Dictation as a Veritable Tool for Language Proficiency on Project Educational Reform in Nigeria

Abstract

Dictation is a valuable language teaching and learning device that has beenused for centuries though often ignored by teachers. It is a writing activitythat involves writing down what someone says and or reads out as it is being said or immediately after it is said. Given the background of unsatisfactory performance of learners of English language in Nigeria this paper is an attempt to put a useful but now undervalued technique back into the language teaching activities. It contends that effective use of dictation activities will help to improve students’ proficiency in the four aspects of English language among the second learners of English language in a country like Nigeria. Nigeria is a multi-lingual country and English language has always been treated as a compulsory subject. To this end, an attempt is made in this paper to explore how dictation can be used as a device to improve students’ performance, especially in the current school reform. The paper equally suggests that the curriculum planners at the secondary school level should, as a matter of priority, include dictation activities in the syllabuses. It concludes that there should be consistent application of dictation activities. By doing this in the classroom, they would be making significant contributions to the current school reform project of the nationlearners.