The Teachers' Room: Dictation activities part 2

Dan and Sian discuss more ways to make dictation enjoyable for students.
You can use the following techniques:
Whispering chain dictation
Have the students work in groups and stand in a line. Communicate the target language to the first student in each line, who must whisper it to the person next to them. The target language is passed down the line until the learner at the end records it on paper. Then have them switch places.
Back to back dictation
This is a nice activity for emulating phone conversations or any situation where learners may not be able to see each other face to face. Quite simply, give learners a split text to communicate and have them sit back to back. They are not allowed to turn around or attempt to see their partner. They must then work together to complete the text.
Picture dictation
These are perfect for practising things like prepositions, directions, adjectives and descriptions of things – it all depends on the picture. Give one student a picture and have them describe it to their partner, who is not allowed to see it directly. Their partner must draw it as accurately as possible.
Young learners picture dictation
This is useful for teaching human body vocabulary. After introducing the vocabulary, give the learners a piece of paper and ask them to draw the body parts that you name. Feel free to make the drawings unusual e.g. three legs! Get them to draw a monster, which can be coloured in later and they can practice speaking by describing what they have drawn.
For more, visit our website: