How to make dictation an effective tool for your students
Dictation is an essential exercise in learning French, valued as much for its educational benefits as it is dreaded for its challenges. Whether used to reinforce spelling, refine grammar, or sharpen listening skills, dictation comes in various forms, each with its own objectives and specific characteristics. However, each type of dictation also has its limitations. So, how can you conduct an effective dictation? And above all, how can you leverage the advantages while minimizing the drawbacks? This article offers an overview of the different forms of dictation, their educational benefits, and their weaknesses, to help you optimize your classroom practice and also train your children at home.
What types of dictation should be avoided?
Let’s start by discussing unprepared dictations, the nightmare of many students: here, the text is unfamiliar to the child and hasn’t been prepared beforehand. Yet, we dare to consider this dictation as a tool for learning spelling (or improving spelling skills)! However, this is far from the truth. This type of dictation only serves to assess the student’s level. And what’s the point of assessing their level every two weeks or every month? At best, in the case of unprepared dictation, the only thing that can improve spelling would be a correction session, conducted effectively with real strategies and genuine student involvement. And even then, what student listens to the correction and benefits from copying words five or ten times?
Unprepared dictations prevent students from improving their spelling, grammar, and conjugation! Yet, this exercise is still very common in primary and middle school. Here’s a brief overview of activities to avoid in your classrooms to encourage your students to appreciate spelling :
Self-dictation a method to avoid
It consists of asking the student to copy or rewrite a text they already know by heart or have learned in class. One might think it helps with memory; however, self-dictation has many drawbacks :
- There’s a risk of it becoming a mechanical activity, without real thought, which is exactly what we want to avoid!
- It is less effective for working on spelling or discovering new rules.
- It limits creativity and adaptation to new situations.
In short, this is an exercise to simply avoid for effective learning.
Intuitive dictation is an unprepared and unnecessary dictation
Intuitive dictation invites students to write a text freely, based on their existing knowledge, without a prior model. It is often used to assess or reinforce lexical and grammatical spelling in sentences constructed by the student. It is thought to improve learners’ autonomy and develop their personal expression. However, I believe, on the contrary, that it has several drawbacks:
- May generate anxiety in students who are less confident in their writing abilities.
- It exposes you more to errors if the foundations are not solid.
- Difficult to correct, because the sentences produced vary from student to student.
Just like self-dictation, I advise you to avoid intuitive dictation if you want to encourage your students in their progress in spelling.
Auditory dictation ais stressful activity for students
In auditory dictation, the teacher reads a text aloud, and the students must write it down according to the instructions. This is the traditional form of dictation, often used to assess spelling, grammar, and conjugation. This type of auditory dictation allows students to work on listening comprehension and written transcription, but it is not without its drawbacks:
- It can be daunting for some students, especially if they struggle to keep up.
- It requires good concentration, which can be difficult for younger children.
- The teacher’s accent or speech pattern can sometimes disrupt the proper understanding of the text.
These three types of dictation should be avoided if we want to best guide children on the wonderful journey of spelling. There are more relevant and student-friendly methods, such as prepared dictation.
Why is a prepared dictation more relevant for learning?
Now, let’s look at the case of prepared dictation. Only this type of dictation allows students to improve their spelling. Provided, of course, that it’s done correctly . If a student prepares it alone at home, chances are they’ll mostly just memorize it without thinking. Consequently, there’s no benefit, because they’re learning without understanding, and therefore only in the short term. They’re just doing it to get a good grade.
For both word dictation and text dictation, if the teacher works on the content in class, it may be more beneficial for the students, under three conditions:
That the teacher succeeds in involving the students, in making them active participants in the preparation
Good memorization strategies are provided for the vocabulary
That a good analytical technique is used
For several years now, to avoid all the pitfalls of prepared dictation, have been training teachers in conscious dictation, which combines these three conditions. I am convinced that fostering conscious learning is the only way to ensure it is lasting and effective. Conscious dictation is based on the principle of orthographic awareness . IInthe ORTHO’GAFFES training program I developed, I explore this concept and the techniques I have created in detail.
This method is based on fundamental concepts such as:
- Developing spelling awareness
- Encourage reading by word groups
- Practice student questioning
- Strengthening working memory
- Reassuring the students
The goal is to practice and take the time to give students the right tools . For this, we use an appropriate resource: a text that makes sense and is understood by children.
Want to try mindful dictation in your classroom? Here are the key points to work on to succeed:
- Spread the learning of the text over several days by grouping sentences.
- Read slowly, focusing on the meaning of the text.
- Breaking down groups of words to work on syntactic awareness.
- Analyze the spelling peculiarities of words.
- Let’s think together about grammatical spelling.
If you are a parent and wish to help your child from home, I recommend using the 4-step copying method. How does it work?
- Read the group of words aloud
- Repea.t the group of words aloud without rereading the model
- Write the group of words in syllables
- To feel whether what has been written is true or not.
To learn how to conduct a dictation exercise within your own classroom, you can follow this model, adapting it as follows:
- Reading the entire passage
- Reading the word group
- Dictation in three steps: put down pens, listen and pronounce the words together, repeat them silently, then write them out in syllables. The goal: to raise awareness of the words. Then ask questions based on the students’ difficulties.
Ready to try this method to teach your students how to do an effective dictation ? Ifyou have any questions, please ask them directly in the comments section of this article (at the bottom of the page).
How to make dictation effective with immediate correction?
To learn how to create a dictation that has a real impact on your students’ learning, it’s important to follow the prepared dictation method ! However, you shouldn’t stop there. It’s essential to take the time to correct the dictation immediately and adapt the corrections to each child’s level.
Correcting a dictation exercise immediately after it has been completed offers numerous educational benefits, and it would be a shame to miss out on them! First and foremost, this approach allows students to understand their mistakes instantly, while their attention is still focused on the exercise. They can then directly associate each error with a specific rule or correction, reinforcing their understanding and memorization.
Furthermore, immediate feedback fosters an interactive dynamic in the classroom . Students can ask questions, discuss with you, and actively participate in analyzing errors. This transforms feedback into a collaborative learning experience, rather than simply a list of points to review. This method reduces the risk of students repeating their mistakes, as they become aware of the corrections to incorporate before moving on to a new exercise. In fact, correcting a dictation immediately is not just a time-saver; it’s a practice that maximizes educational impact!
Looking for another tip to get your students more interested in spelling, and more importantly, to enjoy learning it? Offer spontaneous writing exercises, like a short essay lasting 5 minutes. Then, work on spelling based on this piece of writing. It will be a thousand times more effective than all the unprepared dictations you’ve already tried!
Learning spelling and how to give effective dictation doesn’t require spending hours on exercises and worksheets. It simply requires respecting certain fundamental principles and grounding spelling in meaningful practice. Spelling isn’t learned for its own sake; it’s learned to integrate the spelling code to communicate, exchange ideas, and structure one’s discourse. Dictation, in its various forms, remains a valuable tool for reinforcing French language learning . By varying approaches, teachers can meet the diverse needs of students, develop their skills, and maintain their engagement. The importance of correction, especially when done immediately, cannot be underestimated: it transforms errors into learning opportunities and stimulates lasting progress. Ultimately, a well-designed and well-corrected dictation is not just an exercise; it’s a way to guide each student toward greater mastery of the language , while simultaneously boosting their confidence in their abilities.
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