The aim of dictatext
Dictatext is for pre-intermediate and upwards students of English as a foreign language who want to take their English to a higher level.
The short texts can be memorised using dictation and other exercises. This helps students to internalise details of the language, such as adjective choices or particular verb patterns which even quite advanced learners fail to reproduce accutately.
The method
At its heart, Dictatext is just a modern example of a text memorisation method practiced over many centuries. Memorisation had something of a bad name, perhaps as a result of classroom enfroced memorisation of decontextualised lists of vocabulary. However, when texts are memorised, language is contextualised and the learner internalises not only individual words, but also the structures of the language and the natural collocations of vocabulary.
Dictatext follows a method for language learning and development technique used in the educational systems of former Soviet republics. In this method, students would first hear a text and attempt to write what they heard. They would then study the text and, once the text was fully understood, would memorise the text in preparation for a classroom test.
Many learners have said that memorising texts has given them language that they are later able to produce automatically when they need it. The effectiveness of memorisation has been highlighted by recent research into language aquisition, as Scott Thornbury has reported here.
A note on understanding the texts
Dictatext does not offer complex explanations of grammar, or translations. Students should therefore use translation software, dictionaries and grammar books to help them understand the texts before memorisation and should not forget that undersatanding the text is key to effective language development.