470]

I really liked this video, thank you very much. I will be using this with my students. I was just wondering though, which level are these students? and do they have to know the words before ? I mean does the activity act like a revision, or a presentation of TL and then a practice of that TL ? Thank you :)

[@ELTExperiences]

The students were elementary and they had morning as well as afternoon lessons. They had learnt a lot about the past simple so this lesson was to reanalyse this through the natural use of narrative tenses. I didn't pre-teach any new vocabulary and expected the learners to negotiate the language between themselves. Afterwards, we analysed the language and the students knew a great deal from the context. One structure we looked at was 'As soon as ..., I ...'. It was very good and it challenged them. Best of luck with this style of teaching and I hope you let me know how it goes.

[@colourinmyrainbow]

the copy that is made towards the end... is it a copy of the Teacher's original story? or do you only hand that out right at the very end?

[@elliotsmith1622]

Does a dictogloss always need a grammar point? Or can you just do it for the sole purpose of improving the students listening/writing skills?

[@ELTExperiences]

It doesn’t always have to have a grammar focus. You may react with particular language in mind with grammar emerging naturally when comparing your script to the learners’ script. The good thing about dictogloss is that it also improves listening, note taking and writing skills in a short period of time and is quite an intense lesson for those students unfamiliar with the activity.

[@elliotsmith1622]

@@ELTExperiences Thanks heaps for that I shall experiment with it next week!

[@connellybrian5278]

I'm curious how the students organized their notes. Did they collocate the different parts of speech, or did they just write them haphazardly on their paper?

[@ELTExperiences]

Good question. The students referred to the individual words in a small group and collocations emerged naturally from the context. Afterwards, students were able to compare their version to the original and this reinforced chunks of language. I will have to review this area though and see how students respond to individual language items and whether they automatically collocate or bring in chunks of language.

[@ELTExperiences]

Have you ever tried dictogloss with your students? How did it go?

[@connellybrian5278]

@@ELTExperiences So you didn't ask them to organize beforehand. Interesting! Did they have any trouble with that? I assume they already had or were given some background knowledge before, which probably helped. PS When I said "haphazardly" I didn't mean to imply that it was a bad way of doing it (despite the negative connotation the word holds), I just couldn't think of a better way to contrast that with something more organized/scaffolded. :P

[@connellybrian5278]

@@ELTExperiences Plenty of times; I used to be a regular EFL instructor. It's been awhile though, and I'm thinking to do one in a couple weeks, which is how I found your video. :)

[@ELTExperiences]

Connelly Brian no I didn’t get them to reorganise words beforehand. I suppose I could students to write down words on slips of paper and then they reorganise according to when they hear it. However, a lot of the processes going on are quite complicated and the students have little time to take stock on what is happening. This group of learners were a strong group of elementary students so they were able to handle the story and also know words and their association. We had prepped a lot beforehand with relevant schema.

[@uncleshoutingsmut]

The phonemes for Wednesday are way off.

[@stuartforbes]

I've definitely heard people say it like that, but you're right in that it's far from the standard pronunciation.

[@jentaylor8132]

It's quite a difficult position for the girl in the middle to be sitting in?

[@ELTExperiences]

+Jen Taylor why is that? I moved the tables so students were closer to the board and myself.