Some other types of dictation
Match one of the names from the list to the descriptions below.
1. Dictation as a stimulus to discussion
2. Running dictation
3. Developing the ability to deduce from context
4. The senses dictation
5. Translation dictation
A. 3
The teacher dictates several sentences containing a “dummy” word such as
“coffeepot”or “pineapple”. After writing the dictated sentences, the students have
to deduce the word that has been replaced by the substitute. Here is an example
using “banana”:
1. You raised a lot of bananas with clear visuals and engaging questions in your
lead in.
2. You asked a few useful checking questions after giving out your bananas.
3. In feedback you called on individual students by name for bananas.
4. You bananaed students unobtrusively while they were talking together.
B. 5
This will only work really well if you have a multilingual class but it can be done with
a monolingual class. (If you had any bilingual students, they could be encouraged to
use the language that differs from the majority language of the class.) The teacher
dictates some sentences which contain examples of recently taught grammatical
structures or functional chunks or other fixed expressions. The students listen and
write down a translation into L1. Then they gather together in groups (ideally
groups of students with a different L1) and agree on a translation of the sentence
back into English.
C. 1
The teacher dictates a few controversial statements on a particular topic. After
students have checked the accuracy of their sentences (first with each other and
then against a model), they discuss them in pairs/groups. Here are three example
statements:
In dictation, the teacher speaks and students write exactly what they hear
and that’s it.
Dictation can play a role in both practice and discovery.
It is a student-centred activity
D. 4
This is an activity designed to aid memorisation of vocabulary. The students are
asked to divide a page into five columns headed “I see/I hear/I smell/I taste/I feel”.
The teacher dictates items of recently studied vocabulary and the students write
the word in the column that corresponds to the first sensory image they can
connect with that word. For example, if the teacher dictates the word ‘baby’, some
students might see a baby’s smile, some might hear a baby crying, some might
smell the pleasant or unpleasant smells associated with babies, some might feel the
weight and warmth of a baby and so on. When all words have been dictated,
students compare and explain why they placed different words in different columns.
The rationale behind this is that all words in our first language easily stimulate links
to the lived world of the senses. This is not initially the case with words in L2 but
this activity could help to forge those links, which in turn will make the words more
memorable. The words dictated do not necessarily need to be ones which are easily
connected to sensory images but could include abstract words as well. A possible
alternative to the five senses is connecting words to particular colours
E. 2
This is also known as a ‘wall dictation’. The teacher prints out a short text in a large
font and cuts it up into strips. She sticks these in random order on a wall
somewhere, either at the far side of the classroom or maybe outside in the corridor.
Students work in pairs, A and B. A runs to the wall, memorises what is on a strip,
runs back to B and dictates it. They could either continue in the same roles or
alternate them until all strips have been dictated. Then they race to be the first pair
to put the parts of the text into the right order. This activity has the advantage of
livening up the classroom atmosphere but the short text itself can be put to
different uses after the dictation. It could, for example, be one way to ensure that
all students have a copy of the instructions for a board game or something similar.
Here is an example text:
4 What’s the first thing to do after you get a CELTA
1 certificate? Probably, have a rest. But then you’ll maybe apply
6 for a job somewhere in the world. There are so many places
5 where the qualification is recognised. A lot of people want
3 to work somewhere fun while not worrying about
2 going broke or crazy at the same time.
