THE DICTOGLOSS PROCEDURE AS A VEHICLE OF GRAMMATICAL CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING : A CASE STUDY
CALEB CHEONG WAN YIN
CALEB CHEONG WAN YIN
Citations
Altmetric:
Alternative Title
Abstract
This research is primarily concerned with a case-study of the Dictogloss procedure as a vehicle of grammatical consciousness-raising in adult learners in the WISE English Programme in Singapore, focusing on the process of the reconstruction of the text so that implications can be drawn on the use of this procedure teaching in adults. Furthermore a deeper insight into the Dictogloss as a grammar-teaching tool could be obtained. This is done through the transcription and description of learners' recurrent features in their utterances as a result of their interaction and discourse. This necessitates a review of the literature of grammar teaching in ESL, consciousness-raising, and the Dictogloss procedure. The presentation of findings is divided into three segments: 1 - The Overall Picture. 2 - Focus-on-Forms. 3 - Focus-on-Meanings. The Research Design mainly comprises data collected from audio-recording the subjects' unplanned and spontaneous utterances emerging naturally during the Reconstruction stage. Four lessons involving a group of 3 learners have been audio-taped, transcribed and analysed, using the bar and pie graphs on the Overall Picture and the Focus-on-Forms segments, and the Conversational Analysis Transcription on Focus-on-Meanings segments. The data analysis showed that learners not only focused on forms, using a simple code, but also on meanings with a more elaborate form. Furthermore they applied the bottom-up process to focus on forms during the reconstruction stage and the top-down approach to focus on meanings after the reconstruction. Lastly, they also used language to engage in the negotiations of meanings generated from the text. The main pedagogical implications of the findings are twofold. Firstly, teachers should take heed that learners do not necessarily process the input in their (i.e. teachers') perceived or intended way. Secondly, they should carefully select appropriate texts of human interests to best suit a particular group of learners, to best serve its pedagogical function, and to maximise the learning that happens within the given time.
Keywords
Source Title
Publisher
Series/Report No.
Collections
Rights
Date
1995
DOI
Type
Thesis