1 Note Dictation in Classrooms at the Secondary School Level: Its implications Mrs. Bahunlang Tron Asst. Professor CTE (PGT), Shillong Abstract: Dictation in its simplest form refers to a person reading some text aloud so that the listener(s) can write down what is being said. When used in the language classroom, the aim has traditionally been for students to write down what is said by the teacher, word for word, later checking their own text against the original and correcting the errors made. While this certainly has its uses, there are countless variations that can make it more interesting and learner- centered. In most classrooms, dictation is employed mostly by teachers to counter difficult portions and more so when teachers are to explain abstract content. Dictation has therefore undergone a paradigm shift where it is now widely used as a technique to lighten the workload of teachers, to save time in case of a teacher being absent and as a tool to complete the syllabus on time. However it must be noted that dictation in itself has many advantages and it is hoped that this study will render valuable help to teachers on how to make dictation an effective method that can be employed in classroom teaching. Key words:Note dictation, Secondary School level, Achievement test Introduction: Dictation has a history stretching back to ancient times. Imitation and repetition were historically the classic methods of studying any subject matter in the first language. In the Middle Ages dictation was used to transmit course content of various subjects from master to pupil. Books were dictated to scribes in scriptoria as a way to publish books. By the sixteenth century dictation was