DICTATIONS-English

Second and third readings

COVER SHEET FOR DICTATIONS

- Length of dictations ranges from 230 to 270 words.
- Dictations will be read three times:
A first time at normal speed to allow students to get an overall idea of text content, style, register, tense sequence…
A second time at ‘dictation speed’, all punctuation marks will be dictated.
A third time at average speed, to allow students to read through and check what they have written.
- Years (1987) should be written as numbers, not in extended form.
- Numbers (ten, three hundred, two thousand…) should be written in full alphabetical form unless excessively long (for example: 354,678!)
- Any proper names (for individuals, companies, international organisations…) should be attempted; however in this case misspelling does not constitute a mistake.

A BRIEF GLOSSARY OF PUNCTUATION MARKS:
. full stop
, comma
; semicolon
: colon
? question mark
! exclamation mark
- dash (a dash separates a part of a sentence, not a word)
( ) parentheses (students will be instructed to ‘open’ and ‘close’ the parentheses)
" " quotation marks (students will be instructed to ‘open’ and ‘close’ the quotation marks)
When moving from one line to a new line, or from one paragraph to a new paragraph, the person dictating will say: ‘new line’ or ‘new paragraph’.

When you have finished and you are ready
to listen for the last time, click here.