Directions: Follow the 4 steps below.

1. Listen to the passage here once or twice so that you understand it. Work in groups and help one
another. Do not take notes in this step!

2. Now, listen to the same passage again and quickly take notes below. Try to write down as many
words as you can. Keep taking notes till the end of the recording. Don't try to write complete sentences.

3. Work with your group mates. Put all your notes together to restore the original passage. Everyone in
the group should try to write the original passage.

4. Compare what you wrote above with the original passage here. Write down your self-reflections
below.
Assessmen Perkembangan dan Evaluasi
Hasil Mendengarkan
Mendengarkan atau menyimak merupakan proses menangkap pesan atau
gagasan yang disajikan melalui ujaran. Mendengarkan adalah salah satu keterampilan
berbahasa yang sangat penting, disamping membaca, berbicara, dan menulis.
Komunikasi tidak akan dapat berlangsung dengan lancar tanpa keterampilan
Mendengarkan. Achsin (1981) mengatakan bahwa keterampilan Mendengarkan
merupakan dasar keterampilan berbicara yang baik. Apabila kemampuan seseorang
dalam mendengarkan kurang, dapat dipastikan dia tidak dapat mengungkapkan topik
yang didengar dengan baik. Dalam proses mendengar, seseorang tidak memusatkan
perhatian pada setiap kata yang didengarnya melainkan inti pesan yang terdengar.
Misalnya sewaktu kita menyimak acara di radio, kita hanya menangkap beberapa hal
dan tidak dapat menangkap beberapa hal yang lain. Tidak tertangkapkan beberapa hal
itu disebabkan oleh kurang perhatian, kurang tertarik pada topik, atau kurang efisien
dalam menyimak (Rofi’uddin, 2007).Menyimak sangat diperlukan dalam kehidupan
sehari-hari untuk memperluas wawasan, pengetahuan maupun hanya untuk
kesenangan. Dalam kehidupan banyak komunikasi banyak dilakukan secara lisan
sehingga kemampuan menyimak sangat penting dimiliki oleh setiap pemakai bahasa
(Djiwandono, 1996: 54). Hal ini senanda dengan pendapat Morley (1984: 7) yang
mengatakan bahwa dalam komunikasi sehari-hari kegiatan menyimak mencapai 50%,
berbicara 25%, membaca 15%, dan menulis 10%. Dengan demikian dapat dikatakan
bahwa menyimak mendominasi kegiatan berbahasa yang lain. Meskipun
mendengarkan sangat perperan penting, namun sering kali penyimak mengalami
kesulitan sehingga informasi yang diperoleh pun tidak maksimal.Menurut Nunan (1991)
munculnya kesulitan dalam menyimak dipengaruhi oleh beberapa faktor yaitu, (1)
susunan informasi (teks yang berisi informasi yang disusun secara kronologis lebih
mudah dipahami dari pada yang tidak kronologis, (2) latar belakang pengetahuan
penyimak mengenai topik yang disimak, (3) kelengkapan dan kejelasan informasi yang
disimak, (4) jenis kata yang digunakan, dan (5) deskripsi yang ada dalam teks yang
disimak.Dibandingkan dengan kemampuan berbicara atau menulis yang aktif-produktif,
kemampuan menyimak merupakan kemampuan yang pasif-reseptif, sebagaimana
halnya kemampuan memahami bacaan. Tentu saja hal itu tidak berarti, bahwa dalam
menyimak atau mendengarkan, seseorang sepenuhnya pasif, dan tidak melakukan
atau mengalami suatu proses yang aktif. Menyimak pada dasarnya bersifat pasif-
reseptif, dalam arti bahwa-inisiatif untuk berkomunikasi tidak semata-mata berasal dari
dirinya, melainkan dari orang lain. Sikap dan tindakan yang diharapkan dari seorang
pendengar yang diajak berkomunikasi, terutama adalah mendengarkan dan memahami
apa yang didengamya. Kegiatan untuk mendengarkan dan memahami ungkapan orang
lain itulah yang membuat kegiatan menyimak sebagai pertama-tama bersifat pasif-
reseptif.Tentu saja mendengar dan memahami ungkapan orang lain itu tidak
sepenuhnya pasif. Pemahaman yang utuh dan tepat hanya dapat terjadi apabila
pendengar secara aktif memproses apa yang didengamya itu secara linguistik dan
intelektual dalam dirinya. Namun semua itu dilakukan sebagai akibat dari tanggapan
terhadap ungkapan seorang pembicara. Dengan demikian perbedaan kemampuan
berbahasa aktif-produktif dan pasif-reseptif itu didasarkan atas prakarsa untuk
terjadinya komunikasi dalam bentuk penggunaan bahasa. Dalam pengertian itu,
kegiatan menyimak yang tujuan utamanya adalah pemahaman penggunaan bahasa
lisan, mengandalkan pada kemampuan menyimak yang bersifat pasif-
reseptif.Menyimak sebagai salah satu keterampilan berbahasa masih sering diabaikan
dalam pembelajaran di kelas. Mc Keating (dalam Farris, 1993) mengungkap alasan
diabaikannya keterampilan menyimak diantaranya (1) menyimak berkembang secara
alami, (2) guru kurang mendapat pelatihan dalam pembelajaran menyimak, (3) prilaku
menyimak yang tersembunyi sehingga sulit diamati, dan (4) kegiatan sekolah terlalu
pada sehingga menyimak tidak diperhatikan. Ludsten (dalam Ellis, 1989: 128-129)
menambahkan alasan lain adanya kenyataan bahwa menyimak dapat ditutupi dengan
menganggukkan kepala atau berpura-pura mengerti.Sebagai suatu keterampilan,
menyimak merupakan ketetampilan yang harus dimiliki semua siswa agar dapat
memahami bahasa yang digunakan orang lain secara lisan. Tanpa kemampuan
menyimak secara baik dimungkinkan terjadi kesalahpahaman dalam komunikasi antara
sesama pemakai bahasa yang dapat menyebabkan berbagai hambatan dalam
pelaksanaan tugas dan kegiatan sehari-hari. Oleh karena itu kemampuan menyimak
merupakan bagian yang penting dan tidak dapat diabaikan dalam pengajaran bahasa,
terutama bila tujuan penyelenggaraannya adalah penguasaan kemampuan berbahasa
selengkapnya (Djiwandono, 1996). Dalam pengajaran bahasa semacam itu,
perkembangan dan tingkat penguasaan kemampuan menyimak perlu dipantau dan
diukur melalui penyelenggaraan assessmen dan evaluasi menyimak.Untuk mengetahui
perkembangan keterampilan siswa dalam menyimak perlu diadakan assessmen dan
evaluasi dalam pembelajaran menyimak. Berdasarkan paparan di atas, maka pada
makalah ini akan diuraikan bagaimana teknik assessmen perkembangan menyimak,
pelaksanaan assessmen perkembangan menyimak, instrumen assessmen
perkembangan menyimak, teknik evaluasi hasil belajar menyimak, pelaksanaan
evaluasi hasil belajar menyimak dan instrumen evaluasi hasil belajar menyimak.II.
Assessmen Perkembangan Menyimak Assessmen merupakan bagian penting
dalam proses pembelajaran. Pelaksanaan assessmen bertujuan untuk memahami dan
memperoleh informasi tentang siswa pada perkembangan belajarnya. Duncan (1998)
mengemukakan bahwa assessmen adalah penilaian pada proses penyampaian
informasi (pembelajaan) mengenai; (1) penilaian guru tentang para murid mereka, (2)
penilaian guru tentang pengajaran, dan (3) penilaian siswa tentang kemajuan mereka.
Pada praktek di sekolah, yang pertama kebanyakan menekankan pada aktivitas, yang
kedua menekankan pada atribut pengajaran seperti media, metode dan sumber, dan
yang ketiga menekankan pada kesadaran siswa. Dengan assessmen, guru
dapat mencatat perkembangan siswa pada keterampilan menyimaknnya.
Perkembangan tersebut dapat digunakan guru sebagai dasar untuk melanjutkan
pembelajaran pada materi selanjutnya. Selain itu assessmen juga dapat digunakan
sebagai alat untuk memberikan motivasi agar siswa dapat menjadi seorang penyimak
yang baik. A. Teknik Assessmen Perkembangan Menyimak Teknik-teknik
assessmen yang dapat dilakukan untuk mengetahui perkembangan siswa pada
keterampilan mendengarkan sebagai berikut. 1. Wawancara
Wawancara merupakan cara yang ideal untuk mengetahui keadaan siswa. Siswa
dapat memberikan tanggapan baik secara lisan maupun tertulis. Dengan wawancara
guru dapat memperoleh informasi yang mencerminkan sikap, strategi, kesenangan dan
tingkat kepercayaan diri siswa (Rofi’uddin dan Zuhdi, 1999). Melalui wawancara
guru dapat menggali informasi sebanyak-banyaknya terhadap ketertarikan dan minat
siswa pada materi menyimak yang telah diajarkan. Guru dapat menyelipkan pertanyaan
tentang tujuan pembelajaran yang telah dilakukan tadi. Apabila siswa dapat menjawab
pertanyaan dengan tepat dan sesuai, maka dapat diprediksi bahwa ketertarikan dan
keterampilan menyimaknya sudah cukup baik. 2. Observasi. Pengamatan
atau observasi dilakukan oleh guru dengan melihat dan mencatat hal-hal yang
berkaitan dengan perkembangan menyimak secara individu. Kegiatan observasi
menyimak dilakukan tidak hanya ketika pembelajaran menyimak tetapi bisa
dilaksanakan pada saat pengajaran keterampilan berbahasa yang lain. Dalam
merekam perkembangan menyimak ini, guru menggunakan buku atau lembar observasi
untuk setiap siswa. Catatan observasi ini berisi prilaku siswa saat pembelajaran
berlangsung. Misalnya laporan tentang fokus perhatian serta respon siswa pada saat
guru melontarkan pertanyaan. 3. Portofolio Portofolio adalah kumpulan
hasil karya siswa yang representatif menunjukkan perkembangan kemampuan siswa
dalam suatu periode waktu tertentu, misalnya satu catur wulan, satu semester, dst,
(Iskandar, 1997). Kumpulan hasil karya siswa ini menggambarkan apa yang dapat
dikerjakan oleh siswa dalam menyimak. Data yang didapat dari portofolio
digunakan untuk mengetahui perkembangan belajar menyimak siswa. Portofolio juga
dapat membantu siswa merefleksikan apa yang telah mereka pelajari. 4. Jurnal
dalam Mendengarkan Jurnal adalah rekaman tertulis tentang apa yang telah
dipelajari oleh siswa. Jurnal dapat digunakan untuk merekam atau meringkas aspek-
aspek yang berhubungan dengan topik-topik kunci yang dipahami, perasaan siswa
terhadap pembelajaran, kesulitan yang dialami, atau keberhasilan di dalam
memecahkan masalah, komentar yang dibuat oleh siswa tentang upaya yang dilakukan
dalam mencapai kompetensi yang dipelajari. Jurnal berisi catatan harian yang
digunakan siswa untuk menulis respon apa yang dipikirkan siswa tentang pembelajaran
bahasa yang dialami, perasaan personal siswa terhadap pembelajaran, atau refleksi
siswa terhadap keseluruhan proses pembelajaran. Secara khusus jurnal dapat berupa
diary, atau catatan siswa yang lain.Jurnal difungsikan untuk mendapatkan informasi
tentang persepsi, interpretasi, harapan, dan kesulitan siswa dalam belajar
menyimak. Jurnal memberikan informasi tentang minat, respon, dan pemahaman
siswa dalam menyimak. Jurnal sangat membantu pengembangan kemampuan refleksi
dan instrospeksi siswa. Menggunakan jurnal sangat kondusif untuk melatih berpikir
tentang mengapa sesuatu perlu dilakukan. B. Pelaksanaan Assessmen
Perkembangan MendengarkanPada kegiatan assessmen mendengarkan dapat
digunakan instrumen assessmen mendengarkan dengan memilih salah satu bentuk
assessmen. Misalnya observasi yang dilakukan guru dengan melihat dan mencatat
hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan perkembangan menyimak setiap siswa. Hasil observasi
dicatat pada lembar observasi dengan mendeskripsikan setiap kejadian yang
terekam.Dalam melakukan observasi tidak perlu dilakukan pada saat pembelajaran
berfokus pada keterampilan menyimak. Tetapi dapat dilakukan pada fokus keterampilan
berbahasa yang lain karena pembelajaran bahasa selalu terintegrasi dengan
keterampilan yang lain. Misalnya pada saat pembelajaran membaca. Pada saat ini guru
dapat menyelipkan kegiatan observasi.C. Instrumen Assessmen Perkembangan
Menyimak Berikut disajikan instrumen assessmen mendengarkan. Nama Siswa
: ……………………………………Kelas :
…………………………………….Pokok Bahasan: ……………………………………

Catatan Kejadian
Pada saat guru menjelaskan siswa menunjukan perhatian dan pada saat siswa ditanya dia dapat
menjawab setiap pertanyaan yang diajukan dengan benar. dst.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………

Malang,
………………..2007
——————————III. Evaluasi Hasil Menyimak Evaluasi hasil
mendengarkan dikenal dengan evaluasi produk, yaitu evaluasi pengajaran
mendengarkan yang menekankan pada hasil/skor yang dicapai siswa dalam
mendengarkan. Menurut (Sajekti, 1988) evaluasi merupakan tindakan untuk
menentukan nilai dalam pendidikan. Hal ini tentu pemberian nilai pada kemampuan
mendengar. Evaluasi dilaksanakan pada saat-saat tertentu secara formal untuk melihat
kemampuan mendengarkan siswa, misalnya setelah beberapa pokok bahasan, satu
catur wulan, satu semester atau satu tahun pelajaran (Syafi’ie, 1999). Sasaran yang
dinilai dalam evaluasi mendengarkan adalah tingkat penguasaan siswa terhadap apa
yang telah dipelajarinya dalam mendengarkan. Dengan cara lain dapat dinyatakan
bahwa pusat perhatian evaluasi hasil belajar mendengarkan adalah tingkat
ketercapaian tujuan pengajaran. Lebih lanjut Nurgiyantoro (2001) mengemukakan
bahwa tes mendengarkan dapat juga diartikan sebagai alat untuk mengukur
kemampuan siswa dalam menggali informasi yang terdapat dalam wacana lisan.
Dalam evaluasi keterampilan menyimak Nurgiyantoro (2001) memberikan pedoman
bahwa tes kemampuan menyimak menyangkut aspek kognitif dengan menerapkan
taksonomi bloom dalam mendengarkan. Penerapan aspek kognitif tersebut jika
dimungkinkan mulai dari tingkatan ingatan sampai dengan tingkat evaluasi. Namun
untuk jenjang sekolah dasar aspek yang lebih tinggi tingkatannya dipandang belum
tepat untuk diterapkan. Evaluasi aspek kognitif yang dapat dilakukan adalah pada
tingkat ingatan, pemahaman dan penerapan dengan memanfaatkan wacana lisan
sebagai bahan evaluasi. Tes menyimak/ mendengarkan diselenggarakan
dengan memperdengarkan wacana lisan sebagai bahan tes. Wacana itu dapat
diperdengarkan secara langsung oleh seorang penutur, atau sekedar melalui rekaman.
Wacana yang telah diperdengarkan itu disertai dengan tugas yang harus dilakukan,
atau pertanyaan yang harus dijawab. A. Teknik Evaluasi Hasil Menyimak Berikut
disajikan teknik-teknik dalam melaksanakan evaluasi menyimak. Seperti yang
dipaparkan Djiwandono (1996) ada beberapa teknik yang dapat dilakukan untuk
mengevaluasi kemampuan menyimak siswa, diantaranya sebagai berikut.1.
Menjawab pertanyaan frasa Petunjuk: dengarkan masing-masing frase berikut
dengan seksama kemudian tulis jawab pertanyaan yang menyertainya. (1).
Frase: {siswa kelas empat} pertanyaan: berapa jumlahnya? (2).
Frase: {seragam sekolah} pertanyaan: apa warna yang kalian pakai hari ini?
2. Menjawab pertanyaan kalimat Petunjuk: dengarkan masing-masing
kalimat berikut dengan seksama kemudian tulis jawab pertanyaan yang
menyertainya. (1). kalimat: {kendaraan sering mogok} pertanyaan: apa
yang harus dilakukan? (2).kalimat: { tsunami membuat warga aceh menjadi
menderita} pertanyaan: apa saja yang mereka butuhkan?3.
Merumuskan inti wacana Petunjuk: dengarkan baik-baik wacana berikut
kemudian tuliskan secara singkat ini dari wacana tersebut. (1). Supaya tubuh kita
selalu dalam keadaan sehat dan segar sebaiknya laksanakan tips berikut: lakukan
olahraga teratur, makan yang bergizi, banyak minum air putih, serta banyak
istirahat. (2). Usaha untuk mencegah kerusakan yang lebih parah pada
kendaraan kita, sebaiknya cek secara teratur, mesin, busi, oli, dan onderdil yang lain.
Jika ditemukan gejala kerusakan segera dibenahi atau segera bawa ke bengkel
terdekat.4. Menjawab pertanyaan wacana Petunjuk: dengarkan baik-
baik wacana berikut kemudian tuliskan jawaban pertanyaan tentang isi wacana
tersebut. Bawang Merah Terima kasih tuhan. Itulah yang selalu diucapkan pak Ardi setiap
kali panen bawang merah. Pak Ardi berjuang dan merawat tanamannya dengan cara mengolah
tanah, menanam, dan memupuk serta selalu menjaga tanamannya dari serangan hama. Jerih
payah pak Ardi kini sudah membuahkan hasil. Setiap panen hasilnya sangat bagus. Sedikit
lebih bagus dari hasil panen teman-temannya. Banyak orang yang membeli bawang merah
milik pak Ardi. Pertanyaan: (1). Tanaman apa yang ditanam Pak Ardi? (2).
Apa yang diucapkan pak Ardi setiap kali panen? (3). Bagaimana cara pak Ardi
merawat tanamannya? 5. Menceritakan Kembali Petunjuk: dengarkan
baik-baik wacana berikut kemudian ceritakan kembali wacana tersebut dengan kalimat
kalian sendiri. Hari ini aku sangat prustasi. Di sekolah, aku ikut ingin ikut lomba adu
bakat. Tadi aku mendaftatarkan diri pada panitia. Tapi ternyata pendaftaran telah ditutup.
Banyak orang yang terpingkal melihat kejadian tadi. Aku sangat malu dan menjadi ciut nyali.
Selain teknik-teknik yang dipaparkan di atas Akhadiah (1988) memberikan
alternatif evaluasi menyimak yaitu dengan memahami informasi dalam bentuk
perbuatan sesuai dengan informasi. Misalnya siswa diminta untuk melakukan apa yang
terdengar dari rekaman atau yang diucapkan guru. Sesuai dengan informasi yang
diterima siswa memberi tanda pada peta, mengisi tabel, mencatat informasi yang
didengar, dan sebagainya.B. Pelaksanaan Evaluasi Hasil MendengarkanSalah satu
teknik lain yang dapat kita gunakan dalam evaluasi menyimak adalah dengan
menggunakan strategi yang kita kenal dengan strategi dictogloss. Pelaksanaannya,
guru memperdengarkan sebuah teks dengan kecepatan normal dan pada saat
mendengarkan siswa diminta untuk mendata beberapa kata yang berhasil
didengarkan. Setelah rekaman selesai diperdengarkan lalu minta siswa untuk rangkaian
fragmen tulisan yang berhasil mereka buat tadi. Ada empat tahapan dalam strategi ini
yaitu:1. Persiapan. Pada tahap ini guru mempersiapkan teks yang akan dibacakan.
Siswa mempersiapkan selembar kertas untuk menulis.2. Dikte. Siswa diperdengarkan
teks selama dua kali. Tahap pertama mereka hanya diminta mendengarkan saja. Lalu
pada tahap kedua mereka diminta untuk mencatat informasi yang penting. Dalam hal ini
lebih baik menggunakan media kaset daripada memperdengarkan ucapan guru karena
kaset dipandang lebih konsisten.3. Rekonstruksi. Pada tahapan penyimpulan dari
proses dikte, para pembelajar membuat teks versi mereka sendiri. Pada tahapan ini
guru diharapkan tidak mencampuri bahasa anak.4. Evaluasi. Jika kelompoknya kecil
maka kita bisa memakai OHP tapi jika kelompoknya besar maka siswa bisa saling
bertukar karya teks dengan teman kemudian mencocokkan dengan teks aslinya. Guru
membagi foto kopi teks aslinya pada setiap siswa. C. Instrumen Evaluasi Hasil
Mendengarkan Pada kegiatan evaluasi mendengarkan dapat digunakan
instrumen evaluasi dengan skala 1-5. Skala tersebut dapat dikategorikan dengan
rentang nilai mulai dari yang teringgi sampai yang terendah. Rentangan ini dapat dalam
bentuk huruf (A,B,C,D,E) atau angka (5,4,3,2,1), sedangkan rentangan kategorinya
mulai dari baik sekali, baik, sedang, kurang, dan sangat kurang ( Sudjana,
2005).Setelah siswa diberikan serangkaian tes seperti yang dicontohkan, hasil
mendengarkan siswa yang telah ditulis pada lembar jawaban kemudian dievaluasi
dengan menggunakan Instrumen Evaluasi Hasil Menyimak berikut. Format Evaluasi Hasil
Menyimak

NO Nama ASPEK PENILAIAN Total Nilai

KESESUAIAN KELENGKAPAN SUSUNAN PENGGUNAAN
ISI INFORMASI KALIMAT TANDA BACA

1. Meme
2. Koko
3. Muklas
4. Roy
5. Ihfrom

Diskripsi Evaluasi Hasil Menyimak dengan Skala 1-5

NO ASPEK PENILAIAN DESKRIPSI dan SKOR

1. KESESUAIAN ISI * Isi sangat sesuai dengan teks aslinya (5)* Isi sedikit
tidak sesuai dengan teks aslinya (4)* Isi kurang sesuai
dengan teks aslinya (3)* Isi sangat kurang sesuai
dengan teks aslinya (2)* Isi tidak sesuai dengan teks
aslinya (1)
2. KELENGKAPAN INFORMASI * Informasi tersaji sangat lengkap sesuai teks asli (5)*
Informasi cukup lengkap (4)* Informasi kurang
lengkap (3)* Informasi sangat kurang lengkap (2)*
Informasi tersaji tidak lengkap (1)
3. SUSUNAN KALIMAT * Kalimat tersusun sesuai dengan teks aslinya (5)*
Kalimat cukup sesuai dengan teks aslinya (4)*
Kalimat kurang sesuai dengan teks aslinya (3)*
Kalimat sangat kurang sesuai dg teks aslinya (2)*
Kalimat kurang sesuai dengan teks aslinya (1)
4. PENGGUNAAN TANDA BACA * Penggunaan tanda baca sesuai teks aslinya (5)*
Penggunaan tanda baca cukup sesuai dg teks (4)*
Penggunaan tanda baca kurang sesuai dg teks (3)*
Penggunaan tanda baca tidak sesuai dg teks (2)*
Tidak menggunakan tanda baca sama sekali (1)
 IV. Penutup Sejauh ini kita telah mengetahui bentuk assessmen perkembangan
dan evaluasi hasil dalam pembelajaran bahasa terutama pada setiap aspek
keterampilan berbahasa. Pada pembahasan kali ini lebih difokuskan pada assessmen
perkembangan dan evaluasi hasil pada keterampilan mendengarkan. Pembelajar yang
baik atau dapat dikatakan berhasil dalam mendengarkan apabila informasi yang
terekam diotak bisa dikembangkan dengan pengetahuan yang jauh lebih luas. Dengan
kata lain pendengar yang berhasil adalah pendengar yang dapat menggabungkan
pendekatan bottom-up dan top-down secara bersamaan untuk menggali pesan atau
makna yang disampaikan melalui wacana lisan. Dengan berbagai macam
perkembangan pendekatan dalam pengajaran mendengarkan dan semakin modernnya
alat bantu pengajaran dalam mata pelajaran mendengarkan, maka proses
mendengarkan juga bisa kita lakukan diluar ruang kelas. Aktivitas ini akan semakin
memudahkan mereka yang kita sebut sebagai “pembelajar lambat”. Apabila guru
menemukan pembelajar yang demikian maka yang perlu dilakukan terlebih dahulu
bukanlah menyuruh siswa untuk mengambil intisari dari materi yang diperdengarkan
tetapi lebih pada usaha untuk menyuruh siswa menemukan beberapa kata kunci yang
berhasil mereka rekam. Dengan pembelajar yang lambat maka langkah pertama yang
kita lakukan setelah memperdengarkan teks berupa dialog dahulu, kemudian
memberkan pertanyaan: 1) berapa banyak tokoh yang ada dalam dialog, 2)setelah itu
beri kesempatan pada mereka untuk mendengarkan lagi dan tanyai beberapa kata
kunci yang berhasil mereka dengar, 3)minta mereka untuk mengenali frase yang
mereka dengar , dan selanjutnya 4) minta mereka untuk mengenali beberapa
pertanyaan yang ada dalam teks. Cara bertahap ini diharapkan mampu melatihkan
siswa untuk dapat menjadi pendengar yang berhasil. Setelah semua proses
pembelajaran menyimak berjalan dengan baik, serta semua siswa dapat menjadi
pendengar yang berhasil. Maka selanjutnya guru dapat melakukan assessmen
perkembangan dan evaluasi hasil dalam pembelajaran bahasa terutama pada
keterampilan mendengarkan dengan instrumen tes yang lebih kompleks.

Reasons to listen

· Dictation exposes students to the relation of the spoken and written word. In a non-phonetic
language such as English, pronunciation of the written form of words, as well as spelling of their
spoken form, can be problematic. This is especially difficult for learners struggling with a
different alphabet

· Dictation provides practice listening for details, rather than listening to get the gist, which is
often what students do in communicative listening activities

· Dictation allows students to diagnose and correct errors in listening, structure, and spelling that
would otherwise go unchecked

· Dictation reinforces correct written structures, and may improve writing skills
· Research shows significant improvement in listening skills when students do regular dictations
- more improvement than when they spend an equal amount of time doing other listening
activities.

Think Dictogloss

The dictogloss sounds boring, but isn’t.

It’s neat because it is an engaging integrated skills activity that gets students to listen, to talk, to
write, to read and to think. That’s precisely the kind of activity I like and what’s more students
enjoy it too. If you’re looking for any more reasons, I’d also add that it does replicate and train
students for a “real-life” activity. This activity is of course note taking in lectures, which is as
fundamental as fundamental can be to many students’ lives.

It’s vitally different from the dictation as the writing activity is not from a spoken text, but from
notes. This is not just what we do in life, but it allows students to “see” words or build words
using their notes. They have time to construct the spelling with pen in hand. They absolutely do
not have to reconstruct them from what they have just heard.

How to work it

If it’s new to you, you could do worse than look here. This is my short hand introduction.

1. Find a text. This will depend on your students, but 6/7 sentences is about
right. I tend to write my own.
2. Read it out at normal pace. Students listen, pens not in hands.
3. Read again. This time pausing, giving students enough time to note down
words, but not whole sentences.
4. In pairs, students try to reconstruct the text using their notes. The idea is not
to be word perfect, but coherent. That’s how life is.
5. This is the tricky bit. You now get students to analyse their texts against the
original. More anon.

How it works

It works because it gets students involved in creating thier own texts using structured language.
And students do tend to become very involved at each stage of the process. To repeat myself,
unlike the dictation, they are producing their own texts.

How it works for spelling

There are 2 different extension activities that I use to adapt the dictogloss for spelling that seem
worth sharing. One of the reasons I am a fan of the dictogloss is that it is very adaptable and
hence repeatable. My own personal variations are:

1.Spot the mistake

When you show the students the original text, you can include intentional spellig mistakes for the
students to spot. Initially, I tend not to explain this to students. It’s very satisfying for students to
correct teacher – especially when you are that teacher.

I also like it because it encourages the error correction process. For me, error correction is central
to the learning process and is not something that necessarily develops by itself – it needs
encouragement. Here, it feels particularly right because spelling is certainly one of those items
that should be on any student’s personal error correction list.

2. Scrambled text

The other extension is similar and again involves doctoring the text you read out.
Thistimewhatyoudoistotypeoutthetextwithnospacesandaskthestudentstofindallthewordsitcanbequ
itefunforthemanditinvvolvestheminlookinatwordsverycloselytoseehowtheyarespelled

I take it you got the concept. It’s fun once, but I’d suggest that it isn’t an exercise that you can
overdo. Much of the fun (and hence success) of the activity lies in the surprise factor when you
unveil the text.

Are you a teacher?

If you’ve actually bothered to read this, I’m going to guess you’re a teacher. If you’re a teacher,
I’m also going to guess you will do some of the “correct” things like contextualising the exercise
by using language appropriate to your own teaching context. I was introduced to this activity as a
means of presenting new language. I tend to use it at the opposite point in the processs of
recycling old language. It’s very much down to you.

Footnote

One difficulty with the dictogloss for the teacher lies in time management. You will do well to
get all the students working in co-ordination, especially in the writing phase. Another possible
extension is to provide a text which is in some way unfinished and ask early finishers to write
their own conclusion. Just to tie them in knots I often specify they have to use certain words.
The Reading Matrix
Vol.3. No.1, April 2003

Combining Dictogloss and Cooperative Learning to Promote Language Learning

George Jacobs
John Small

Abstract

This article describes dictogloss, an integrated skills technique for language learning in which students
work together to create a reconstructed version of a text read to them by their teacher. The article begins for
explaining the basic dictogloss technique, contrasting it with traditional dictation, and citing research
related to the use of dictogloss in second language instruction. Next, dictogloss is situated in relation to
eight current, overlapping trends in second language teaching. Then, in the key section of the article, a
description is provided of how the literature on cooperative learning enables teachers to better understand
how dictogloss works and to use dictogloss more effectively. Included in this section is a rationale for using
dictogloss with global issues content. Finally, eight variations on the basic dictogloss procedure are
presented.

Introduction
Dictation has a long history in literacy education, particularly second language education. In the standard
dictation procedure, the teacher reads a passage slowly and repeatedly. Students write exactly what the
teacher says. Dictation in this traditional form has been criticized as a rote learning method in which
students merely make a copy of the text the teacher reads without doing any thinking, thus producing a
mechanical form of literacy. Ruth Wajnryb (1990) is credited with developing a new way to do dictation,
known as dictogloss. While there are many variations on dictogloss - we will be describing some of these
later in this article - the basic format is as follows:

1. The class engages in some discussion on the topic of the upcoming text. This topic is one on which
students have some background knowledge and, hopefully, interest. The class may also discuss the text type
of the text, e.g., narrative, procedure, or explanation, and the purpose, organizational structure, and
language features of that text type.

2. The teacher reads the text aloud once at normal speed as students listen but do not write. The text can be
selected by teachers from newspapers, textbooks, etc., or teachers can write their own or modify an existing
text. The text should be at or below students' current overall proficiency level, although there may be some
new vocabulary. It may even be a text that students have seen before. The length of the text depends on
students' proficiency level.

3. The teacher reads the text again at normal speed and students take notes. Students are not trying to write
down every word spoken; they could not even if they tried, because the teacher is reading at normal speed.

4. Students work in groups of two-four to reconstruct the text in full sentences, not in point form (also
known as bullet points). This reconstruction seeks to retain the meaning and form of the original text but is
not a word-for-word copy of the text read by the teacher. Instead, students are working together to create a
cohesive text with correct grammar and other features of the relevant text type, e.g., procedure, or rhetorical
framework, e.g., cause and effect, that approximates the meaning of the original.

5. Students, with the teacher's help, identify similarities and differences in terms of meaning and form
between their text reconstructions and the original, which is displayed on an overhead projector or shown to
students in another way.

Dictogloss has been the subject of a number of studies and commentaries, which have, for the most part,
supported use of the technique (Brown, 2001; Cheong, 1993; Kowal & Swain, 1994, 1997; Lim, 2000; Lim
& Jacobs, 2001a, b; Llewyn, 1989; Nabei, 1996; Storch, 1998; Swain, 1999; Swain & Lapkin, 1998; Swain
& Miccoli, 1994). Among the reasons given for advocating the use of dictogloss are that students are
encouraged to focus some of their attention on form and that all four language skills - listening (to the
teacher read the text and to groupmates discuss the reconstruction), speaking (to groupmates during the
reconstruction), reading (notes taken while listening to the teacher, the group's reconstruction, and the
original text), and writing the reconstruction) - are involved. Further potential benefits of the technique are
discussed later in this paper.

The article is divided into three sections. The first section situates dictogloss within current trends in second
language teaching. The next section provides ideas on how ideas from cooperative learning can help
teachers understand how dictogloss works and enhance its impact. The third section presents a number of
variations on dictogloss. Our purposes for writing this article are to encourage more teachers to use
dictogloss, to use it more effectively via insights from cooperative learning, to link dictogloss with global
issues content as one way of making language learning more meaningful, and to experiment with variations
on the standard dictogloss procedure.

Section 1: Dictogloss and Current Trends in Second Language Education

Dictogloss represents a major shift from traditional dictation. When implemented conscientiously,
dictogloss embodies sound principles of language teaching which include: learner autonomy, cooperation
among learners, curricular integration, focus on meaning, diversity, thinking skills, alternative assessment,
and teachers as co-learners. These principles flow from an overall paradigm shift that has occurred in
second language education (Jacobs & Farrell, 2001).

In this section, we discuss each of these eight overlapping trends with reference to dictogloss. The Steps
referred to below are the five steps in the standard dictogloss procedure described in the Introduction
section above. For explanations of the variations from the standard dictogloss procedure mentioned in the
current section (Section 1), please refer to Section 3 of this article.

1. Learner Autonomy. Learner autonomy involves learners having some choice as to the
what and how of the curriculum and, at the same time, feeling responsible for and
understanding their own learning and for the learning of classmates (van Lier, 1996).

In dictogloss, as opposed to traditional dictation, students reconstruct the text on their own after the teacher
has read it aloud to them just twice at normal speed (Steps 2 and 3), rather than the teacher reading the text
slowly and repeatedly. Also, students need to help each other to develop a joint reconstruction of the text
(Step 4), rather than depending on the teacher for all the information. Furthermore, Step 5 provides students
with opportunities to see where they have done well and where they may need to improve. Swain (1999)
believes that, "Students gain insights into their own linguistic shortcomings and develop strategies for
solving them by working through them with a partner" (pp. 145). Ways to add other dimensions of learner
autonomy to dictogloss are students:

• (a) asking for a pause in the dictation (Variation B)

• (b) choosing the topics of the texts, selecting the texts themselves, and taking
 the teacher's place to read the text (Variation C)
• (c) elaborating on the text (Variation F)
• (d) giving their opinions about the ideas in the text (Variation G).

2. Cooperation among Learners. Traditional dictation was done as an individual activity. Dictogloss
retains an individual element (Steps 2 and 3) in which students work alone to listen to and take notes on the
text read by the teacher. In Step 4 of dictogloss, learners work together in groups of between two and four
members. Additionally, in Step 5, they have the opportunity to discuss how well their group did and,
perhaps, how they could function more effectively the next time. We will go into greater detail later in this
article on how to improve group functioning in dictogloss.

3. Curricular Integration. From the perspective of language teachers, curricular integration involves
combining the teaching of content, such as social studies or science, with the teaching of language, such as
writing skills or grammar. As in traditional dictation, with dictogloss, curricular integration is easily
achieved via the selection of texts. For instance, if the goal is to integrate language and mathematics in
order to help students learn important mathematics vocabulary and grammar, language teachers (in
consultation with mathematics teachers and, perhaps, students) can use a mathematics text for the
dictogloss. The discussion prior to the readings of the text (Step 1) helps students recall and build their
knowledge of the text's topic. As Brown (2001, p. 2) points out, "Writing this information [what students
know on the topic] on the chalk board allows the students to notice the wealth of information they have as a
collective." In addition to promoting integration between language education and other curricular areas,
dictogloss, as noted earlier, also promotes integration within the language curriculum, as all four language
skills - listening, speaking, reading, and writing - are utilized.

4. Focus on Meaning. In literacy education, the focus used to lie mostly on matters of form, such as
grammar and spelling. In the current paradigm, while form still matters, the view is that language learning
takes place best when the focus is mainly on ideas (Littlewood, 1981). Dictogloss seeks to combine a focus
on meaning with a focus on form (Brown, 2001). As Swain (1999) puts it, "When students focus on form,
they must be engaged in the act of 'meaning-making'" (pp. 125-126).

5. Diversity. Perhaps it is appropriate that the term 'diversity' has a few different meanings. One of the
meanings particularly relevant to dictogloss is that, due to differences in background and in ways of
learning (Gardner, 1999) different people will attend to different information. This is reflected in the
variation in the notes that students take in Step 3. Working in a group in Step 4 allows learners to take
advantage of this type of diversity. A second meaning of diversity suggests that different students will have
different strengths (Cohen, 1998) which may lead them to play different roles in their group. For instance,
those with larger vocabularies and greater content knowledge in the topic of the text can help with that part
of the reconstruction, and those whose interpersonal skills are better developed may often help coordinate
the group's interaction.

There are a number of ways of using diversity to facilitate each student being a helper (the star) in their
group, rather than always being the one receiving help from their more proficient partners. One, we can use
a range of topics, striving in particular to read texts on topics which less proficient students know about.
Two, students can create visuals to illustrate their text reconstructions (Variation D). In this way, those
students whose illustration skills are currently better than their literacy skills have a chance to shine.

6. Thinking Skills. The definition of literacy has been expanded beyond being able to read and write to
also being able to think critically about what is read and about how to best frame what is written. The
discussion that takes place during Step 4 of dictogloss provides learners with chances to use thinking skills
as they challenge, defend, learn from, and elaborate on the ideas presented during collaboration on the
reconstruction task. Thinking skills also come into play in Step 5 as students analyze their reconstructed
text in relation to the original. We can challenge students' skill at identifying main ideas by asking them to
write summaries rather than text reconstructions (Variation E) and to elaborate on the texts read (Variation
F).

7. Alternative Assessment. Assessment measures in second language education have been criticized for a
focus on measuring language acquisition out of context, e.g., by testing proficiency via single words or
isolated sentences rather than whole texts (Omaggio Hadley, 2001). In response to these criticisms, a range
of more context-based alternative assessment procedures have been developed, including think aloud
(Block, 1992), peer critique (Ghaith, 2002), portfolios (Pierce & O'Malley, 1992), and dialogue journals
(Peyton, 1993).

Dictogloss offers a context-rich method of assessing how much students know about writing and about the
topic of the text. The text reconstruction task provides learners with opportunities to display both their
knowledge of the content of the text as well as of the organizational structure and language features of the
text (Derewianka, 1990). As students discuss with each other during Steps 4 and 5, teachers can listen in
and observe students' thinking as they about a task. This real-time observation of learners' thinking process
offers greater insight than does looking at the product after they have finished. In this way, dictogloss
supplies a process-based complement to traditional product-based modes of assessment. Furthermore,
students are involved in self-assessment and peer assessment.

8. Teachers as Co-learners. The current view in education sees teachers not as all-knowing sages but
instead as fellow learners who join with their students in the quest for knowledge. This knowledge can
pertain specifically to teaching and learning, or it can be knowledge on any topic or sphere of activity.
Dictogloss may be of use here in at least two ways. First, as mentioned in the last paragraph, we can
observe students and apply what we learn from our observations in order to teach better. Second, during
Step 1, we can share with students our interest in the topic of the dictogloss text and some of what we have
done and plan to do to learn more about it or to apply related ideas.

Section 2: Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning, also known as collaborative learning, is a body of concepts and techniques for
helping to maximize the benefits of cooperation among students. Various principles for cooperative
learning have been put forward in the literature on cooperative learning (e.g., Baloche, 1998, Jacobs,
Power, & Loh, 2002, Johnson & Johnson, 1999, Kagan, 1994, and Slavin, 1995). In the current section of
this paper, we discuss eight of these cooperative learning principles and how they can inform the use of
dictogloss.

1. Heterogeneous Grouping. Forming groups in which students are mixed on one or more of a number of
variables including sex, ethnicity, social class, religion, personality, age, language proficiency, and
diligence is believed to have a number of benefits, such as encouraging peer tutoring, providing a variety of
perspectives, helping students come to know and like others different from themselves, and fostering
appreciation of the value of diversity.

Thus, in forming groups for dictogloss, we might want to look at our class and make conscious decisions
about which students should work together, rather than leaving the matter to chance or to students' choice.
The latter option often results in groups with low levels of heterogeneity. Furthermore, when we opt for
heterogeneous groups, we may want to spend some time on ice breaking (also known as teambuilding)
activities, because, as Slavin (1995) notes, the combination of students that results from teacher-selected
groups is likely to be one that would never have been created had it not been for our intervention.
2. Collaborative Skills. Collaborative skills are those needed to work with others. Students may lack these
skills, the language involved in using the skills, or the inclination to apply the skills during dictogloss.
Some of the collaborative skills relevant to dictogloss include: asking for and giving reasons; disagreeing
politely and responding politely to disagreement; and encouraging others to participate and responding to
encouragement to participate. The overlap between collaborative skills and thinking skills can be seen in
particular in the first two pairs of skills just mentioned, i.e., those involving reasons and disagreement.

3. Group Autonomy. This principle encourages students to look to themselves for resources rather than
relying solely on the teacher. As Wajnryb (1990, p. 18) notes:

Classroom organization in the form of group work allows for the development of a small learning
community … . There is also the factor of group responsibility for the work produced. … The creation of
small learning communities means increased participation and learner co-operation. This injection of
'democracy' into the classroom allows learners to complement each others' strengths and weaknesses.

In Step 4 of dictogloss, while students are working in their groups to reconstruct the text, and in Step 5,
while students are comparing their text to the original, it is very tempting for teachers to intervene either in
a particular group or with the entire class. We may sometimes want to resist this temptation, because as
Roger Johnson writes, "Teachers must trust the peer interaction to do many of the things they have felt
responsible for themselves" (http://www.clcrc.com/pages/qanda.html).

4. Simultaneous Interaction. In classrooms in which group activities are not used, the typical interaction
pattern is that of sequential interaction, in which one person at a time - usually the teacher - speaks. For
example, the teacher explains a point, asks a question to check students' comprehension of that point, calls
on a student to answer the question, and evaluates that student's response. In traditional dictation, the
teacher is the only person who speaks, unless the teacher calls on individual students to read back what has
been dictated.

When group activities are used, one student per group is, hopefully, speaking. In a class of 40 divided into
groups of four, ten students are speaking simultaneously, i.e., 40 students divided by 4 students per group =
10 students (1 per group) speaking at the same time. Thus, the name: simultaneous interaction (Kagan,
1994). If the same class is working in groups of two, we may have 20 students speaking simultaneously.

We encourage simultaneous interaction in Step 4 of dictogloss, and the smaller the groups (pairs too are
groups), the more students are interacting simultaneously. Simultaneous interaction is also relevant at Step
5 of dictogloss. Many teachers may want to have one group then another read or show their reconstruction
or some part thereof to the class, via overhead projector, visualizer, or other means. When this happens, we
are back to sequential interaction.

Many alternatives exist that maintain simultaneous interaction. For instance, one person from each group
can go to another group. These representatives explain (not just show) their group's reconstruction to the
other group, solicit feedback, and pass on that feedback to their original group. Of course, simultaneous and
sequential interaction may be usefully combined in Step 5.

5. Equal Participation (Kagan, 1994). A frequent problem in groups is that one or two group members
dominate the group and, for whatever reason, impede the participation of others. Cooperative learning
offers many techniques for promoting equal participation in groups. Some of these may be useful in
dictogloss.
a. The fact that everyone has written potentially different notes during Step 2 provides some impetus for
everyone's ideas to be sought. The group might accentuate this by deciding on a division of labor during the
note-taking, e.g., one person is mainly responsible for the first half and the other for the second half.

b. Everyone can have a designated turn to read their notes.

c. Each group member can have the main responsibility for one part of the reconstruction.

d. Each person can have a role to play. Roles should rotate. Examples of roles include:

• Facilitator who looks to see that the group's reconstruction has the
characteristics of the text type, e.g., explanation, which is the language focus
of the lesson.
• Checker who checks to see that everyone in the group can explain all the
group's choices in creating their reconstruction.
• Conflict Creator who disagrees in order to generate debate.
• Recorder who writes down the group's ideas.
• Language Monitor who checks that the group is using the second language
when appropriate (teachers and students may decide that the first language is
sometimes appropriate).

Furthermore, speaking in a group rather than to the entire class and the teacher may create an atmosphere in
which students feel more comfortable about participating and taking the risks that speaking up involves.
Wajnryb (1990, p. 18) believes, "Group work reduces the stress on the learner (as well as the teacher) by
moving interaction away from the public arena. … allows for the phenomenon of 'exploratory talk' among
peers, something which is rendered impossible by the size, power asymmetry, and lack of intimacy of the
full classroom."

6. Individual Accountability. Individual accountability is, in some ways, the flip side of equal
participation. When we try to encourage equal participation in groups, we want everyone to feel they have
opportunities to take part in the group. When we try to encourage individual accountability in groups, we
hope that no one will attempt to avoid using those opportunities. Techniques for encouraging individual
accountability seek to avoid the problem of groups known variously as social loafing, sleeping partners, or
free riding.

These techniques, not surprisingly, overlap with those for encouraging equal participation. Some further
ideas that are relevant to dictogloss include:

a. As mentioned under simultaneous interaction, group representatives can go to another group to get ideas
from other groups during Step 4 and to report what their group has done in Step 5. This representative
should be selected at random, rather than being a volunteer or a nominee of their group. This encourages all
group members to be ready.

b. After doing dictogloss in groups, the class can do dictogloss working alone using a text of the same text
type and the same or related content area.

c. In Step 4, groups can confer but then individual members write their own reconstruction.
d. In Step 5, the teacher can call on group members at random to explain their group's reconstruction
decisions.

7. Positive Interdependence. This principle lies at the heart of cooperative learning. When positive
interdependence exists among members of a group, they feel that what helps one member of the group
helps the other members and that what hurts one member of the group hurts the other members. It is the
"All for one, one for all" feeling that leads group members to want to help each other, to see that they share
a common goal. Wajnryb (1990, p. 18) observes, "As a group pools its resources to perform the task of
reconstruction of the dictogloss text, they assume common ownership of the version they are creating. This
inevitably generates a certain pride of ownership and increases learners' commitment to their energy
investment."

Johnson and Johnson (1999) describe nine ways to promote positive interdependence. Five of these are
discussed below in regard to dictogloss.

a. Environmental positive interdependence: Group members sit close together so that they can easily see
each other's work and hear each other without using loud voices. This may seem trivial, but it can be
important.

b. Role positive interdependence: In addition to the roles mentioned above, there are also housekeeping
types of roles, such as Timekeeper who reminds the group of the time limit for Step 4 and Sound Hound
who tells the group if they are being too loud in their deliberations.

c. Resource positive interdependence: Each group member has unique resources. Ways that students can
control such resources in dictogloss include:

• Individual members enter Step 4 with the notes they took while listening to
the teacher read the text.
• If some students' current achievement level suggests that they will not be
able to take any useful notes, and we are worried that this will affect their
relationship with groupmates, we can assist such students, e.g., letting them
read the text the day before, giving them a note-taking scaffold, or providing
them the text in the form of a cloze passage (Davis & Rinvolucri, 1988).
• Each student can have a different reference book, e.g., different dictionaries,
grammar books, encyclopedias, or other sources of content information, or
computer access to internet versions of such resources.
• Information gained by talking with other groups about their reconstructions
constitutes another resource. Group members can be designated to visit other
groups to gain this information.
• In Step 5, one group member can be given a copy of the text read by the
teacher and can lead the group in comparing their reconstruction to the
original.
• In Variation C students take turns reading aloud to their groupmates.

d. External Challenge positive interdependence: When the same group stays together over a period of time -
this is recommended by most books on cooperative learning partly as a means of allowing groups to work
to improve their group dynamics - students can aim to improve on past performance in dictogloss.

e. Reward positive interdependence: If groups meet a pre-set goal, they receive some kind of reward.
Rewards can take many forms: grades, sweets, certificates, praise, the choice of a future activity the class
does, the chance to do their team cheer or handshake, or just a feeling of satisfaction.

8. Cooperation as a Value. This principle means that rather than cooperation being only a way to learn,
i.e., the how of learning, cooperation also becomes part of the content to be learned, i.e., the what of
learning. This flows naturally from the most crucial cooperative learning principle, positive
interdependence. Cooperation as a value involves taking the feeling of "All for one, one for all" and
expanding it beyond the small classroom group to encompass the whole class, the whole school, on and on,
bringing in increasingly greater numbers of people and other beings into students' circle of ones with whom
to cooperate.

One way of expanding the scope of the positive interdependence felt by students is the use of texts with
global issues content. Global issues connect with such areas of education as peace education, environmental
education, human rights education, and development education (TESOLers for Social Responsibility
www.tesolers4sr.org). Specific topics that the authors have used for dictogloss include hunger, nuclear
weapons, vegetarianism, and reducing use of disposable products.

Section 3: Variations on Dictogloss

We have used several variations on dictogloss. These are described in this section. No doubt, others exist or
await creation.

Variation A: Dictogloss Negotiation

In Dictogloss Negotiation, rather than group members discussing what they heard when the teacher has
finished reading, students discuss after each section of text has been read. Sections can be one sentence
long or longer, depending on the difficulty of the text relative to students' proficiency level.

(1) Students sit with a partner, desks face-to-face rather than side-by-side. This encourages discussion.
After reading the text once while students listen, during the second reading, the teacher stops after each
sentence or two, or paragraph. During this pause, students discuss but do not write what they think they
heard. As with standard dictogloss, the students' reconstruction should be faithful to the meaning and form
of the original but does not employ the identical wording.

(2) One member of each pair writes the pair's reconstruction of the text section. This role rotates with each
section of the text.

(3) Students compare their reconstruction with the original as in Step 5 of the standard procedure.

Variation B: Student-Controlled Dictation

In Student-Controlled Dictation, students use the teacher as they would use a tape recorder. In other words,
they can ask the teacher to stop, go back, i.e., rewind, and skip ahead, i.e., fast-forward. However, students
bear in mind that the aim of dictogloss is the creation of an appropriate reconstruction, not a photocopy.

(1) After reading the text once at normal speed with students listening but not taking notes, the teacher
reads the text again at natural speed and continues reading until the end if no student says "stop" even if it is
clear that students are having difficulty. Students are responsible for saying "stop, please" when they cannot
keep up and "please go back to (the last word or phrase they have written)." If students seem reluctant to
exercise their power to stop us, we start reading very fast. We encourage students to be persistent; they can
"rewind" the teacher as many times as necessary. The class might want to have a rule that each student can
only say "please stop" one time. Without this rule, the same few students - almost invariably the highest
level students - may completely control the pace. The lower proficiency students might be lost, but be too
shy to speak. After each member of the class has controlled the teacher once, anyone can again control one
time, until all have taken a turn. Once the class comprehends that everyone can and should control the
teacher if they need help, this rule need not be followed absolutely.

(2) Partner conferencing (Step 4 in standard dictogloss) can be done for this variation as well. Student-
Controlled Dictation can be a fun variation, because students enjoy explicitly controlling the teacher.

(3) Another way of increasing student control of dictation is to ask them to bring in texts to use for dictation
or to nominate topics.

Variation C: Student-Student Dictation

Rather than the teacher being the one to read the text, students take turns to read to each other. Student-
Student Dictation works best after students have become familiar with the standard dictogloss procedure.
This dictogloss variation involves key elements of cooperative learning, in particular equal participation
from all group members, individual accountability (each member takes turns controlling the activity) and
positive interdependence as group members explore meaning and correctness together.

(1) A text - probably a longer than usual one - is divided into four or five sections. Each student is given a
different section. Thus, with a class of 32 students and a text divided into four sections, eight students
would have the first section, eight the second, etc. Students each read the section they have been given and
try to understand it. If the text is challenging, students with the same section can initially meet in groups of
three or four to read and discuss the meaning.

(2) In their original groups, students take turns reading their section of the text as the teacher would for
standard dictation while their groupmates take notes.

(4) Students work with their partners to reconstruct the text, with the students taking the role of silent
observer when the section they read is being reconstructed.

(5) For the analysis, Step 5 of the standard procedure, each student plays the role of the teacher when the
section they read is being discussed. Every group member eventually plays the role of teacher.

Student-Student Dictation can also be done by students bringing in the own texts rather than using a text
supplied by the teacher.

Variation D: Dictogloss Summaries

While in the standard dictogloss procedure students attempt to create a reconstruction of approximately the
same length as the original, in Dictogloss Summaries, students focus only on the key ideas of the original
text.

(1) Steps 1, 2, and 3 are the same as in standard dictogloss, although to encourage summarizing rather than
using the words of the original text, the teacher might ask students not to take any notes.
(2) Students work with a partner to summarize the key points of the text. Here, as well as in other dictogloss
variations, we can provide visual cues (sketch, flow chart, photo, mind map) that represents some elements
of the story. This aids comprehension and may help students structure their reconstruction. Additionally,
students can create visuals to accompany their reconstructions, as another means to demonstrate
comprehension and to promote unique reconstructions.

Variation E: Scrambled Sentence Dictogloss

Scrambled Sentences is a popular technique for teaching a number of language skills. Scrambled Sentences
Dictogloss employs this technique to raise the difficulty level of dictogloss and to focus students' attention
on how texts fit together.

(1) The teacher jumbles the sentences of the text before reading it to students.

(2) When students reconstruct the text, they first have to recreate what they heard and then put it into a
logical order.

(3) When analyzing students' reconstructions, the class may decide that there is more than one possible
correct order. This fits with the overall spirit of dictogloss, i.e., that there is no one correct way to achieve a
communicative purpose, although there are certain conventions that should be understood and considered.

Variation F: Elaboration Dictogloss (Airey, 2002)

In Elaboration Dictogloss, students go beyond what they hear to not just recreate a text but also to improve
it.

(1) This dictogloss method may be preceded by a review of ways to elaborate, such as adding adjectives
and adverbs, examples, facts, personal experiences, and causes and effects.

(2) After taking notes on the text read by the teacher, as in Step 3 of the standard procedure, students
reconstruct the text. Then, they add elaborations. These can be factual, based on what students know about
the topic of the text or research they do, or students can invent elaborations.

For instance, part of the text read by the teacher might be:
Today, many students use bicycles.

Students could simply elaborate by adding a word or two:

Today, many Japanese college students use bicycles.

Or, a sentence or two could be added:

Today, many students use bicycles. This reduces air pollution and helps students stay fit. However, bicycle
riding in a crowded city can be dangerous.

Variation G: Dictogloss Opinion

In Dictogloss Opinion, after students reconstruct the text, they give their opinion on the writers' ideas.
These opinions can be inserted at various points in the text or can be written at the end of the text. If student
commentary is inserted throughout the text, it promotes a kind of dialogue with the original authors of the
text.

Variation H - Picture Dictation (Airey, 2002)

Dictation does not always have to involve writing sentences and paragraphs. Instead, students can do other
activities based on what the teacher reads to them. For instance, they can complete a graphic organizer.
Another possibility, described below, is to draw.

(1) The teacher finds or writes a description of a drawing. The description should include a great deal of
detail. Relevant vocabulary and concepts can be reviewed in the discussion that occurs in Step 1 of the
standard dictogloss procedure.

(2) Students listen to the description and do a drawing based on what they hear.

(3) Students compare drawings with their partners and make one composite drawing per pair.

(4) Students compare their drawing with the original.

(5) Alternatively, students can reconstruct the description text read by the teacher, as in standard dictogloss,
and then do a drawing.

Conclusion

The first section of this article described how dictogloss fits with current trends in language teaching.
Among these trends is the use of student-student collaboration. Key principles for understanding and
facilitating this collaboration were discussed in the second section of the article, including the principle of
cooperation as a value and the use of global issues content as one means of operationalizing this principle.
Variations on dictogloss were explained in the final section.

Dictogloss is, of course, just one of many innovative language teaching techniques that embody the current
paradigm in education, that are well-suited to cooperative learning, that can benefit from their use with
global issues content, and that lend themselves to a host of variations developed by creative second
language teachers. The current paradigm is not just about how we teach and how students learn. It is just as
much about why students learn and why we teach. It is about seeking to create an atmosphere in which
students are self-motivated and take an active role in their own learning and that of their classmates and
teachers. Furthermore, as can be seen in this article in the choice of topics for dictogloss, part of this
classroom atmosphere can include a desire to understand the world and to make it a better place.
 George Jacobs www.georgejacobs.net teaches courses on cooperative learning, language
teaching, and English. Among his recent books is "The Teacher's Sourcebook for Cooperative
Learning: Practical techniques, basic principles, and frequently asked questions," published by
Corwin Press. Email: gmjacobs@pacific.net.sg

John Small is a global issues educator teaching at Kumamoto Gakuen University in Japan. He
has three textbooks, Nature Stories, Global Stories, and Inspiring Stories which utilize
dictogloss. All texts are non-profit www.karmayogapress.com
Email: spiri39@yahoo.com

References