A Study On The Application Of Dictogloss To English Grammar Teaching In Junior High School

Nine-year Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards published in 2011 attaches importance to the cultivation of comprehensive language using ability,which includes language knowledge,language skills,cultural awareness,emotional attitudes and learning strategies.Language knowledge and language skills are the foundation of comprehensive language using competence.Meanwhile,grammar knowledge is the crucial elements in language knowledge and it is also the foundation of language skills.Nevertheless,in recent years,as the rise of Communicative Language Teaching,it has triggered a hot debate on grammar instruction.Different views on grammar instruction lead to’that students on the one hand lack of accuracy in language expressions and on the other hand lack of grammar learning interest.Therefore,it is essential to carry out some research in English grammar instruction.Dictogloss is a task-based and learner-centered grammar teaching method,which teaches grammar in the context and on the text basis.It includes four stages,preparation,dictation,reconstruction,and analysis and correction.Therefore,based on the Input and Output Hypothesis,Cooperative Learning Theory and Constructivism Learning Theory,the present study taking students in junior high school as subjects aims at investigating the effectiveness of dictogloss in English grammar teaching in junior high school.It contains the following two research questions.Firstly,what effects does dictogloss have on students’ grammar proficiency?Secondly,what are students’ attitudes towards dictogloss?In the present study,two classes in a middle school,which have the similar language proficiency level,were chosen to complete over 3-month experiment.The author chose Class 6(N=50)as the experimental group and Class 7(N=50)as the control group.During the experimental stage,the author taught these two classes the Grammar Focus part in their textbook published by the People’s Education Press in 2013 at the same time.From March to June in 2019,the experimental group were taught using dictogloss,however,the control group were still taught adopting the previous method in their school.All the other conditions,for instance,the textbook,the teacher,the length of the class time,and the teaching method in other parts in the textbook are identical.Both quantitative research methods and qualitative research method were used in the present study.The author utilized three tests,one questionnaire and semi-structured interview to collect data.The tests were used to examine students’ English grammar proficiency.The results of tests and students’ reflections on the effectiveness of dictogloss on their grammar proficiency in the semi-structured interview were used together to analyze the effects of dictogloss on students’ grammar proficiency.The questionnaire as well as the semi-structured interview were used to investigate students’ attitudes towards dictogloss.Then data collected was analyzed by SPSS 17.0.The results show as follows:Firstly,dictogloss can improve students’ English grammar proficiency effectively.Specifically,dictogloss is beneficial to improve students’ grammar understanding and using ability in sentences based on context and in texts.It can help learners focus on the forms of certain grammar items while thinking about meaning and it can also help learners to learn the meaning,form and function of grammatical items in the context and on the text basis,which improves learners’ grammar proficiency.Secondly,according to the results of questionnaire and interview,students hold positive attitudes towards dictogloss.They are satisfied with dictogloss and consider that dictogloss is effective in improving their grammar proficiency and help them change their grammar learning attitudes,as well as provide a major impetus for them to learn English,especially,English grammar.