Dictogloss (авторская разработка)

Dictogloss

The procedure: tell the students that they are going to do a special kind of dictation. Tell them not to write down every word they hear. Ask them to put down the key words which will help them to reconstruct the text. Read the text twice with a pause between each reading. Give the students some time to write down the key words. Put the students in groups of three and tell them to try to recreate the text from memory. Point out that their text does not need to be exactly the same as the original. It has to make sense and convey the general idea of the original, though.

NB It takes time for students to get used to such an activity. The following passage is rather short. However it is appropriate for the students who had not done anything like this before.

Nothing is as it seems

It was a bitterly cold night. It was raining heavily. Sally was walking along the empty road and tears were running down her face. She reached a street lamp and stopped there. She had nowhere to go, no one to stay with ... nothing! She was soaked to the skin but this did not seem to bother her. Suddenly she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Surprised, she turned around. In the pale yellow light she saw a stranger. He was wearing clothes as black as night, but his face was kind and calm.

Extension: Ask the students to complete the story in their groups. Appoint one representative in each group who will read out their version to the class.