Teaching ESL Grammar through Dictation

Abstract

For a variety of theoretical and practical reasons, dictation is a promising general procedure for promoting both conscious learning and subconscious acquisition of L2 grammatical structures. Although traditional dictation tends to be rather boring, the method allows a number of interesting and motivating variant techniques. This article describes four such variants, useful and effective dictation activities specifically designed for the teaching of grammar, that ESL teachers might easily add to their instructional repertoires.