They seem to love it! That was the conclusion we came to in the lunchroom one day last spring. We had been talking about our experiences using dictation at the Lawrence Adult Learning Center for our adult ESOL students who have ranged in proficiency over the years from beginning literacy through low advanced. Both of us had had the same experience: we would say, "Okay, let's do some dictation," and students were immediately engaged and jumping to the task. We asked ourselves why? We had both used dictation more as a supplement to other tasks or for five-minute "fillers," but now we were beginning to think we could and should use dictation more effectively.

Why and How?
In the past eight years that we've taught together at the Lawrence Adult Learning Center, we've had classes of all levels of ESOL and classes of mixed proficiencies. And of course, we've had mixes of educational experiences, languages, cultures, ages, and interests. If we could integrate dictation activities more purposefully and consistently into our classes, what could we learn that would drive our instruction? We also asked ourselves if there were a way we could develop dictation procedures that would result in students being able to use their dictations for reflection about their own learning and develop self-awareness about what they need to learn.

But what to use if not a textbook?
We decided that both of us would include dictation as an integrated component of our classroom in- struction. Joy opted to use a dictation journal. She would give dictations that used material from the newspaper and then develop subsequent activities resulting in discussions, expressing opinions orally and in writing, grammar manipulations, and vocabulary development. Another method would be to have students give peer dictations. Laurie had been concerned about her students' pronunciation and auditory discrimination along with spelling and punctuation issues. Because her students seemed to be unfamiliar with literature, she chose to use selections from popular fiction. Laurie decided that students would keep a dictation portfolio with a continuously updated log that would reflect problems manifesting themselves through the dictation process. Both of us also wrote our own material in order to focus on problematic pronunciation. In any case, our selections, whether found or written, are relevant, meaningful, and interesting, and exhibit a range of vocabulary, sentence structures, and English sounds.

Implementing the Process
Once or twice weekly we give dictations. We read the selections, not emphasizing words, but reading strings of words or phrases so that connected speech is maintained. After reading the selections, we give students several moments to "share and compare" with their neighbors. Discussion is often lively. While students are doing this, we write a punctuation key on the board. The punctuation key gives all the necessary punctuation (such as the number of commas, question marks, etc.) During the sharing and comparing time, students check their own work for punctuation and discuss it with their neighbors. They can make any changes they want to at this point but after a few moments we ask them to put all writing instruments away - no more corrections!

Next, we call on students randomly to go up to the board. Each student must write five dictated words sequentially. We settled on five words because students don't become overly concerned that they haven't written a complete sentence. Five words also doesn't let anyone get bored - they're never sure who's going to be called next, so they need to follow along and maintain focus for each group of five words. They have to interpret what the fifth word is that they now have to follow—often a challenge!

Students are not allowed to correct on the board or call out corrections to those writing on the board. Again, there is a lively discussion during this time, along with some laughter, as students begin to see some of the words or entire sentences they completely missed or "reinterpreted" with a very different meaning. We remind students to compare what is being written on the board by their classmates with what they have written on their own paper.

Color Coding
Once the completed dictation is on the board, students are asked to take out a different colored pen from what they originally used. Sometimes we help out by passing out red pens. They're not allowed to erase. Starting with the title we elicit "suggestions" for corrections. As we go, we discuss the vagaries of the English sound and spelling systems, the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary, and any grammatical functions that come into question. We prompt for punctuation correction. Usually, within a class, the students can correct the entire dictation with only a very rare correction by the teacher.

Extension Activities
At this point Joy, who is predominantly using newspaper snippets, gives an additional activity. Sometimes students are asked to write the end of a story or speculate about what happens next. Or they might have to write their opinion about an issue posed in the dictation. They may be asked to change all the verbs to past tense or change to negative and interrogative sentences. After these extended written exercises, they share their ideas is small groups, thus promoting interesting discussions. Laurie, who is more concerned with the pronunciation, spelling, and punctuation, asks students to reflect on their errors and then collects their papers. She circles their "critical errors,"returns the papers, and students then enter their critical errors in their dictation logs. After a couple of months, students go back and review their folders, reflecting on their progress.

What Else Have We Observed?
During a dictation students are completely engaged. They're thinking, listening, writing, imagining, discussing, and becoming aware of what they know and what they don't know about life, current events, issues, grammar, and vocabulary. In addition to the language learning that's going on, students are building confidence to talk about language. There's a lot of laughter and a sense of community building as students realize that no one is perfect in dictation and that each has individual strengths and weaknesses. Dictation engages students at both a cognitive and emotional level. They develop a pride about what they can grapple with. It's like having an individual self-assessment going on while being a part of a big group encounter. We all love dictation!

Laurie Hartwick and Joy Tubman have been teaching adult basic education and in higher education programs for a combined 30 years. They can be reached at Lhartwick@Lawrence.k12.ma.us and Jtubman@Lawrence.k12.ma.us, respectively