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Benjamin Lee Stewart, Luis Humberto Rodríguez Silva, and Juan Antonio Torres González
Mexico
Integrating Language Skills
through a Dictogloss Procedure
ot long ago it was common ue teaching with similar methods.
to find instructors teaching Teachers tend to teach the way they
N
languages, particularly Eng- were taught (Prabhu 1987), and if
lish in non-English-speaking countries, an English language teacher learned
without a degree and with little to no English via the translation method,
experience or expertise. But today, this same method is likely to reappear
governmental agencies like Mexico’s when the teacher plans, implements,
Secretaría de Educación Pública (Min- and evaluates instruction. Many Eng-
istry of Public Education) have begun lish teachers around the world—in
to require that teachers have a degree Mexico, for example—may still prefer
that demonstrates sufficient skill and direct instruction even though they
language proficiency. Nevertheless, are often free to choose from a vari-
being able to speak English and hav- ety of methods or strategies (Bollin
ing a degree do not necessarily lead to 2003).
purposeful language teaching, particu- The purpose of this article is to dem-
larly with a traditional instructional onstrate interactive and student-cen-
approach that isolates language skills tered examples of dictogloss activities
without appropriate contextual clues that offer an alternative to traditional
in a classroom environment where the dictation (usually reserved for listen-
teacher is didactic expert and students ing comprehension) and that can be
complacently follow along. applied both within and outside the
Traditional methods of teach- English language-learning classroom
ing English often include translating (Wajnryb 1990). Dictogloss proce-
structures from the target language dures are practical, yet flexible enough
to the mother tongue; although this to account for the needs, interests, and
method may seem antiquated, it is learning preferences of each learner. But
still commonly practiced. Indeed, more than that, the dictogloss activities
those teachers who were taught by allow English learners to be active and
traditional methods tend to contin- reflective during the learning process.
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Instead of reinforcing a linear approach to in their own words, trying to recall as
learning (i.e., input-comprehension-output), many sequences and details as possible.
the dictogloss procedures illustrate a learning This stage indicates to the teacher what
approach where students have opportunities students recall from the original; the
to integrate reading, writing, listening, and teacher uses this evidence to determine
speaking skills through social interaction. whether students are keeping up or
For this discussion, the terms error and whether further instruction is required.
mistake will be used interchangeably, although 4. Analysis and correction. Most of the
we recognize that there is a difference between student collaboration takes place in
the two in that the former is a more systematic this stage. Students self-assess their own
oups in order to
recurrence while the latter is usually a less fre- texts and then form gr
quent occurrence. conduct peer assessments. Either indi-
vidually or as a group, students notice
A dictogloss procedure to assess the differences between their own texts and
English language learner the original in regard to form, meaning,
The original dictogloss procedure was and language use. In this final stage,
intended to provide an alternative to tradi- learners assume a more active role,
tional grammar teaching through written relying on their individual strengths
dictation (Wajnryb 1990). The procedure to collaborate and correct each other.
embraced interactive communication through Constructive criticism through peer
the following stages: support and teacher guidance helps
1. Preparation. The first stage includes a form relationships that encourage stu-
warm-up related to the topic or a pre- dents to collaborate and cooperate
liminary speaking or writing exercise; a through social interaction.
group discussion around key vocabu- Throughout the stages of the dictogloss
lary terms helps activate learners’ prior procedure, the teacher adopts a facilitative
knowledge. To conclude this stage, the role to monitor receptive and productive
teacher informs learners about what skills, providing ample evidence for assessing
they are expected to do during the language skills. For instance, if many students
activity. indicate that they do not understand the text
2. Dictation. A story, news report, or other after it has been read twice, the teacher may
text is presented in English at a normal decide to present it again. The learners who
rate of speed. Learners listen to the are not able to detect certain types of mis-
dictation and take notes. The language takes might benefit from participating in a
used in the text and the length of the whole-group discussion in which the teacher
text depend on the learners’ level of provides feedback and further explanations.
English proficiency; maturity level; and This formative feedback leads to changes to
interests, needs, and learning prefer- instruction and assessment that guide the
ences. The number of times the text is learner to greater language-related outcomes.
repeated and the amount of prompt- Following are two lesson plans showing
ing required between texts will depend how a dictogloss procedure can specifically
on the educational context; the key is promote writing and speaking productive
to provide natural input in order to skills among language learners while at the
promote listening comprehension skills same time integrating the other skills. For
that enable learners to carry out the rest each procedure, we provide alternatives for
of the task. That is, listening skills are advanced and lower-level English language
treated not as an isolated learning event learners; we also demonstrate how to combine
but as a purposeful educative experience. interaction and reflection so that learners at
3. Reconstruction. Students work individu- all levels may utilize the four skills in order to
ally or in groups to produce their ver- promote a more dynamic language-learning
sions of the original text, capturing experience. We applied the procedures to
the essence of the text and generating pre-service English language educators who
correct grammar. They recreate the text were at a basic level and whose L1 was
E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 2 2014 13
Spanish. Learners at this level—A2 on the this stage, the teacher presents two pictures
Council of Europe (2001) scale—should be that relate to the chosen topic.
able to understand sentences and frequently For the purpose of this example, we will use
used expressions related to areas of immedi- the topic of a typical college experience in the
ate relevance; communicate in routine tasks; United States. Two pictures that depict sce-
and describe in simple terms their back- narios related to this topic are presented either
ground, immediate environment, and matters as individual handouts or projected onto a
of immediate need. screen (for sample pictures see www.flickr.
A dictogloss procedure to promote com/photos/carmichaellibrary/3008748339/
writing skills sizes/o/in/photostream and www.flickr.com/
photos/velkr0/3472576304/sizes/l/in/photo
Although there are many ways to design stream). The teacher then initiates an instruc-
and implement a dictogloss procedure, the tional conversation with the class about key
first example promotes writing skills. One vocabulary terms based on the two pic-
objective of this example is to allow learners tures. Instructional conversations are a type
to integrate the four skills through self-assess- of classroom discourse that permits teachers
ment and peer assessment. The procedure to provide a semi-structured group discus-
also helps educators determine whether they sion that activates students’ prior knowledge
need to change instructional designs or need and critical thinking skills (Díaz-Rico 2004;
to guide learners in adapting tactics that will Goldenberg and Gallimore 1991). Instruc-
facilitate individual learning trajectories. The tional conversations also serve as a formative
six-stage process is an adaptation of the origi- assessment technique that helps teachers col-
nal dictogloss procedure and is meant to serve lect oral evidence as to what students already
as a flexible framework that can be tailored to know and can do (Eisenkraft 2004). The
local contexts. initiation stage typically lasts 5 to 10 minutes,
A key component of the procedure is or possibly more depending on the learners’
determining the type of input to be provided. readiness levels and individual preferences of
Because our class consisted of first-year col- the teacher. (As much as the pictures facilitate
lege students, we designed a written text to the discussion of vocabulary terms, they are
expose them to typical university experiences optional. An alternative to using pictures is
comparable to their own. The text included to present key vocabulary related to the text.)
common idiomatic expressions so they would
gain exposure to a wider lexicon. A quick 2. Input stage
Creative Commons search led to a variety of The next stage activates the learners’ recep-
topic-related pictures that could be reused and tive skills based on authentic input. The
remixed freely (as long as attribution is given) teacher reads a short text aloud to the class
without the need to get permission from the at a normal rate of speed. Learners are asked
original owner of the pictures (see http://cre- to recreate the ideas and correct sequences
ativecommons.org). presented in the text. We presented the fol-
An alternative to creating an original text lowing text to our students, who were fresh-
is to find an authentic text (one that is not man university students studying for bachelor
intended for teaching purposes) that is appro- of arts degrees in English language teaching
priate for the learners. To support the text, any in Mexico:
form of visual aids may be used: realia, props, We didn’t have much time. As we all
personal objects, and images. Regardless of stuffed our faces, we knew we only
the type of text and visuals used, a lot will had a few more minutes to finish
depend on what students are asked to do with lunch before our next class. Since
the written material, so selecting an appropri- we arrived late to lunch, we were left
ate text will require knowing what one plans standing as the six of us continued
for each of the six stages of the procedure. talking about what we were doing
1. Initiation stage this weekend. Most of us were going
The procedure begins with an initiation, a to go to the big football game on
means of “warming up” to the topic. During Saturday because we wanted to see
14 2014 Number 2 | E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m
our dear friend Susan march in they can. Learners must recall the essence of
the marching band. Suddenly, the the original text by writing one paragraph
bell rang, so we all marched right that includes as many details and language
into our next class, American His- sequences as possible. At this point, the
tory. Since this was a freshman class, teacher has options regarding feedback. One
which was required of all incoming approach is to have the learners create the
students, it was common to end up stories individually, with no intervention from
with few vacant seats in a lecture hall the teacher; this approach allows the teach-
that seated well over 100 students. er to see exactly what learners can achieve
The good thing about our professor, individually. Another approach is for the
though, was that he uploaded all of teacher to provide individual, small-group, or
his lectures to YouTube so we could whole-group feedback as needed. Finally, the
check them out if we happened to instructor may gather evidence and provide
miss a class or if we did not under- whole-group feedback at the end of the
stand something during the lecture. stage, giving learners an opportunity to make
Professors typically do not take roll, changes to their respective texts as necessary.
which means that it is our responsi- Regardless of how much feedback is provided,
bility to make sure we keep up with the main objective is to allow learners to create
our course readings and homework. as much as possible on their own. This stage
Although there is a lot of required contrasts with a later interactive stage that
reading for the class, it is possible to encourages collaboration. The time it takes to
keep up if you can learn how to pri- complete the independent stage will depend
oritize. In other words, it is possible on (1) the amount of feedback the teacher
to have a great college experience provides and (2) the degree to which learn-
that includes doing well academi- ers are able to notice mistakes on their own.
cally while also having an enjoyable When we applied this procedure in our class
social life. with no teacher feedback, the independent
Several options are available in the input stage lasted approximately 25 minutes.
stage. The length of the text and the number 4. Independent internalization stage
of times the text is read to the learners will Once the students have completed their
depend on their readiness levels (i.e., lan- texts to the best of their ability, the teacher
guage proficiency, maturity level, and content hands out the original text or projects it on a
knowledge) and the particular objectives of screen for the entire class to view. This process
the dictogloss activity (e.g., learning strategies, of comparing personal texts to the original is
integrating skills with a focus on written dis- referred to as independent internalization; it
course, integrating skills with a focus on spoken allows learners to notice differences in lexicon,
discourse, and correcting errors). Moreover, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and
different strategies may be used to facilitate the spelling, among other things. When learners
learners’ abilities to comprehend and to repro- notice that a change is needed, they make
duce the text: notetaking, drawing a picture annotations to their texts by using a colored
or schematic map, and completing an outline, pen or pencil to cross out words and make
among others. Depending on how teachers notes along the margins of the text without
choose to implement the procedure, they can erasing their original text. Writing out anno-
anticipate spending 10 to 15 minutes or more tations allows learners to elaborate on their
on this stage. mistakes in punctuation, spelling, word order,
verb tense, subject-verb agreement, semantics
3. Independent stage (idiomatic expressions, colloquialisms, etc.),
Once the teacher has verified that most and other types of mistakes that relate to the
of the learners have completed an outline, a objectives of the individual or course. The
list of key words, or a concept map to guide objective of this stage is for learners to use the
their organization, learners continue with original text as a model to facilitate deeper
the independent stage and reproduce in their detection tactics when recreating the essence
own words as much of the original text as of the original text in their own words.
E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 2 2014 15
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