Purpose:

To practice listening and writing through a text reconstruction; to help learners notice features of language

Preparation time:

10 minutes

Materials:

Paper and pencils, board and markers

Preparation:

Write or select a text that is short (5-7 sentences) but more than learners could remember after hearing once. The text should be one step above your learners in terms of complexity of language.

Procedure:

1. Tell learners that you will read the text to them one time. They should not write anything down, but should listen and try to understand as much as possible.
2. Read the text at normal speed.
3. After you have finished reading, give learners time to remember and write down all they can about the text – key words, phrases, etc.
4. Put learners into pairs or small groups. They try to reconstruct the text from the notes they have written. Their objective is not to rewrite your original text word for word, but instead to use their language to create a text that has the same meaning. One student should record their version with all learners contributing.
5. Put all the pairs or groups together. They put their texts together to create a final version. They write this version on the board.
6. Compare this version to your original to help learners notice differences in the language used or to highlight a particular structure. You may also want to elicit corrections for errors in the learners’ version of the text.

Variation:

You may choose a text that focuses on a particular aspect of grammar or vocabulary to see if your learners are able to use that language.

This procedure is based on the one outlined by Ruth Wajnryb in Grammar Dictation, Oxford University Press, 1990.