Dictation has been almost absent from the scene for a decade or more. The power of dictation is grossly underestimated. Looked at reasonably, it is an interim step between thinking and writing. Dictation provides an opportunity to practice accuracy in spelling, punctuation and sentence structure without the parallel burden of creating text appropriate to the task at hand.

For some students this step is vital, acting as a springboard into the world of written words. The loss of dictation from the learning scene has resulted in a massive loss of opportunity for countless numbers of students, who may otherwise have become competent writers.

Dictation also provides a framework for discussing different types of phrases within sentences, sentence ambiguity and paragraphing. It is the ideal means of modelling all of the above skills and providing much needed consolidation. It offers experience in best practice that many students are unlikely to generate themselves.

When giving dictation, always have the student read the sentence aloud. This ensures that the student is following the pattern of his own voice, in much the same way as he would do when writing a story, project or assignment.

Students who are known to suffer short-term auditory memory deficits should not be expected to retain an entire sentence containing more than 5 or 6 words. However, this can sometimes, but not always, be expanded by gradually increasing the number of words that are dictated.