dictations

[Anonymous]

Are dictations a good practice activtity? Why?

 

[Tdol]

They go in and out of fashion. I personally don't use them because they don't reflect much genuine language use, shorthand secretarial work aside. Also we have tapes, videos, CDs, etc as sources of language to listen to and I prefer exercises that resemble what we actually dowith language. How often do native speakers take dictation? It's rare, whereas note taking is a genuine language use.
;-)

 

[MikeNewYork]

Are dictations a good practice activtity? Why?

I agree with TDOL, that dictaion has limited benefit. If it is effective at all, it can help one learn to listen, spell, and punctuate sentences properly.

:wink:

 

[Tdol]

Those things can generally be done elsewhere. ;-)