ABSTRACT
Dictation has had a somewhat chequered history during the last decade or so. Traditionally, a dictation required the student to write down every word of what the reader said, and a dictation test was often a much feared part of public examinations. Then, for some time dictation fell into disfavour, and there certainly are very good reasons for questioning the value of word-by-word transcription. With the exception of stenographers, this is a skill which very few of us ever have to practise outside of the language classroom. What we do have to carry out, though, is note-taking in which it is necessary to identify key pieces of information and to record them in an economical and coherent form. Consequently, word-by-word dictation has tended to be replaced by note-taking linked to the development of listening comprehension skills.
