DICTOGLOSS AND ITS EFFECT ON LISTENING

COMPREHENSION OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED

STUDENTS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Ngo Thi Minh Hai

• The research rationale
• Context and problem identification
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Methods
• Pedagogical tensions and ethical issues
 Introduction
The research rationale
- Listening plays a key role: 9% time for writing,
16% for reading, 30% for speaking and 45% for
listening (Hedge, 2000).
- ELT literature has described listening as the
“neglected”, “overlooked” or “taken for
granted” skill (Hedge, 2000).
- The researcher’s teaching context
- Advantages of dictogloss
 Description of my context

English course: 15 weeks

2 lessons /week, each lesson lasts for 3
contact hours
Text book: New English File – Intermediate
No. of students: 30 students/ class, non-
English major, intermediate level, age: 18-19
 Problem Identification
- Pre-listening activities:
Describing pictures
Answering questions relating to the theme
Matching words with pictures or definitions
Problem: Stds are still not aware of vocabulary provided
- Post-listening activities:
Applying some noticeable structures in listening exercise
with speaking or writing skills
Problem: This is neglected by the teachers
Stds do it reluctantly and find it boring

=> Inadequate linguistic knowledge for stds

 Literature review
• Research question:

How does dictogloss affect listening

comprehension of non-English majored
students at Vietnam National University?
 Literature review
• Listening comprehension
an active, purposeful process of making sense of
what we hear (Nunan, 2003)
• The teaching and learning of listening (Hedge,
2000)

Bottom-up Top-down
 The teaching of listening
Pre-listening:
- activate the prior knowledge and introduce
the missing one needed for the topic
- assist the learners to expose to some language
features or the structure of the text
=> both top-down and bottom-up process
(Richards, 2008)
 The teaching of listening
Post-listening:
- help the listeners to be exposed to the text
more intensively
- check or clarify the learners’ understanding in
detail
=> bottom-up process (Richards, 2008)
 Dictogloss
• developed by Wajnryb in 1990
• Dicto = dictation, gloss = paraphrase or
interpret the text (Newman, 2012)
• 4 steps presented by Wajnryb (1990):
Preparation
Dictation
Reconstruction
Analysis and correction
 Dictogloss and listening teaching
• raise the learners’ awareness of linguistic
knowledge in reconstruction step (Vasiljevic,
2010)
• enable collaborative learning among learners
(Vasiljevic, 2010)
• give the learners a clear objective and context
for listening -> motivate them more (Hedge,
2000)
 Methodology
• focuses on understanding the thought,
perspectives and experience of the
participants through their natural setting
(Harwell, 2011)
• is often carried out in small scale (Denzin,
2006)
• constructs explanations from the information
gathered by participants -> inductive style
(Harwell, 2011)
 Methods
Focus-group interview
• Data: the participants’ attitude and opinion
about the application of dictogloss
• Time: at the end of the course
• Interview questions: adapted from the
attitude questionnaire by Shak (2006)
• Data analysis: transcribe and categorise into
the same theme
 Methods
Observation
• Data: students’ motivation in their process of
learning
• Time: during the course with traditional listening
method and dictogloss listening approach
• Observation checklists: adapted from Hopkins
(1985) and Nunan (1989)
• Data analysis: calculate in mean score and
compare
 Methods
Artifacts
• Data: the participants’ variations in work, in
which students’ progress or difficulties in
listening will be reflected
• Time: after each class with dictogloss method
• Data analysis: compare with the original text
basing on a scoresheet adapted from Smith
(2012)
 Methods
Pre-test and post-test
Data: evaluate students’ outcome
Time: before and after dictogloss is used (week
7 and 14)
Test: self-prepared by the researcher, focus on
testing listening comprehension
Data analysis: calculate in mean score and
compare
 Pedagogical tension
Difficulties in:
• Forming interview questions
• Collecting data in observation method
• Choosing pre-test and post-test
Solutions:
• Adapting interview questions and observation
check-list from literature
• Choosing 2 tests carefully and cross-checking
with colleaguges
 Ethical issues

• Participants are my own students

• Privacy issues
Solution:
Get the informed consent of stakeholders
Describe the role of the researcher and the
research clearly
Not identity stds by name
Keep the stds’ answers confidentially
Thank you for listening