The Effectiveness of Dictogloss in Developing General Writing Skill of Iranian Intermediate EFL learners

Abstract

Recent research has shown the need for activities that provide an environment for students to focus their attention on both form and meaning. Dictogloss, introduced by Wajnryb in1990, can be considered as a way for integrating form and meaning in the learning context. This study investigated the effect of dictogloss on Iranian EFL learners' general writing skill. The participants receiving a pre-test and post-test were divided into equal groups in the form of experimental and control group, but only the former received taskbased instruction while the latter was exposed to the mainstream of controversial instruction. Going through rigorous and multiple statistical analyses such as data normality check, instrument validation and running mainly certain parametric statistics, the study revealed two distinctive manifestations: integrative and discrete. Integratively, the treatment affected positively the participants' general writing ability, however, discretely the effects on the organization and mechanics were positive, while content, usage and vocabulary dimensions of their writing were not much affected. Index Terms-dictogloss, writing skill, writing component I. INTRODUCTIONLanguage teaching and learning have gone through a transient pass. It has reached to the point that more communicative approaches and techniques are used. However, Pica (2000) indicates that neither traditional methods nor more recent, communicative approaches, used alone, have been able to address the scope and level of English proficiency required for participation in today"s global community. It seems plausible to integrate both. Moreover, as cited in Nassaji (2000,p.242) "many second language acquisition researchers now argue that exposure to language is not enough (

A Review on the Effect of Using Dictogloss Tasks and Fake Scoring on Children's Dictation Ability

“…Dictogloss, introduced by Wajnryb (as cited in Abbasian, 2013Abbasian, , p. 1371, can be considered as a way for integrating form and meaning in the learning context. According to Nunan (1995), the dictogloss technique provides a useful bridge between bottom-up and top-down understanding.…”

“…Students are able to pool their resources, and even low-level learners are able, through collaborative action, to outperform their competence (Nunan, 1995, p. 28). Nassaji (as cited in Abbasian, 2013Abbasian, , p. 1371, suggests that using collaborative tasks requires learners to get involved in deliberate and cooperative comprehension and production of the language, e.g., through the use of dictogloss (DG) can be a way of integrating focus on form and communication by process.…”

To dictogloss or not to dictogloss

“…For instance, Nabei (1996) reported positive DG effects on female Polish and Chinese ESL learners' language skills. Similarly, Abbasian and Mohammadi (2013), Kooshafar et al (2012), Prince (2013), Purwaningsih & Kurniasih (2014), and Zheng (2006) reported that DG positively affects the written performance of Iranian, French, Nigerian and Chinese EFL learners, respectively. In the same vein, Khoii and Pourhassan (2015) have reported a positive effect of DG on Iranian EFL learners' immediate and delayed grammatical performance.…”

“…Dictogloss is potentially useful for improving students' written performance, as its practicality and flexibility comprise catalysts for integrating form and meaning (Abbasian & Mohammadi, 2013;Nassaji & Fotos, 2004), accommodating students' interests and learning preferences, providing context for negotiation (Kowal & Swain, 1994), working readily with cooperative tasks (Faghani, Derakhshan & Zangoei, 2015;Jacobs & Small, 2003), and allowing for a more interactive approach to language proficiency (Stewart et al, 2014). Therefore, DG has the potential to integrate communicative notions with the traditional concerns of grammar instruction (Al-Sibai, 2008;Pica, 1997), to work as a form-focused technique (Jacobs & Small, 2003;Shak, 2006) in which students aim not to reproduce the text word-for-word but rather to best approximate its meaning and style and to allow for the so-called 'meta-talk' or 'language related episodes', occasions in which students discuss or question their language use as they engage in a reconstruction task in L2 (Qin, 2008;Rashtchi & Khosroabadi, 2009).…”

“…A good body of local and international research exists on the effect of dictogloss on language learning (e.g., Abbasian & Mohammadi, 2013;Han, 2011;Nabei, 1996;Khoii & Pourhassan, 2015;Kooshafar et al, 2012;Prince, 2013;Purwaningsih & Kurniasih, 2014;Qin, 2008;Uludag & Vanpatten, 2012). However, to the best of these researchers' knowledge, other than a lone study by them (Bataineh & Bani Younis, 2016), none exists on the effect of DG-based training on teacher writing instruction and student written performance.…”