The Effect of Dictogloss Technique on Learners’ Writing Improvement in Terms of Writing Coherent Texts

Abstract

Considering the communicative framework of language teaching, writing has an advantage- a person can give a variety of information to a close or distant, known or unknown reader or readers. Such way of communicating is highly important in the modern world, whether the communication is in the form of paper-and-pencil writing or advanced electronic writing. Therefore, this skill should be encouraged and nurtured during the language teaching course. Writing consists of different aspects like outline, structure, use of words, etc. which should be considered while teaching and practicing. Among those aspects, one is the focus of this study which is the use of cohesive devices to create a coherent text. Two techniques of teaching these devices, explicit teaching and dictogloss, are evaluated among intermediate Iranian language learners to see which one is more effective in helping them to improve the coherence of their compositions. The conclusion is that both techniques are effective but dictogloss seems to be more useful in case of these participants.