English Dictation Competition
May 2003

The inaugural English Dictation Competition, hosted by International House Bydgoszcz was a resounding success, and boded well for the future of this event.

Based on a popular Polish language activity, the competition was not intended as a reflection of our teaching methodology but to create a good atmosphere around the learning and use of English. Any doubts about the value of such an activity, expressed by a few native English teachers harbouring unpleasant childhood memories of tortuous dictation tests given by cruel heartless Latin teachers, soon evaporated as the students eagerly started to scribble away as the competition kicked off. Here there were no penalties for mistakes, only some truly tempting prizes for the lucky winners. More than this though was the palpable satisfaction that was felt by the participants just by getting this far.

The "Teatr Polski" theatre in Bydgoszcz was full of the finalists who had successfully made it through the eliminations involving about two thousand students from about 80. schools in the region. Even before the finals it was clear that the level was going to be very high, but on the day everyone did themselves very proud indeed. All of this was captured by the local media, with television, radio and newspaper journalists all present and recording events. With honorary patrons including the presidents of Bydgoszcz and Torun the event had taken on a very high profile.

To oversee the competition, help with the marking of the texts and to present the final awards ceremonies was the team of dignitaries, most of whom had flown in from England especially for the competition. They included:

• Baroness Angela Billingham – House of Lords
  
• Bill Mc Alister -The International World Organisation, trustee
  
• Prof. Jack Lonergan the head of the MA programme in Applied Language Studies (author of the dictation text)
  
• Susan Maingay – Director of British Council in Poland
  
• Maciej Wojciechowski - International House Kraków, Poland
  
• Anna Zabrocka - International House Poznań, Poland
  
• Martin Lemon - International House Torquay, England
  
• Radosław Adamko - International House Koszalin, Poland

The added kudos their presence gave to the proceedings was later acknowledged when they were invited to a banquet hosted by the presidents of Bydgoszcz and Torun.

The main prize, announced before the finals, was a trip to London with two weeks free lessons in International House, Piccadilly London. However such was the level of the participants and the atmosphere created by their keen motivation, that one of the visiting dignitaries, Jack Lemon, was moved to add an equally mouthwatering prize: two weeks in his school in Torquay. The news of this extra prize was met with genuine gasps of surprise around the theatre. This rounded up what had been a truly enjoyable day for all concerned.

The stage is set for the Second Annual English Dictation Competition to be held in Torun in May 2004.

The message from International House, Poland was intriguing. Not all of it was unusual. The anticipation of again accepting an invitation from IH came from earlier pleasant experiences. Going to Poland was slightly unusual - I hadn’t been there for a long while. But it was the professional aspect of the visit which made me check the details.

I knew that Polish was a Slav language, but used the Roman alphabet. This causes some magnificently strange juxtapositions of consonants, such as in Bydgoszcz, a town I was invited to. What I did not know was that the Polish themselves revel in their strange spelling, and indulge in competitive dictation. A sort of orthographic synchronised swimming, in its oddness.

In Poland, local radio stations read out texts in Polish in the evening, and whole families sit around trying to take down the dictation. The local newspaper publishes the correct text the next day. This is accompanied by the full panoply of prizes, as in British crossword puzzles.

The International House schools in Bydgoszcz and Torun had hit on this national pastime as a perfect way of generating interest in IH, in English language learning, and above all, in winning a trip to London to study at IH for a fortnight. My task was to set and adjudicate an English language dictation test.

The event itself was surrounded by convivial welcomes and tourism, with the municipal authorities of the two towns vying to outdo with civic receptions. Apparently Bydgoszcz, the industrial centre, and Torun, the scenic centre, have held differing views on events in the past, but are seeking a rapprochement now to face the future of the new Poland.

Our party seemed somewhat top heavy - Professor, Trustee (Bill McAlister) and Baroness (Baroness Angela Billingham), accompanied by UK IH school owner, Martin Lemon. The IH Trustee was keen to see what was happening overseas, while the Baroness made an instant hit with the mayors who greeted us with such warm welcomes and hospitality.

The event - Dyktando - took place in a local hall. Before lunch, the regional finalists - about 120 of them, of all ages - packed into the hall, and sat in majestic, concentrated silence as the text was read to them twice. Nausea, vomiting and haemorrhaging were not the reactions, but a sample of the words which proved difficult - although every word was spelled correctly by somebody in the hall. Over lunch, a team of Polish teachers from the English-Speaking Union began to mark the papers. The more they marked, the lower the threshold for numbers of errors allowed for a paper to get through from detailed scrutiny. It dropped rapidly from over 50 to fewer than a dozen, and the three best scripts emerged. Meanwhile, the crowd were entertained to a musical interlude by the talented IH teachers, who played guitar and led the sing-along.

As the contestants settled down for the result, there was of course tension: the winner would get a free trip to the UK and free tuition at IH. And at this point the value of the Mayor’s hospitality became clear. Over wine and savouries, the Mayor had mentioned rumours that the test was hard. “Yes”, I said , “but you need a test which is difficult in order to stretch the results out to get a clear winner”.

My comment that the top two were within a point of each other - just two and three mistakes each, with the third contestant placed well down - led to a frenzied discussion among the Dyktando hosts and visiting guests. What a shame! So close! If only we had two trips to England…. The delicious savouries had their effect, and IH Torquay (Martin Lemon) said It shall be so!

And so it was. When we all re-assembled, we then had the enormous pleasure of announcing that the top two contestants had won the treasured prize.

This initiative by the Bydgoszcz and Torun IH schools was excellent: hats off to Romek Poslednik, Grzegorz Chruszcz and Marek Łukaszewski whose names exemplify the dictation game admirably. This was a great way of capitalising on local interests, fostering interest in the schools, causing a media stir - TV and press were there, of course - and helping the lucky winners on their way.