3 Strategies to Conquer English Dictation Fear

3 Ways to Overcome Dictation Phobia

Parents around the world hope for their children to succeed. In Hong Kong, parents expect their children to be proficient in English. To ensure their children can speak English fluently, parents go to great lengths: speaking English to their children since they were infants, enrolling them in English playgroups before kindergarten (preferably led by native teachers), followed by English interest classes, tutoring, and prep courses; and not missing out on English drama, theater, or recitation. Even foreign domestic helpers are asked to act as English teachers to create a language environment, while parents download English learning apps and ensure that smartphones, TV shows, and YouTube are filled with English cartoons featuring princes, princesses, and superheroes. In short, most parents believe that speaking fluent English is the first admission ticket to the "winning team" in life.

Teacher Rowena

Can listen and speak = understand English?

It is well known that to fully master a language, one must excel in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. If categorized, listening and speaking belong to one domain, while reading and writing belong to another; however, possessing skills in one domain does not automatically imply the same for the other.

To give a real and ironic example, many students who have sought my help to improve their English writing skills attend international schools. At first, I thought the parents were just overly perfectionistic, but it turns out the English proficiency of some local students in international schools is far below our expectations!

Although they possess the strongest English language environment—where everyone from the principal and department heads to teachers and assistants are expatriates or returnees—this does not mean their literacy and writing skills are equally outstanding. They have absolutely no problem with listening and speaking, but do not forget that English is also a written language; on the writing level, it involves reading and writing, requiring the user to have a solid foundation in phonics, grammar, and vocabulary.

Foreign teachers differ from Hong Kong students in background, culture, and habits. Most critically, their learning methods are poles apart. Foreign teachers naturally use English as their first language; they speak and test entirely in English. They might have to spell but have no dictations, and they like reading but do not need to do reading reports. How can these "foreigners" pass this on to Hong Kong students who use English as a second language?

In my over twenty years of teaching English, I have faced the learning difficulties and struggles of various types of students (including Band 1, 2, and 3 students, as well as adults). I have constantly innovated and changed my teaching methods to find approaches that are suitable and effective for them.

As a frontline educator, how can one "use the same old book forever"? Take English dictation as an example. Regardless of its usefulness, it is a subject that every parent and student in local aided or government schools loves and hates. From Primary 1 to the end of secondary school, English dictation is almost a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly routine.

If parents and students have not mastered the skills to handle English dictation, they might want to try the following three methods I have used to help different students (including my own daughter). They are both fun and effective.

Method 1: Start Simple and Find Associations

Whether it is dictating vocabulary or sentences, parents can categorize the target words into easy, medium, and difficult levels. Handle the simple words first—not based on total word count, but on the student's prior knowledge, while grouping related words together. Once the child builds confidence, spend more time on the more difficult words. For convenience, many parents prefer to dictate the passage from start to finish, ignoring the fact that words of varying difficulty are distributed throughout. This is effectively asking the child to review the entire dictation range at once, which is truly daunting for some students.

Students fear dictation mostly because they fear difficulty. However, as long as you help them build confidence and let them understand that they have the ability to do it, they have a chance to regain interest. When words are conquered one by one, children will naturally no longer fear English dictation.

For example, "cupboard" and "blackboard" were the words my daughter had to spell for her first dictation in Primary 1. At the start of the review, I realized she was very distressed and at a loss, so I wanted to reduce her anxiety. I looked at "cupboard" and asked her if she could spell "cup." She said she could.

In fact, many young children can master 3-letter English words, so I believe it is best to start from there. If a student already knows how to spell "cup," they only need the effort to spell "board." Actually, after spelling "cupboard," half of "blackboard" is already done. However, for young children, "board" itself is hard to spell; even if they know phonics, they might still make mistakes, so I used the second method introduced below to help her.

Method 2: Tell Stories with Words

Most children love stories, so why not combine dictation with stories? Children are most afraid of long and difficult English words, so we can connect every English letter through a story. Taking "cupboard" as an example, to spell "board," you could say: "After I ate my Banana, Orange, and Apple, I had to Run and Dance." When I did dictations with my daughter, I often created these funny stories. Even if they are absurd or whimsical, through our mutual participation, dictation is transformed into a unique and fun parent-child activity. Children always love unexpected stories, and before they knew it, dictation was no longer a phobia, but something to look forward to, because "we can make up crazy stories with Mommy again!"

Method 3: Syllabic Spelling

Syllables are the soul that dictates the spelling and pronunciation of every word, functioning like the notes when playing an instrument. The learner must first understand what each key represents and its purpose.

Among the 26 English letters, the vowels a, e, i, o, and u are responsible for the main sounds, while the other letters are responsible for changing the tone through mouth shape. A syllable is composed of at least one vowel. If a word has 3 syllables, its spelling should rely on its vowels. Take "cupboard"; it has the vowel "u." But what about "board"? It has two vowels, "o" and "a." Does it have two syllables? Not necessarily, because when two vowels appear together, in most cases they form a single syllable, with one acting as a secondary vowel that modifies the sound of the main vowel. Therefore, as long as you know the two original syllables "up" and "oard," you can easily spell "cup" and "board."

So, how many original syllables are there in English in total? I conducted a series of research studies and found about 300 original syllables. Once you learn to spell them, spelling words becomes effortless.

Teacher Rowena

Possesses 25 years of experience teaching English to Band 1, 2, and 3 students as well as adults in Hong Kong.

Having witnessed many students suffer from varying degrees of fear and difficulties in learning English, I often adopt different methods and materials in my teaching to enhance student interest and quality. Eventually, I decided to leave mainstream teaching to experiment with alternative instruction, publishing books and developing the "Double R Integration Method" (see www.doubleramalgam.com), which is a system tailored for Chinese speakers to learn English, allowing students to learn more effectively and systematically.