Online tool to improve language proficiency

Abstract

This paper aims at examining students’ attitudes to application of Information and Communication Techno- logy for improving listening skills through online dictation. Dictation has been used in language testing for a long time, but its benefit in language teaching / learning has never been discussed by language teachers. This article is an attempt to put a useful but now undervalued technique back in the language teaching activities. However, there is no data on usefulness of dictation at university level. The research methods include students’ responses to a specially designed questionnaire. The participants in this study are students of two different specializations who study English for Specific Purposes at the Faculty of Social Policy, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania. Our study shows that class dictations of authentic materials are beneficial to students at tertiary level as they help improve listening and writing skills and raise awareness of problematic language areas. Statistical processing by means of the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) has proved that the findings are valid beyond the studied sample. The advice for language teachers is to employ the online dictation technique in language classroom in a way that is beneficial to students.