The Effect of Frequent Dictation in Foreign Language Lessons

This is a guest post written by Tetyana Skrypkina

In my teaching foreign languages practice I do use frequent dictations with my students. For it to be more successful, before the dictation I provide students with the list of unknown words and collocations, which might not be recognized by them due to the accent or speed of speech.  Firstly, I give the list of unknown words, we read and translate (if necessary; and yes, I use the L1 for explanations), play the whole tape, then students are to write one chunk of meaningful speech after another, keeping the chunks in their mind. This helps strengthen their memory.

At first, this activity might be time consuming, but if you practice it regularly, each time you will need less and less time.

Here is a brief example of my German classes. I had a one-to-one Skype lessons with a student .  The books we use have a CD with audio, each track is approximately 1 min 30 seconds long. In the beginning, it took us about 30 minutes to cope with one audio. But as we kept doing this activity, it took less and less time.

Praising Good Vocabulary

In a previous post I spoke about the importance of Positive Reinforcement in the language classroom. It’s important that teachers show learners what language they are using correctly and praise them for it.

My justification for this is because we as teachers know what language is correct and incorrect, but that doesn’t mean learners know. In fact, as long as they have executed a successful communicative act, then they have achieved the desired goal: they’ve communicated a message.

Language is a wide topic and showing examples of good language use could range from grammar through lexis to pronunciation. Today, I’d like to focus only on vocabulary. 

Acrostic Poems in ELT

When starting out in teaching, Newly Qualified Teachers tend to be enthusiastic collectors of in-class activities. It’s not unusual to hear in the staff room cries such as “Anyone have any good ideas that I can do with my intermediate group?” or “That sounds like a great activity, I’ll use that!” In short, new teachers will try just about anything once.

With a bit of time and experience, however, teachers come to realise that some activities work better than others. They tend to get a sense of what works and what doesn’t work with their learners, making statements such as “that sounds like a nice idea but I just don’t see it working with my group.” And sometimes you have to stop using an activity because you fear you might over do it – this rings particularly true of vocab games.

With years of experience and plenty of development, some teachers then start to question the value of in-class activities. They cast a critical eye over them and start to ponder what principles of learning are behind the activity. This is when you start to hear statements, such as “well, this activity is good fun and they enjoy it, but what are the learners actually getting out it?” That is to say, you start to take a Principled Approach to activities and their design. 

Presenting New Language

During pre-service training teachers learn how to apply the PPP formula for teaching new language: Present Practise Produce. “Language” in this sense is in the specific and narrow meaning of Target Language i.e. grammar, functional exponents, lexis etc.

As teachers progress beyond their initial teacher training qualification they might continue to employ the PPP formula or they may move on to other approaches. In fact, I have come across a number of teachers who vehemently support the application of Guided Discovery to all lessons where new language is taught, or Task-Based Learning, or others who insist on a Dogme approach.

Regardless of your preference, it seems before any discussion about the best approach can take place there needs to be some  understanding of what goes on in the background: what’s behind the language teaching approach?

Reviewing and Demonstrating Learners’ Progress

When teachers first finish their pre-service training course, one of their first worries is to get through their lessons as successfully as possible. Many of them will have gone into their first teaching posts only a matter of weeks before their first formal observations. There is also the added pressure of getting their heads around the syllabus and sticking to the curriculum. The last thing on their minds will, understandably, be Learner Progression.

However, many learners leave courses and do not return to language schools because they think they did not progress during the course. Now, most teachers will be able to assure you that all their learners did indeed progress and might even be able to demonstrate this to you. This is all well and good, but it is the learners who need this evidence of progression demonstrated to them, not other teachers.

If learners need evidence of progression, then that leaves a few questions to be answered: What techniques could be used? How often should a teacher do this? What if a learner has not truly progressed?