Language Teaching Methods & CL

Language Teaching Methods & CL

I wonder if Dictogloss another term or a variation of Dicto-Comp. Dicto-Comp has been defined as “a technique for practicing composition in language classes. A passage is read to a class, and then the students must write out what they understand and remember from the passage, keeping as closely to the original as possible but using their own words where necessary” (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 1992, p. 108)

Dr Jacobs has suggested why and how ER and Dictogloss have been integrated in CL. Shifting the focus to the students though CL techniques, in my view, enhances language acquisition because it enable the students to negotiate meanings and comprehend the elaborated texts.

However, for most NNS teachers in a mono-lingual/cultural setting, reading the text out loud to the whole class can be a challenging task, especially if those texts are not from required textbooks. They may not feel confident enough to do so. Most NNS teachers simply lack opportunities to improve their skills. We talk about asking more capable peers to help their slower classmates. We have mentioned that it has been challenging. How can we expect their collaboration to be any simpler than ours? We teachers have to do likewise. It is not easy, of course, to work well with others. [In some places, there’s no meeting more counter-productive than a meeting of an ‘English Department’ J.] Collaborating with fellow teachers is a way to help cultivate cooperative culture within institutions, another way to communicate tacit knowledge, a philosophy in action. For some, it is a way to survive, emotionally, from the task of having to teach Communication Skills 101.

In SLA theories, we have come to realize that L1 transfer upon interlanguage is greater at phonological levels than at syntactical levels. In fact, there is one theory claiming that intonation and grammar are highly related. If your prosodic characteristics are correctly processed, don’t worry about your grammar. Stephen Krashen, I believe, still maintains his conviction that input comprehension alone is a sufficient condition for form acquisition (Krashen and Mason, 2004).

Where applicable and reasonable, I wonder, should we use audiocassettes or CDs instead of our own voices? Would it be equally effective and desirable? On the other hand, as a NNS, the more I force myself to read a poem out load, the more I can improve my English, my accent, my pitch levels, my timing. It is a means for me to raise my awareness, something for me to reflect upon.

As suggested by the paper, discussing types of texts at the very beginning is an effective way to prepare the students. Indeed, the students need to be taught that there are different narrative structures, different fields have different discourses, and so on. Text selection, however, is not simple. What would be our criteria? As we know, texts produced have their own intentions. Texts intended to be heard are not the same as those meant to be read. This point is significant. Sometimes, in addition to comprehension, they are meant to be slowly absorbed. Many stories could position us into a dream-like state. In fact, a few teachers I know said Dictogloss did help students to be imaginative in their use of the language.

A famous study conducted by Yano, Long, Ross (1994) showed that text elaboration best aided comprehension. Exaggeration or words is another way to help the students perceive certain sounds. Michael Long (2002) maintained that, of the three kinds of texts --- simplified, elaborated, or authentic, the elaborated one (through adding redundancy and transparency) was best for learners to acquire both form and content. To aid language acquisition, we need to carefully select stories. When we read, we can anticipate some problems in advance. ‘Elaborated texts achieve almost as great an increase in comprehension as simplified ones, but do so without impeding acquisition’ (Long, 2002). Examples of ‘elaborated texts’ are abundant in commercial textbooks.

Some of us have mentioned the word ‘fun’. We learn better when we have fun. Will the students enjoy listening to my stories or the stories I have chosen? With my foreign accent, will they understand me? I myself enjoy listening to stories. Recently, listening to a cricket match on a radio has become my obsession. In addition to reading books, I also, recently, enjoy listening to audio books, in addition to talkback programs. At first, I was just a way to ‘rest my fatigue eyes’. Later, however, it has become part of my learning and entertainment. I have listened to many audio books (BBC, ABC, Harper Collins, Bolinda, etc). My feeling is that listening to the stories read by professional readers is like listening to your favorite music. Listening, like writing, is also therapeutic. I listen to my favorite story again and again. In many parts, I remember them by heart!

Reflection is something we need to integrate into our courses. I’ll say more about this when we reach the week on thinking and CL. What I would like to say here is: Reflecting on their own performance, learning strategies, and learning environments, is an effective means for the students to improve their language and language learning.

Krashen, S. and Mason, B (2004). Is Form-Focused Vocabulary Instruction Worthwhile? RELC, 35(2), pp. 179-185.

Long, M. (2002). Second Language Acquisition and language Teaching. Paper presented at a conference on Languages---the new millennium, July 6-7 2002, Sydney.

Richards, J. C., Platt, J., & Platt, H. (1992). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics (2 ed.). Harloe, Essex: Longman.

Yano, Y., Long, M. H., & Ross, S. (1994). The effects of simplified and elaborated texts on foreign language reading comprehension. Language Learning, 44, 189-219.

Bill Bryson’s Down Under, Pride and Prejudice, Dr Phil’s Get Real, Status Anxiety (read by the author Alain de Botton, not a bad model for ), The Dog Fence (Read by Lewis Fitz-gerald, which I think is the best among Australia audio-book readers), etc). Why? In may parts, I even remember every  word,   Teachers may need to be capable copy-editors. Working with fellow teachers in the same department (English Dept), meeting after meeting, may help.