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Listen and Create. Improving Listening Skills through Artistic Dictation

Artistic dictation is a fun, creative way to practice listening and vocabulary and to find out how well the students in your class listen and pay attention to you. It involves the teacher giving some form of instructions that students can artistically transfer to paper.

DRAWING / PAINTING

One way to do this involves describing a picture or scene to students and having them draw or paint their interpretation of what they heard and then comparing it against the original to see how well they understood your description.

For example, the picture below could be used to describe landscapes / the environment to students. 

1. The teacher needs to choose a picture that can be described to the students in a way that is understandable and appropriate to their level of English.

2. Without actually showing the picture to the students, the teacher dictates and describes the scene 2, 3 or 4 times in order for the students to draw their impression of what they heard on paper firstly using a lead pencil.

3. Next, using paint, crayons or color pencils, the students complete their picture by adding the minor details, especially the colors that was described by the teacher.

4. Once the students have finished, display their artwork around the classroom, and have the students walk around to see the similarities and differences.

5. Finally, show the students the original picture to see how close their interpretation was to the original.

USING MUSIC

Whilst this is not exactly a dictation activity, it requires the students to listen and interpret the lyrics of the song. To enhance the value of this activity, the teacher can follow up the music with a pre-written verbal description, in a manner similar to dictation, that the students can use to increase the number of small details in their artwork.

1. Play a song that has a moral, or a relevant meaning 2 or 3 times. 

2. Have your students listen, visualize a scene from the song in their mind 

3. Read a pre-written description that is designed to enhance the students' comprehension.

4. Have the students draw or paint the scene on paper. 

5. Once again, display the students' artwork on the walls around the classroom and then have them describe their picture and how it relates to the song that they heard. This can be very interesting as the individual interpretations can vary considerably.

You can make the dictation as easy or difficult as you like, depending on the level of the students and you can use artistic dictations to revise vocabulary you've studied in class in a fun way.

Keep the language simple and in line with the students' level of proficiency.

To enhance this activity even further, take turns having students giving the dictation to their classmates as a way to practice their speaking.

Well, I hope that you liked this article, and find it useful for use in your classes.

Good luck and good teaching.

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