Using Dictogloss technique to improve the effectiveness of 8th form students’ listening comprehension

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES o0o PHÙNG THỊ MƠ USING DICTOGLOSS TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 8TH FORM STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION (Sử dụng kỹ thuật Dictogloss để nâng cao hiệu học nghe hiểu học sinh lớp 8) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITYHANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES o0o PHÙNG THỊ MƠ USING DICTOGLOSS TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 8TH FORM STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION (Sử dụng kỹ thuật Dictogloss để nâng cao hiệu học nghe hiểu học sinh lớp 8) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Tuyết Hanoi – 2014 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby state that I: Phùng Thị Mơ, am the author of the thesis entitled: ―Using Dictogloss technique to improve the effectiveness of 8th form students‘ listening comprehension‖, which is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees The thesis also integrates the publication with my supervisor during my candidature The publication is included in appendix III Hanoi, 2014 Phùng Thị Mơ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Dr Tran Thi Tuyet, my honorable supervisor for her great guidance and encouragement without which the study would not be completed Her patience and the amount of time she spent on revising manuscripts with muddled up contents have been truly appreciated Besides, her sense of thoughtful criticism and recognition of the work have played a crucial role to the progress and completion of this study I also take this opportunity to express my thankfulness to all of my course instructors and lecturers of University of Foreign Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable advice and suggestions throughout my study In addition, I am appreciative of my students of class M5 at Clever school for their wholehearted cooperation in involving in the lessons and participating in interviews which gave great help to form a significant part of this study Last but not least, my heartfelt gratitude goes to all those who have kindly advised and helped me towards the completion of my study report ii ABSTRACT Despite the growing need for the communicative English skills suited for global integration and curriculum innovations to teach English through communicative language teaching over the years, studies conducted in Vietnam education system report that most language teachers still follow the traditional methods in teaching English Given that the four language skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing are taught separately, and especially listening skill which has not been paid due attention in EFL seems to be the most challenging issue with learners This study reports the findings of a case study where Dictogloss technique was used to enhance the effectiveness of students‘ listening comprehension Dictogloss technique is an integrated skills technique for language learning in which students work together to create a reconstructed version of a text Accordingly, the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing were integrated in a lesson with a focus on both communicating meaning and correct use of grammar The findings show that although Dictogloss tasks are challenging, students hold positive attitudes towards dictogloss tasks Additionally, the dictogloss technique used gives a great help in the development of students‘ listening comprehension For these reasons, Dictogloss technique is recommended to be used more extensively in Vietnam in order to increase the effectiveness of listening in particular and English teaching and learning process in general iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL English as a foreign language ESL English as a second language ELT English language teaching LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: INTERVIEW QUESTIONSAND SOME KEY ANSWERS APPENDIX 2: STUDENTS‘ REFLECTION FORMS APPENDIX 3: REPORT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF APPENDICES iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Aims and research questions Significance of the study 4 Scope of the study 5 Methods of the study 6 Thesis organization PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Listening comprehension in ESL 1.1.1 What is listening comprehension? 1.1.2 Nature of learning listening 10 1.1.2.1 Listening is more than hearing 10 1.1.2.2 Listening has a strong attachment to other skills 10 1.1.3 Significance of listening 11 1.2 Overview of current teaching and learning ESL learning situation in Vietnam 12 1.2.1 Current teaching and learning ESL learning situation in Vietnam 12 1.2.2 Problems of teaching and learning listening comprehension in Vietnam14 1.3 General concepts of Dictogloss technique 15 1.3.1 What is Dictogloss? 15 1.3.2 Dictogloss Procedure 16 1.3.3 Significance of Dictogloss 17 v CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 19 2.1 Setting of the study 19 2.2 Participants 20 Students 20 2.3 Data collection methods 20 2.3.1 Class observation 21 2.3.2 Students’ reflection 22 2.3.3 Semi-structured interviews 22 2.4 Qualitative data analysis 23 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 24 3.1 The students’ attitudes towards Dictogloss – applied listening lessons 24 3.1.1 Dictogloss tasks foster students’ interest for listening comprehension 24 3.1.2 Dictogloss tasks: challenging but interesting 26 3.2 The roles of Dictogloss tasks in improving the effectiveness of students’ listening comprehension 27 3.2.1 Dictogloss tasks increase students’ comprehension of the information heard 27 3.2.2 Dictogloss tasks offer students different strategies to develop listening comprehension skills 28 3.2.3 Dictogloss tasks improve students interactions in listening lessons 29 3.2.4 Dictogloss helps to direct students’ focus on both meaning and form of the language 31 3.2.5 Dictogloss tasks help to develop students’ critical thinking and autonomy 31 PART C: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 33 Implications of the study 33 Limitations of the study 35 Suggestions for further studies 36 Conclusions 37 REFERENCES 39 vi APPENDICES: I Appendix I I Appendix II V Appendix III: VI vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem and rationale for the study It can be seen that language is the most important communicative tool of humankind and English is an important tool for today‘s international communication (Richards & Rodgers, 2001) As ―the last 50 years have witnessed the rise of English from an international language to the position of the first truly global language in the history of the world‖ (Hung, 2002, p.33), the need for English in Vietnam has increased significantly It is likely that the needs and requirements of Vietnamese learners have changed In the past, students put more focus on learning grammar and tried to be good at grammar, attempting to achieve good results in formal examinations Nowadays, English is needed for daily communication and employment However, despite the fact that in English teaching, one of the main objectives is to prepare students for the communication in the real life and it is of great importance and necessity to efficiently equip students with the four skills together with relatively sufficient background knowledge, the teaching of English in Vietnam has been widely criticized for the weak ability of the students in using the language outside the classroom Indeed, the outcome of English as a foreign language (EFL) education in secondary schools and universities is far from effective (Ngan, 2004; Nguyen, 2002; Tran, 2006) Compared with other students in Asian region, Vietnamese students generally have lower proficiency; most can hardly communicate or pursue a study program in English, and thus experience disadvantages in the international work force (Huynh, 2006) Although some students are very good and achieve such high scores in grammar-based examinations, they are unable to produce a perfect sentence in both written and spoken forms (Huy, - S: I think the students with better understanding of social knowledge will comprehend the listening text better - S: I think it‘s necessary to supplement the vocabulary and some grammatical structures before listening - S: I have to think a lot before listening, I need my background knowledge to talk about the topic Learning grammar only is not enough Question 4: I: What you benefit from performing dictogloss tasks conducted in the past weeks? - S: I feel more confident in listening when my teacher provides me key words from the beginning of the lesson It makes me understand more about the topic, and I feel listening easier to get the information - S: When I work in groups with my friends, I could have opportunities to share my own skills and I can also listen to my friends‘ ideas Especially, it‘s better to work in group than to alone We solve the tasks quicker - S: after receiving feedbacks from the teacher on the writing, I have opportunities to induce grammar pattern in a new way instead of learning structures presented as normal in textbooks by heart, and it is easy for me to remember, and I can remember it longer - S: I like listening to other students, and I can learn many things from them I see that my friends speak English better than me and they give a lot of interesting ideas - S: We feel more confident when speaking English structure under teacher and peers‘ guidance and support Question 5: I: What difficulties you encounter when performing dictogloss tasks conducted in the past weeks? - S: I found it very hard to listen and take notes at the same time I cannot it III - S: it is very difficult to reconstruct the text close to the original version - S: it‘s hard for me to follow the listening text There are a lot of new words It‘s short but I still found it difficult - S: I don‘t know this topic much, so it is very difficult for me to speak before listening - S: It is sometimes difficult to perform New words and contextual factors make us confused sometimes - S: there are a lot of new words but thanks to group working, I can understand the content of the text better - S: Dictogloss tasks require a lot of skills and knowledge - S: Sometimes, I can‘t hear the teacher‘s feedback or even I can‘t hear what the people in the group are discussing about In return, I am not sure people can hear me very well We just can talk to the one next to me - S: When I can‘t communicate or get confused, I begin to speak Vietnamese Note: the key answers, which were chosen to extract from the whole interviews with the students, directly answer the two research questions IV Appendix II STUDENTS’ REFLECTION FORMS Name: …………………Class: ………………… Date: …………………… Before listening lesson I feel …………………………………… Because ………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ……… My personal thoughts and feelings about the listening lesson with the application of dictogloss technique ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… What components of dictogloss technique you like most? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ……… Any other comments ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… V Appendix III: Báo cáo đăng toàn văn Hội thảo Tây Bắc 2014 Increasing the effectiveness of English lessons by using Dictogloss technique Phùng Thị Mơ, Trần Thị Tuyết1 Đại học Ngoại Ngữ - ĐHQGHN Abstract This paper reports the findings of a case study where dictogloss technique was used to enhance student learning in English lessons in Vietnam Dictogloss technique is an integrated skills technique for language learning in which students work together to create a reconstructed version of a text Four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing were integrated in a lesson with a focus on both communicating meaning and correct use of grammar The findings suggest that the technique had helped the teacher to overcome the limitations of the traditional teaching where four skills were taught separately Dictogloss technique not only creates chances for students to use all four skills in a lesson, it is also an effective way to combine individual and group activities It promotes student autonomy and helps them to develop their critical thinking skills and to identify their strengths and weaknesses More importantly, it also helps to direct students‘ focus on bothmeaning and the form of the language Dictogloss technique is recommended to be used more extensively in Vietnam in order to increase the effectiveness of English teaching and learning process Key words: Dictogloss technique, integrated skills, English teaching and learning, Vietnam, effectiveness Sử dụng kỹ thuật Dictogloss để nâng cao hiệu tiết học tiếng Anh Email: phungmo@gmail.com; tuyettt@vnu.edu.vn Điện thoại: 0964521559 VI Tóm tắt Bài viết đề cập tới kết nghiên cứu sử dụng kỹ thuật dictogloss nhằm nâng cao hiệu tiết học tiếng Anh Việt Nam Kỹ thuật dictogloss kỹ thuật giúp người học vận dụng nhiều kỹ ngôn ngữ học với trọng tâm chia cho mục đích giao tiếp cấu trúc ngữ pháp Kết nghiên cứu cho thấy kỹ thuật dictogloss giúp người dạy khắc phục nhược điểm cách dạy truyền thống bốn kỹ nghe, nói, đọc, viết dạy tách biệt Kỹ thuật Dictogloss không tạo hội cho người học sử dụng bốn kỹ tiết học, cịn phương thức hữu hiệu kết hợp họat động cá nhân tập thể Nó giúp người học phát huy tính tự lập học tập, phát triển khả tư tự khám phá điểm mạnh yếu Hơn giúp người học tập trung vào khía cạnh ngữ nghĩa cấu trúc ngôn ngữ Kỹ thuật dictogloss nên sử dụng rộng rãi Việt Nam để nâng cao hiệu trình dạy học tiếng Anh Từ khóa: Kỹ thuật Dictogloss, kỹ ngôn ngữ kết hợp, dạy-học tiếng Anh, Việt Nam, hiệu I Introduction One of the main objectives in English teaching is to prepare students for communication in real life interaction Thus, the teaching of English in Vietnam has been widely criticized for the weak ability of the students in using the language outside classroom Recently the National Foreign Language 2020 Project has been launched with the aim to reform the language teaching processin Vietnam: to increase the effectiveness of language teaching, to enhance student activeness in learning and ultimately to help them be able to use language in real life communication This study aims to contribute a voice in the reform process: it reports a case study using dictogloss technique in English listening lessons The findings suggest that VII dictogloss technique, a multiple skills and system activity (Vasiljevic, 2010), can be used to improve students‘ understanding and retention of spoken English in listening lessons If the lesson is carefully designed, dictogloss will potentially enhance both students‘ listening and communication skills Literature review The review of current teaching of English in Vietnam English is introduced as a compulsory subject at Grade in most schools in Vietnam The syllabus and textbooks have been redesigned several times with the aim to help teachers and students move away from the traditional focus on grammar to the focus on all rounded skills and communication skills However, it seems that habit is hard to change It is claimed that most schools in the system still pay more attention to English grammar, reading and vocabulary (Luu, 2011) As a consequence, listening and speaking skills not seem to be paid due attention in teachers‘ lesson plans Thus, English teaching and learning in Vietnam has strongly remained grammar/examination - focused Indeed, most English exams are composed in order to test students‘ knowledge of grammatical structures and vocabulary more than students‘ all – rounded skills (Luu, 2011) Moreover, language skills are usually taught separately in most language schools in Vietnam In other words, the interrelationship among four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) is not paid due attention Listening is often taught separately from speaking, whereas, in real life interaction, listening and speaking are integrated skills Aderson and Lynch (1988) suggest that improvements in speaking depend on successful listening, if speaking and listening are separated, the conversation will be broken down Consequently, many Vietnamese students still cannot communicate successfully with foreigners even in simple daily conversations despite the fact that they are good students with high marks in English tests (Nguyen, 2008) VIII Teaching approach is also worth mentioned here Overall, English in most schools in Vietnam demonstrates the teacher-centered approach to teaching Described as ―a cultural island‖, the English learning environment in Vietnam seems to put more burdens on the teachers as the provider of knowledge of the target language (Le, 2000) The teacher plays a crucial role in designing the syllabus, deciding the learning purposes and learning paths for students, transmitting knowledge and providing assessment through examinations In such teaching context, students, instead of being active learners, seem to become passive receivers or good imitators of the teachers Dictogloss in language teaching and learning Dictogloss was first introduced as an alternative method of teaching grammar by Ruth Wanjryb (1990) It then was developed and used for different teaching focuses such as listening comprehension,reconstructing the writing text and integrated skills to ease students‘ cooperative learning and learner autonomy (Vasiljevic, 2010) In regard to teaching listening, dictogloss brings a means for the teacher to change the focus from assessing how much has been understood to helping learners to understand more (Prince, 2013) Wilson (2003, p 341) also claims that dictogloss could be a ‗practical, student-centered way of dealing with perceptual errors‘ On the other hand, Vasiljevic (2010) suggests that dictogloss helps the process of teaching English listening overcome its limitation of often being assessed but rarely taught (Sheerin, 1987) by offering ‗a unique blend of teaching listening comprehension and the assessment of student listening ability‘ (Vasiljevic, 2010, p 46) The following section will describe the usual dictogloss procedure to explain why this technique can be used with multiple aims in a lesson Dictogloss Procedure Dictogloss typically comprises four phases: first, students are given time to find out about the topic and some preparatory work Then they listen twice to a short text, IX the first time without taking notes, the second time noting down what they can; then they work in groups or pair to reconstruct the text Finally they compare their production with one another and with the original (Wanjnryb,1990; Wilson, 2003) (1) In the preparation stage, the teachersgive students clear commands about the task that the students have to and organize them into groups before the listening stage begins These activities aim to prepare learners to the known and unknown vocabulary for the text as well as brief understanding about the topic This makes students more receptive to the listening stage Jimenez and Perez (2012) state that learning vocabulary requires learners a constant exposition to texts by most of the possible means transmitted and perceives by students (2) In the listening stage, the students listen to the text which is read at normal speed from the tape or by the teacher and take fragmentary notes The first time, they should not take notes Kondo et al (2012) claim that during the first reading, learners are instructed to grasp the gist of the text They are not allowed to take notes, so that they can focus on the meaningof the text (Prince, 2013) In the second listening, they need to take notes about the key words used to put the text together in the reconstruction stage (3) The reconstruction stage is used for the learners to work together in small groups to reconstruct a version of the text from their shared resources While learners proceed to collect notes in groups, work on the version of their texts,and together check the grammar, textual cohesion, and logical sense; teachers monitor the activity and point out some possible grammatical errors without providing any actual language input Smith (2011) declares that reconstruction stage promotes interaction and sharing of ideas among the participants Nevertheless, Nakamura (2008) also places a warning that when students not have enough lexicon, many words will not be identified Thus it is of great important that the listening text need to be at student level of proficiency and the preparation stage need to help student familiar with the topic and the key vocabulary used in the text X (4) The final stage is correction and analysis stage In this phase, students analyze and compare their reconstructed text with other groups and the original text and make necessary correction However, it is important to clarify that the original text should not be seen by learners until their own versions have been analyzed Significance of Dictogloss Several advantages of dictogloss have been discussed Jacobs and Farrell (2003, p 2) summarize the advantages of dictogloss as: 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-learner Vasiljevic (2010) also suggests that dictogloss technique is an effective way to combine individual and group activities, italso creates chances for learners to use all four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in order to complete a dictogloss activity Kowal and Swain (1994),on the other hand, suggest that dictogloss encourages students to move from the semantic processing dominant in comprehension to the grammatical processing needed for production Dictogloss procedure also promotes learners‘ autonomy by reflecting on their use of target language Swain (1999, p 145) argues that ‗Students gain insights into their own linguistic shortcomings and develop strategies for solving them by working through them with a partner) Moreover, according to Brown (2001), dictogloss seeks to combine and direct students focus on both meaning and form Moreover, Swain (1999) states that students must be engaged in the act of ―meaning-making‖ when they focus on form In this case, during the reconstruction stage, students are required not only using their grammatical competence but also developing ideas to produce another version of text However, preparation for a dictogloss lesson can be time-consuming Different features need to be adjusted to suit one‘s particular purpose and student level of proficiency: the topic, the length of the test and of the sentences, the delivery speed XI and the familiarity of vocabulary (Prince, 2013) Prince (2013) also notes other problems related to dictogloss lessons: the difficulty of remembering, the burden of note-taking, students‘ various learning styles and attitude toward cooperative learning These factors all need to be taken into consideration in designing a dictogloss lesson Research Design Setting of the study The study was conducted at Clever School in Hanoi Currently, there are 31 classes with nearly 600 students enrolling in Clever School English classes The ages of students range from 11 to 15 Generally, there are about 15 – 22 students in one class Dictogloss has been used in listening lessons in several classes at the school This study was designed to investigate student attitude toward dictogloss lessons and to find out the extent dictogloss technique can help to enhance student learning of English Research methods This qualitative research comprises of classroom observation, student reflections and face-to-face interviews with students and the teacherin one of the classes using dictogloss technique in their listening lessons Firstly, the researchers conducted class observation in four different listening lessons with the same students and teacher At the end of each lesson the researchers delivered reflection sheets for students to write their thoughts about the lessons with the application of dictogloss technique The aims of writing reflection is to discover factors such as students‘ difficulties, students‘ preferences in the listening lesson, the advantages and disadvantages of the dictoglos lessons compared to the traditional listening lessons they approached before XII Finally, individual interviews were conducted with the students and the teacher of the class based on the information collected from classroom observation and students‘ reflections Findings and Discussion The research data were stored and analysed using Nvivo software Related and relevant information was put together to create themes for the findings Generally students showed their positive attitude towards dictogloss The students and teacher also mentioned several advantages of dictogloss over the traditional method of teaching listening that they had experienced The following sections will discuss in detail the themes immerging from the data of this study Students showed positive attitudes towards dictogloss One of the aims of this study was to discover how students think about English lessons with the implementation of dictogloss technique This was done through all three methods: class observations, student‘s reflection and interviews With regarding to listening comprehension, 78% students showed excitement to the dictogloss lessons, and expressed their strong support for these lessons in the reflection forms These students suggested that dictogloss was an interesting technique One student noted ―I really love the reconstruction stage It is very interesting and I have chance to work with my friends I can learn a lot of thing‖ Another commented that ―I like speaking about the topic before listening very much I really want to show my understanding about the topic.‖ However, the other students (22%) did not seem to favor this technique, some of them indeed did not care how the lessons were run Some students seemed to be struggled to adapt the new technique as they had to change their learning habits when getting involvement in dictogloss lessons The observation revealed that some students even did not really participate in the class activities, they found it hard to deal with different tasks in dictogloss process XIII Indeed, the majority of the student in the class found dictogloss a bit challenging One student claimed that ―I found it very hard to listen and take notes at the same time I cannot it‖ Another suggested that ―it is very difficult to reconstruct the text close to the original version‖ Some other difficulties were also explained, such as: ―it‘s hard for me to follow the listening text There are a lot of new words It‘s short but I still found it difficult‖ or ―I don‘t know this topic much, so it is very difficult for me to speak before listening‖ Overall, a large number of students suggested that dictogloss tasks are fairy difficult but interesting Typical responses in interviews were: ―although it was difficult, I enjoyed the activity very much‖, ―the technique helped me develop my listening skills‖, or ―although it was challenging, I enjoyed it and it was good to study at our own space‖ The advantages of Dictogloss technique The findings of this study support Vasiljevic‘s (2010) comments that dictogloss helps the teacher to overcome the limitations of traditional teaching where four skills are taught separately Most students expressed their preference of using dictogloss in listening lessons rather than the traditional teaching with purely listening and exercise-doing on the reflection forms and in the interviews They appreciated the activities and tasks blended in dictogloss class These activities varied and may included: individual work, group work, reading, writing and speaking which were designed suitable and challenging to students‘ levels as well as stimulating them in their study In the English lessons with the application of dictogloss technique, the students not only focus on listening skill but nearly all four skills For example, one student mentioned ―I like the way the teacher gave the lessons In listening class, I not only listen but also practice speaking and writing I love discussing with my friends in groups because I can learn a lot‖ Another student suggested that ―in listening lessons, besides listening, my teacher also create chances for me to share our understanding about the topic I find my speaking ability improve a lot‖ Some others also seemed flavor speaking: ―I like XIV the skills-integrated learning method, and I love speaking It‘s so boring when I just learn reading, writing or listening only‖ Many students showed their interest in working in groups in order to reconstruct the text close to original version Students indicated that they realized the advantages of collaborative work One of the students said that ―there are a lot of new words but thanks to group working, I can understand the content of the text better‖ Another claimed ―when I work in groups with my friends, I could have opportunities to share my own skills and I can also listen to my friends‘ ideas Especially, it‘s better to work in group than to alone We solve the tasks quicker‖ Some showed their interest to the ‗out-put stage‘ in dictogloss lesson: ―I like the reconstruction stage most because I can learn with my friends It‘s very interesting and each member in my group feels free to express our own ideas about the topic and the most important thing is that I can learn a lot of new words from my friends‖ Generally, most students see that learning become more fun and effective through cooperative learning The results from the observation and interviews also revealed that dictogloss activities are student-centered oriented, with the teacher serving as a facilitator Dictogloss seems to create a lot of space for students to boost their learning autonomy, to develop their critical thinking as well as to identify their identities in their learning Students suggested that ―I have to think a lot before speaking I need my background knowledge to talk about the topic‖ Other realised: ―what I get from listening is not enough and I need the knowledge outside the lesson If I have wide background knowledge, I can speak more than other students‖ Some indicated that ―I like listening to other students, and I can learn many things from them I see that my friends speak English better than me and they give a lot of interesting ideas‖ Moreover, some students shared the same ideas that after each dictogloss lesson, they felt more excited and eager to prepare for the next lesson XV The findings of this study also suggest that dictogloss helps to direct students‘ focus on both meaning and the form of the language (Brown, 2001; Swain, 1999) Indeed, all students commented that thanks to the integration of different activities in dictogloss lessons (as the students listened to the text, wrote the reconstruction version and engaged in comparative analysis), they were able not only to learn new words and useful grammatical structures but also to gauge the use of language with that of native speakers and modify this usage when necessary For example, one student remarked that ―after receiving feedbacks from the teacher on the writing, I have opportunities to induce grammar pattern in a new way instead of learning structures presented as normal in textbooks by heart, and it is easy for me to remember, and I can remember it longer‖ Clearly, dictogloss, which requires learners to listen, take notes, and think about the language use with their partners, seems to lead them to get involved with linguistic forms deeper Limitations of Dictogloss Students and teacher in this study also revealed some drawbacks of dictogloss technique The teacher suggested that preparation for a dictogloss lesson was often more time consuming The implementation stage also required the teacher – acting as a facilitator – to be aware of many factors such as: understanding student needs and difficulties, putting students in group and facilitating them in a way to make them work together, providing support to each and every group in the text reconstruction phase The teacher mentioned that these were challenging tasks She also suggested that being a facilitator was sometimes harder than being the controller in traditional listening lessons The teacher and students also recalled the time when the dictogloss first applied in listening lessons They claimed that it was a hard period when they all had to try to change their teaching and learning habits Even though all of the students in the class had high motivation in learning English, they had to struggle for a long while to change their role from passive listeners to active participators They all suggested XVI that they were lucky to have a wonderful teacher leading their way, so now most of them feel comfortable with the new teaching technique Nonetheless, not all students liked the change Two students revealed that they did not like group work These students also wrote in their reflection forms as: ―I don‘t like working in groups I think it‘s a waste of time Some of my friends only chat in group without doing exercise‖ and ―I only want to learn from my teacher‖ This raised a question for the teacher in organizing group activities that can motivate all the students in the class Conclusion Based on the results, it can be concluded that Dictogloss is an effective way of teaching English to second language learners, especially in English specializing schools and universities in Vietnam where students have high motivation in learning English and where the language class size is often small If implemented appropriately and carefully, dictogloss results in active involvement of the students and offers a challenging and rewarding learning experience The findings suggest that the technique had helped the teacher to overcome the limitations of the traditional teaching where four skills were taught separately Dictogloss technique appeared to not only create chances for students to use all four skills in a lesson, it is also an effective way to combine individual and group activities It helped promote student autonomy and develop their critical thinking skills More importantly, it also helped to direct students‘ focus on both meaning and the form of the language Dictogloss technique is recommended to be used more extensively in Vietnam in order to increase the effectiveness of English teaching and learning process XVII