dictation education

Make English Dictation Effectively

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Browse YouTube and choose any English video you'd like to practice dictation and shadowing with. Copy the video URL to start learning English through dictation.

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Paste the copied URL into the FluentDictation app. Our system will automatically generate accurate YouTube video transcript and prepare a YouTube video player with sentence-based control.

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Using dictation

Dictation has been a feature of language classrooms for hundreds of years. However, for many teachers these days, the word ' dictation ' is synonymous with ' old-fashioned ', ' boring ', and ' teacher-centred '.

In fact, it hardly seems to merit a mention in most of the introductory texts for ELT trainees. Is it really as outdated and uncommunicative as it first appears?

Dictation has numerous uses in the ELT classroom, often involving very little preparation and a lot of creativity and interest. Used imaginatively, it can be an effective tool for working on accuracy and fluency in all four skills. In this article I will answer the following questions and at the same time provide some practical ideas for activities.

• What is dictation?
• What are the potential problems?
• How can we make dictation more learner-centred?

What is dictation? In its simplest form, dictation refers to a person reading some text aloud so that the listener(s) can write down what is being said. When used in the language classroom, the aim has traditionally been for students to write down what is said by the teacher, word for word, later checking their own text against the original and correcting the errors made. While this certainly has its uses, there are countless variations that can make it more interesting and learner-centred.

• For example, a related activity, sometimes called 'dictogloss', requires the students to only take notes of the key words used as they listen and then later reconstruct the text so that it has the same meaning as the original text although perhaps not exactly the same form.
• There is also emphasis on accuracy, but expectations here can be increased or decreased depending on the level of the class - the main aim is that the students understand and then re-convey the meaning of the passage, concentrating on the communicative aspect of the activity rather than producing a grammatically perfect text.

Why do it? There are several reasons why dictation activities work well in the classroom. From the teacher's point of view, dictations:

• Can be done with any level, depending on the text used
• Can be graded for a multi-level class (see below for more on this)
• Usually require very little preparation and photocopying

In fact, dictation can be used to decrease preparation time for other activities.

• Instead of spending hours making cut-up activities such as matching vocabulary and their definitions, why not just give the students blank slips of paper and dictate the necessary information to them in the classroom? This also gives the students more listening and writing /spelling practice.
• For example, the teacher says 'group 1: apple' 'group 2: potato' 'group 1: cucumber' 'group 2: carrot' - the students only write down the words given for their group. The students can then be paired up so that each pair has one person with each list of words and the matching activity can continue as normal.

For the students, dictations:

• Can focus on both accuracy (form) as well as meaning - e.g. in the dictogloss activity described above.
• Can develop all four skills - speaking and pronunciation can be developed if the students do the dictating rather than the teacher.
• Give students the opportunity to notice features of pronunciation such as weak forms, linking and elision.

Additionally, dictation activities where students compare their version of the text to the original can increase their ability to notice aspects of the language which are sometimes overlooked, as well as mistakes which they commonly make. These might include common spelling errors, absence of articles or the third person 's', etc. The comparison also helps students to become better at identifying errors in their own written work. What are the potential problems? Boredom One problem that definitely needs to be addressed is the perception that students may have of doing a dictation activity. Some students (and teachers!) may have developed an aversion to dictation. It's important, therefore, to ensure that we vary the ways that we do dictation in class and encourage the students to focus on meaning as well as accuracy.

All sorts of texts can be dictated, from single words of a vocabulary list to sentences from a dialogue to full paragraphs. These can also be dictated in the 'wrong' order, requiring students to unscramble them once it's finished. Using dictated texts as a precursor to further activities like this will help students to see them as an integrated part of the learning process. It is important that we and the students see these activities as learning experiences rather than as simply testing their ability to listen and copy words and sentences. Difficulty A second common problem is that some students may find dictation more difficult than others, especially if you are teaching a multi-level class. One way of combating this is to think about how much of the dictation we expect our students to produce. We can give weaker students skeleton versions of the text to be dictated, with gaps for them to fill in as they go along, rather than a blank sheet of paper. Incidentally, this can be a useful approach for practising 'noticing' specific parts of speech - e.g. all the students can be required to listen for only the prepositions or articles needed to fill in the gaps. Accuracy when checking Students often aren't very good at looking for mistakes in what they have written when comparing it to the original text. It can often be easier to check the errors in someone else's text rather than in our own. Also, it might be an idea to leave some time between completing the dictation and checking the text against a correct version as students are often better able to find their errors with 'fresh' eyes. Doing this will also be good training for students, giving them strategies for checking their own written work. How can we make dictation more learner-centred? Instead of the standard formula of the teacher dictating the text, there are a number of ways of taking the focus off the teacher and onto the students themselves. Using the students as the 'dictators' has the added benefit of focusing on students' pronunciation and, in a multilingual class, giving students further exposure to different non-native accents.

• Cut the text up and distribute one line to each of the students. They then take turns dictating their sentence while the other students listen and write it down. Then give them a copy of the full text to compare with their own.
• Divide the class into pairs and ask them to choose one person to be the 'writer' and another to be the 'runner'. Stick the text to be dictated up at one end of the room. The runners have to go to the text and return to their partners having memorised the first line of the text, which they dictate. They keep returning to the text until they have dictated the full text to their partner. The roles can be swapped halfway through. Their text is then compared to a correct version and corrected. This activity requires only a short text.
• Do the dictation yourself but let the students control the speed that you speak at and the amount of repetition you do. Tell the students that they need to pretend that you are no longer a teacher but you have turned into a human tape recorder. As you read the text, they call out instructions such as 'Stop', 'Rewind', 'Play', 'Decrease speed' etc.

Conclusion In this article we have examined the benefits and problems associated with dictation as well as explored some variations on the traditional approach. Dictation doesn't work for everything or for everyone, but by looking again at this traditional method we can add to our classroom techniques a touch of the familiar with a little innovation. Further reading Dictation - New methods, new possibilities, Paul Davis and Mario Rinvolucri, Cambridge University Press.

Amy Lightfoot, British Council, India

Always dictation is not loveable by students and they find it hard work

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It's true that some learners might be averse to dictation, but hopefully some of these techniques might change their minds :) Why not try them with your classes and see how they go?

TeachingEnglish team

Actually dictation is good for learners It improves listening , writing, speaking skills of learners at same time It's an easier than other activities We can make it interesting if we introduce it by game . Don't say to the students it's dictation we should say it's game time It might be puzzle Give a word missing vowel they have to write correct vowel. We can use different strategies according to age .. Also we can speak a word or a sentence It takes time for learners to improve but it does work

Dictations is not so fun

To my mind dictations have never been fun for kids,students.Even if you make them original.Checking accuracy and spelling still keep the meaning "checking'.It can be fun,it can have different forms and methods.But you can play with kids.Kids have to work on spelling hard.

To my mind playing games cannot help in fluency of spelling. I'd rather use fill in gaps.Studying is not fun.It is hard work of brain.

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Learn English Through Dictation

English dictation tests, elementary dictation | intermediate dictation | quick dictation.

Improve your listening skills, writing skills, reading skills, spelling and punctuation!

You will need a set of headphones, somewhere quiet, a pencil and a sheet of paper., the sound files are large, so be patient., instructions:-.

Choose your level Elementary or Intermediate .

Play the .mp3 files (they are large so be patient).

Listen to the first file - Just Listen. I will speak, quite quickly, in a natural voice.

Listen to second file - listen and write. I will speak more slowly.

Listen to the first file again - Check and correct.

Check what you have written. You will find the text at the bottom of each dictation page.

We are adding videos to each dictation test. Please be patient, it takes a lot of time to create these.

Elementary Dictation Exercises

Teachers and other users - You are welcome to link to this page and to use the following dictation files in the classroom. Please do not link directly to the sound files.

Quick Spelling Tests

Practise your comprehension and spelling with the Learn English spelling tests - all the words are from my web sites.

Some of these are still in Real Media (rm) format, but I'm slowly changing them.

• Adjectives Spelling Test - with words from the Common Adjectives pages .
• Greetings Spelling Test - with words from Lesson Two - Greetings .
• Buildings Spelling Test - all words are taken from the Building Vocabulary pages .
• Food Spelling Test - now with all the words from the Food Vocabulary pages .
• Twisted Spelling - check your knowledge of Irregular Verbs .
• Education Spelling Test - all words are taken from the Education Vocabulary pages .
• Jobs and Work Spelling Test - all words are taken from the Jobs and Work Vocabulary pages .
• Rooms and Furniture - all words are taken from the Rooms in a house pages .
• Shopping Spelling Test - all words are taken from the Shopping Vocabulary pages .
• Transport Spelling Test - all words are taken from the Transport Vocabulary pages .
• Money Spelling Test - all words are taken from the Money Vocabulary pages .
• The Human Body - all words are taken from the Human Body Vocabulary pages .

Understanding Dictation in Education

Learn about Dictation in this educational glossary entry.

Dictation is a pedagogical technique that has been used for centuries as a method of teaching and assessing language skills. It involves the oral presentation of a passage of text by a teacher or instructor, which students then transcribe word for word. Dictation can be used to teach spelling, punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, and listening skills, and is commonly used in language learning classrooms around the world.

Types of Dictation

There are several different types of dictation exercises that can be used in the classroom:

• Basic Dictation: In basic dictation, the teacher reads a passage of text at a moderate pace, and students write down what they hear. This type of dictation is often used to assess listening and writing skills.
• Cloze Dictation: In cloze dictation, the teacher reads a passage of text with certain words omitted, and students must fill in the blanks with the correct words. This type of dictation can help students practice vocabulary and grammar skills.
• Sentence Dictation: In sentence dictation, the teacher reads individual sentences, and students write them down. This type of dictation can be used to focus on sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling.
• Dictation with Dictogloss: Dictogloss is a variation of dictation where students listen to a passage of text, and then work together to reconstruct it collaboratively. This type of dictation can help students develop their listening, speaking, and writing skills.

Benefits of Dictation

Dictation offers several benefits for language learners:

• Improves Listening Skills: Dictation exercises can help students improve their listening skills by training them to listen for specific words, phrases, and structures.
• Enhances Spelling and Punctuation: Dictation can help students practice spelling and punctuation by requiring them to accurately transcribe spoken words.
• Builds Vocabulary: Dictation exercises can introduce students to new vocabulary words and help them understand how words are used in context.
• Reinforces Grammar Rules: Dictation can reinforce grammar rules by requiring students to pay attention to sentence structure, verb tenses, and word order.
• Develops Writing Skills: Dictation exercises can help students improve their writing skills by practicing sentence construction, coherence, and organization.

Best Practices for Dictation

When incorporating dictation exercises into the classroom, it is important to follow best practices to ensure that students benefit from the activity:

• Choose Appropriate Texts: Select texts that are at an appropriate level of difficulty for your students. Texts that are too easy or too difficult may not be effective for dictation exercises.
• Provide Clear Instructions: Clearly explain the dictation exercise to students, including any specific rules or requirements for the activity.
• Encourage Active Listening: Encourage students to actively listen to the dictation passage by focusing on key words, phrases, and structures.
• Offer Feedback: Provide feedback to students on their dictation exercises, including corrections for spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors.
• Use Dictation as a Learning Tool: Incorporate dictation exercises as a regular part of your language curriculum to help students practice and reinforce their language skills.

Dictation is a valuable tool for teaching and assessing language skills in the classroom. By incorporating dictation exercises into your curriculum, you can help students improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, as well as their vocabulary and grammar knowledge. By following best practices and providing appropriate feedback, dictation can be an effective and engaging activity for language learners of all levels.

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StoryLearning

Learn A Language Through Stories

What Is Dictation & How Can You Use It To Understand Native Speakers?

In this post, you'll learn some great ways to improve your listening skills and understand native speakers in a foreign language using one of the oldest teaching methods of all – dictation!

So, what is dictation…seriously?

You're probably picturing a Victorian grammar school, with an old headmaster-type reading aloud lines from a Latin textbook, lines of students in caps writing down every word he says onto chalk slates, desperately trying to keep up.

Dictation is seriously old-school. It has no place in language learning in the 21st Century, right?

I think we have a tendency to dismiss old things rather too easily, for no other reason than that they're old, especially in the age of the internet. And dictation can certainly be one of those things. Ask a teacher if they use dictation and see what response you get 🙂

Old-school it may be, but outdated it is not!

By the way, if you want to understand native speakers in your target language thanks to a fun and effective method that teaches you through stories, not rules,  check out my StoryLearning® courses and claim your free 7-day trial.

What Is Dictation?

Diction is the transcription of spoken text. It involves writing down, or transcribing what another person says aloud. It's a useful way to test your comprehension when learning another language.

Why Is Dictation Useful?

So with traditional dictation, the teacher reads a short passage aloud, multiple times, and the students have to copy it down as accurately as possible.

But let's think about what actually goes on in those students' heads as they're copying down the teacher's lines.

They're…

• …actively listening during the dictation, trying to catch every word .
• …trying to do it fast enough that they can keep up, learning to handle language at natural speed .
• ….active after the dictation as they reflect on what they heard and try to make sense of it, possibly correcting some bits where what they've written doesn't make sense.

So while it may seem like an outdated exercise, there's a lot going on in the head.

And those kids probably had to do this day-in, day-out for years.

What if you did that?

What kind of listening skills would you develop if, on a regular basis, you sat and copied out what you heard in French, Spanish or Chinese?

Dictation For Improving Listening Skills

Mad listening skills! 🙂

Have another look at the list of bullet points above. Do those sound like skills you'd like to develop in your target language?

Absolutely!

I like dictation because it really makes you work. If you have a tendency to be a bit lazy in your language learning ( hello inconsistency villain! ), maybe spending a bit too much time watching foreign language movies , dictation will give you a much-needed kick up the backside and get the cogs working.

What you get is an intense focus on spoken language, and a great answer to the question: “How can I understand native speakers?”.

How To Understand Native Speakers

The mistake that a lot of people make about understanding native speakers is to think that it's just a question of knowing the words (i.e. if you know enough words, you'll understand what they say).

But if you've tried to understand native speakers in another language, you'll know that's not the case!

It's really common to feel like you know the words they're using, but you just can't quite get it.

You need a lot more than the words alone to be able to understand a native speaker. You need to be able to hear how words change when they're said in full sentences, and at full speed.

For example, try saying the following sentence aloud:

“I wish I was inside again.”

To someone who's studying English, how many separate words would they hear?

Chances are all they would hear is one big mess! 🙂 It's really tough because many of those words, when you say them at natural speed, are joined together: “I wish_I was_inside_again”.

This is a part of what's known as connected speech .

Connected speech is the real key to understanding native speakers, and dictation is the mother of activities to get better at this because you're forced to listen to every little word. When you're face-to-face with a native speaker, you don't have the time to drill down into every word.

But with dictation you do.

And that's why you should be using it if you want to improve your ability to understand native speakers.

How To Do It On Your Own

This isn't rocket science! You don't need a teacher to read lines to you.

• Pick some audio or video that you've been watching recently – something you enjoy and would really like to be able to understand
• Choose a short segment of that – maybe one scene from a TV drama or even a short, 30-second monologue. (Obviously without subtitles!)
• Your mission: write down on paper every single word that is said.

It's that simple. But check out this post to see exactly how I do dictation.

You might have to listen 10 times. You might have to listen 100 times. I transcribed a whole episode of a Japanese drama once – it took about 3 weeks and half-killed me, but it was worth it!

How can you check it once you've finished (or when you get stuck)?

If it's short, post it to Rhinospike.com and some nice person will transcribe it for you. If it's a bit longer, post a job on upwork.com and pay someone to transcribe it. It can be surprisingly affordable. I recently got a virtual assistant to transcribe an entire 45-minute episode of a Cantonese drama transcribed for less than US$20.

Alternatively, if you have a language partner or a teacher you can ask them to write it out for you.

Start Using Dictation In Your Language Learning

Now you know the answer to your initial “what is dictation?” question, try it for yourself! A word of warning though – this can be quite tough, intense work. You will probably feel like giving up 10 minutes after starting! For that reason, I recommend you start with only a short 1-2 minute piece of audio.

But, of course…

The toughest things in life bring us the biggest rewards.

Regular dictation like this will quickly improve your ability to understand native speakers.

So what do you think? Will you give it a try?

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10 Awesome Dictation Apps For Students

Last Updated on October 4, 2023 by Editorial Team

Dictation involves dictating letters or statements that students make a note of after actively listening to each one correctly. As dictation helps students understand words and their particular sounds, it becomes crucial to use the dictation method in teaching to enhance reading and writing. While teachers and parents generally dictate words and sentences , dictation applications can be helpful in enhancing spelling and word recognition.

While various teaching methods are helpful, Dictation apps can help educators assess pupils’ ability to spell the vocabulary they have learned. These apps guide pupils to understand the meaning of the words learned. They also draw their attention to the confusing words, primarily the ones with the same or similar pronunciation but different meanings. Moreover, dictation applications are equipped with creative illustrations, graphics, and sound that engage students in the learning process.

Find below some interactive apps that can be helpful in building a strong foundation of words.

Helpful dictation apps for students

Dictation applications guide students to analyze their problems and give suggestions apart from teaching new vocabulary. Students can use context and grammar knowledge and apply phonics skills in spelling, which can be further used in writing and speaking. Lastly, they provide follow-up learning activities such as quizzes, games, and tests to consolidate effective learning.  

1. English Listen and Write

Primarily focusing on improving students’ listening and writing skills, English Listen and Write is a popular application for Dictation among students. Students can explore a plethora of words, ranging from short to long words. 

How to use:

• In this spelling learning game, you can choose from 8 difficulty levels. 
• At every level, students will get some sentences with blanks.
• Students have to fill in the blanks from the options of syllables given along with each sentence.
• Once they have filled in the blank with the right option, they can listen to the sentences. 
• Hence, the app enables them to read and engage in active listening.

There are a plethora of words that students can learn from this application. With over eight difficulty categories and 1600 spellings to learn, this app is ideal for studying the concept of dictation. The sentence riddles help enhance the thinking and cognitive skills of the kids.  

App link: Playstore

2. Shorthand Dictation

The application features hundreds of shorthand dictations. All these spellings are shorthand dictations where a single word is broken into smaller words. This allows students to learn and understand words easily and effectively. 

• Students are provided with two options of Shorthand dictation, such as 80 words per second and 100 words per second.
• Many options of paragraphs are also provided.
• They can choose from either of these, ranging from 3 to 5 minutes.
• Press play on the dictation video, write in a notepad, and then type it in the typing box as soon as possible.

Shorthand dictation will allow students to analyze their mistakes and improve their grammatical skills. The dashboard feature helps them check their consistent improvement by recording their previous Dictation, which can help them compare their grammatical growth.

App link: Play store

3. Voice Spelling Dictation

It is a learning-based application focusing on spelling using voice dictation in particular. Not only will this application test the spelling but also the quick typing speed of students taking the dictation test. Students will be tested on their grammatical and typing skills simultaneously. 

• Choose your preferred Text-to-Speech Engine on the homepage.
• Students can also change the TTS engine and language in the settings.
• Students can also choose the number of words in the text.
• Now, you would need to add some records to the dictionary. 
• Then press ‘Add Word’ to add it to the dictionary. 
• The TTS engine will speak random records from the dictionary. 
• Students can press the play button to repeat the last word, Dictation. 
• After listening to all the words, type in words one by one to complete the sentence.

Dictation can be used for conversations and to improve writing and speaking skills. In the larger spectrum, it would encourage the students to work together to develop peer learning to encourage skills building. 

4. English Dictation and Speaking

This app enables the students to enhance their English speaking, writing, and listening skills. Since listening and speaking are necessary skills that students use throughout their lives, the application focuses on building strong foundations. 

• On the app home screen, select Dictation and press start.
• Students will be provided with jumbled words, which they will have to arrange into an accurate statement.
• Once the accurate statement is registered with the application, they can tap on it to listen to the Dictation. 
• Similarly, they can also choose many preloaded paragraphs and press on them to work on their reading and listening skills .
• In this way, students get exposure to different words and their sounds. They may also be curious to find out the meanings of the words that interest them.

Learning through dictation improves the understanding and communication skills of the learners. Students can improve their writing and listening skills which are integral in conversions and useful means of expressing their thoughts. It also focuses profusely on the letter combination of specific word groups and their pronunciations. 

5. EASY peasy: Spelling for Kids- Learn to write

The name of the application suggests all its features. Students can learn a lot of new spellings in a fun and easy way. They can use the read-aloud function provided by the application to learn new spellings independently and compare their progress over time. 

• On the home screen, different levels are provided to the students based on difficulty. 
• There will be an increasing number of sentences and words with each higher level.
• Students can choose any level. They can write from the Dictation, correct and practice difficult words and write texts independently.
• Using the read-aloud feature, they can hear the text and evaluate their pronunciation and mistakes.

The highlight of this application is developing listening skills. It also serves as a brilliant tool for educators to encourage their students to notice the gaps between their level of spoken and written English and the level they are aiming for.  

6. EDictation- English Dictation 

Listening and writing are two important aspects of grammar and conversation. EDictation provides thorough practice for both of them. Boasting a wide range of exercises and words helps users to learn and improve their skills effectively. 

• On the home screen, choose between two levels; General or Academic.
• In either of the levels, there will be many different text options.
• Students will first hear the text and then type what they have heard in the dialogue box.
• They can check their answers and get a final report card for their mistakes and progress.

It is a helpful way to learn English and grammar skills. This would make students involved and engrossed in their learning. It also promotes a high level of independent learning and self-evaluation. 

7. A Spelling Learning

The target audience for this application is students from grades 1 to 5. They can learn spellings consisting of 3 to 11 syllables. The learning is made easy with pictures to refer to and fun with a colorful keyboard. 

 How to use:

• Choose from 30-plus categories of words.
• Students will get a picture of an object or a person.
• They have to analyze the picture and type it in syllables.
• Press speak to listen to the correct pronunciation of the word.

Students can record their answers and then orally communicate them to understand the word better. Through the visual presentation, they can also understand the accurate meaning of the word. 

8. Dictation Helper

The iPad OS has got a really powerful voice detention tool built in. Dictation Helper is one of the helpful applications for Apple devices to help students learn new words without the constant vigilance of their teachers and parents. It allows text-to-speech as well as image-to-text.

• On the home screen, students can type a particular word or statement to convert it into speech.
• Students can also type sentences with certain punctuation marks to understand the flow when converted to speech.
• Students can also select their preferred language, interval, and the number of attempts.
• After this, use the icon on the right to listen to words/sentences typed for conversion.
• Siri dictation will then take words and transcribe them as speech.

It is an effective application to let students understand the tone and correct pronunciation of words and sentences. Students can also highlight important parts in their dictations while they hear. The files are easy to access and can be shared through different mediums and devices. 

App link: App Store

9. FunFunSpell English Dictation

This application is created for kids to practice dictation all by themselves. Kids can begin with any of the two: Sentences or words. The application gives the kids options to find and start, where they can find different levels of words based on the difficulty level. The application also helps students understand the vocabulary, which not only helps them with spelling but also broadens their sphere of vocabulary and new words.

• The kids first need to select the difficulty level and then start the online dictation
• Once done, they can save their results.
• At each time, they are competing with a lot of other users online who are also making use of the same difficulty level.
• In the end, the app will rate its performance on the basis of its competitors.

A feature of the application also caters to showing the kids some pictures, where they are expected to type in what exactly is there in the image. For example, an image of a telephone is shown, and students need to correctly input the spelling of the image shown. The application also focuses on teaching students the spelling of a few words that are mostly misspelled. 

App link: Play Store | App Store

10. SpellOut- English Dictation

Being a powerful app to teach learners more about the English language, this application focuses on improving the listening skills, vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation of the students. The application uses news reading and picks up words from various articles and more to help students with better spelling and vocabulary. 

• To begin, students must select their dictation task, and then complete the words spoken in the application. 
• Next up, a fill-in-the-blanks type of quiz would also be given to the students to evaluate their listening skills, along with their power to spell the words correctly.
• Lastly, the students would be shown their performance. The app would also keep track of the student’s achievements over time.

Along with providing a great tool for students to practice spelling, the app also comes with an in-built dictionary that helps students know the meanings of the words they don’t know. This application can also be used by students who are preparing for competitive exams like IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, etc. 

App link: App store

How can Educators use these apps for students?

One of the primary highlights of these apps is that they guide students to divide words into syllables and identify the ‘small words in the word. Football can be understood as foot + ball. Hence, parents and educators can set challenges for students to break words and learn new words through the apps. 

These apps focus on teaching students to enable grammatical skills explicitly, i.e., drawing their attention to the letter-sound relationships and understanding the meaning of words. In this manner, parents and teachers can promptly ask students a meaning they might have learned through an app. They can also ask students to start working on their note-taking skills to enhance grammatical understanding.

Parents and teachers involved with special students can take help from these applications to engage students, improve their concentration, and teach the concept of self-learning development experience specializing in learning. They can learn and understand different words, texts, and grammatical concepts. Thus, improving their ability to express their ideas clearly in writing and speaking.   

Summing Up…

The dictation apps help students reflect on their learning and provide grammatical support. These also consolidate pupils’ listening skills, help educators understand pupils’ performance, and provide constructive feedback. Teachers and parents can use these applications as a testing medium to motivate learning capabilities. These applications can be used to create different classroom activities for students or be given as a test to understand their progress.

Dictation is designed and conducted as a listening and writing activity for young learners in the apps mentioned above. Not only is it fun and highly engaging, but also an interactive activity.

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of  Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

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How Dictation Technology Can Address Student Literacy Challenges

A professional learning program focused on improving student literacy has shown promising gains for struggling readers. Through the use of dictation technology, students are able to share their own stories and watch as the words appear on the screen.

Dr. Betsy Baker, creator of Talk to Read , describes the origin of the program: “I wondered how I could center their stories in our literacy program. I wondered how my students could be the main characters of our children’s literature.” 

The Talk to Read professional learning program, funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant, helps second-grade teachers elicit and scaffold students’ own background and vocabulary to contextualize reading skills within their current reading programs.

Teachers learn ways to use technology, especially dictation, to improve sight word vocabulary, reading comprehension, and classroom management.  

Findings indicate that learners classified as struggling readers can develop self-efficacy and become eager readers and writers when participating in Talk to Read. 

Dictation Technology: A Tool for Today’s Literacy Challenges

Using dictation technology, we can speak to our devices and watch as our oral language magically appears on the screen! Studies indicate that students involved in Talk to Read develop over 97% sight vocabulary accuracy  with the words they dictate and incorporate into personally meaningful compositions.

Dictation can help by: 

• Enhancing spelling and phonics when students see words they know
• Boosting vocabulary development and bringing the student’s rich oral language to the classroom
• Supporting differentiation of learning to help scaffold writing

Getting started with dictation is as easy as using any tablets that have a “talk to text” feature.  This could be in a Notes app, a Google Doc, or a number of web extensions. 

A Strong Foundation: Essential Elements of Talk to Read

Incorporating a student’s vocabulary is essential, and literacy learning is enhanced by community, design, and authorship. 

• A learner-centered community  is a safe place for students to interact, bring their vocabulary, and share stories with peers. 
• Literacy design  brings student stories and vocabulary to life and highlights the curriculum as it applies to every student.  
• Authorship  in the classroom gives students a purpose for writing to authentic audiences. 

Using Talk to Read strategies, teachers work with students on “Goldilocks” skills that match what the individual student needs and help target skills unique to them.

Apply Talk to Read Strategies in Your Classroom

Findings indicate that Talk to Read literacy strategies improve self-efficacy for struggling readers and help second-graders become more eager readers and writers. Talk to Read has the potential to dramatically grow students’ vocabulary, enhance student engagement, and improve classroom management. 

Talk to Read is currently recruiting second-grade teachers to participate in the cost reimbursement professional learning program beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. Learn how to apply Talk to Read strategies within your current curriculum and boost your students’ literacy skills. Visit the Talk to Read website  to learn more about being involved, and let us know you’re interested by completing our interest form .

Data source: https://talk2read.emints.org/project-info/research

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