Dictation (exercise)

Dictation is the transcription of spoken text: one person who is "dictating" speaks and another who is "taking dictation" writes down the words as they are spoken. Among speakers of several languages, dictation is used as a test of language skill, similar to spelling bees in the English-speaking world. Secondary to teaching language skills, the exercise of dictation has also been used to introduce students to literary works, and to instill morals.^[1] Dictation has also been used in an attempt to capture endangered or dying languages, as in the case of Victoria Howard, a Chinook speaker who dictated songs and stories to Melville Jacobs.^[2]

^ Goldrich, Leon W.; Jones, Olivia Mary (1904). School Work. Editors of School Work. pp. 62–86.
^ Howard, Victoria; Mason, Catharine; Jacobs, Melville (2021). Clackamas Chinook performance art: verse form interpretations. Studies in the anthropology of North American Indians series. Lincoln Bloomington: University of Nebraska Press American Indian Research Institute, Indiana University. ISBN 978-1-4962-2411-8.

[1] Goldrich, Leon W.; Jones, Olivia Mary (1904). School Work. Editors of School Work. pp. 62–86.

[2] Howard, Victoria; Mason, Catharine; Jacobs, Melville (2021). Clackamas Chinook performance art: verse form interpretations. Studies in the anthropology of North American Indians series. Lincoln Bloomington: University of Nebraska Press American Indian Research Institute, Indiana University. ISBN 978-1-4962-2411-8.

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