Dictation is a well-established language teaching technique that has also been used in other subject areas. The standard procedure for dictation involves teachers reading a passage slowly enough and as many times as necessary for students to write down the passage using the exact words dictated by the teachers. Some educators have criticized standard dictation as a form of rote learning in which students do little thinking.

As an alternative, Ruth Wajnryb invented dictogloss. While, like all teaching techniques, dictogloss has variations, the two main features that make dictogloss different from standard dictation are that the teachers only read the passage twice, and students do not need to make an exact copy of the original text, as long as the original meaning remains intact, and the grammatical choices make sense. For the purposes of this course, we present a CL version of Dictogloss.

Step 1: The class discusses the topic of the passage that teachers will read aloud. To help students reconstruct the text later in the activity, the class might also talk about key vocabulary, text types (e.g., narratives, instructions, arguments, explanations), and the language features of the passage, such as whether it is past tense or present tense.

Step 2: Teachers have selected a passage that fits students’ interests and current comprehension level. Perhaps teachers have modified the passage or have pre-taught background knowledge or vocabulary. Then, teachers read the passage aloud at their normal speaking speed while the class listens—for comprehension—but does not write. Teachers then reread the text at their normal speed, or perhaps a bit more slowly, and this time the students take notes. Of course, the students are just trying to capture key ideas; teachers’ reading aloud speed is likely too fast for most students to write down every word.

Step 3: In groups of 2–4, students attempt to create a reasonable reconstruction of the original passage. This should be performed by writing complete sentences, not as a collection of scattered points. The meaning needs to remain more or less the same, but the words and sentence structure can change. The group makes a plan for how all group members can be involved. For example, each member can take turns sharing points from their notes or can take a turn to be the primary writer of the text reconstruction.

Step 4: Teachers show the original text to the class. Group members take turns identifying how their reconstruction is similar to and different from the original. Are the differences reasonable? Different from does not necessarily mean “worse” or “better.” The group discusses what they learned from their Dictogloss experience and how they could perform text reconstructions even better the next time.

Step 5: The class discusses what they learned about the topic of the passage and how they could use and expand on their knowledge.

Reflective Break

If students ask you to read the passage a third time, will you do it? Why or why not?

Sample Response