76 TEACHING LISTENING COMPREHENSION THROUGH PICTURE DICTATION TO THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA ISLAM AZ ZAHRA PALEMBANG Khairunnisa Dwinalida khairunnisadwinalida@yahoo.co.id Zainal A. Naning Zainal.naning@yahoo.co.id Hariswan Putra Jaya hariswanputrajaya@facebook.com Abstract: This article reports the results of the study that was aimed to answer whether or not using picture dictation can improve the listening comprehension of the tenth grade students of SMA Islam Az-Zahra Palembang.The population of this study was the tenth grade students of SMA Islam Az-Zahra Palembang, in academic year 2013-2014 (N=52). The sample was selected by using total sampling. To collect the data, a picture dictation test witha multiple choice form (N of test item = 35). Paired sample and independent t-test were applied to analyze the data.The results of the paired sample t-test showed that there was significant difference in listening comprehension before and after the treatment in experimental. The results of independent sample t-test showed that there was improvement in listening comprehension achievement of the students who were taught through picture dictation. Key words: Listening comprehension, Picture Dictation, tenth graders Listening is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying (Saricoban, 1999). It means that listening is very important in our life, especially when we communicate with other persons. According to Galvin, Prescott and Huseman (1992), listening is a communication channel that is most frequently used. It is supported by the data from Mandelsonh (1994) that listening takes up 40-50%, speaking, 25-30%, reading, 11-16%, and writing about 9%. He states that listening is the most frequently used form of language skill which plays a significant role in daily communication and educational process. Similarly, Wilt (1950) found that people listen 45 % of the total time their communicating time. Wilt found that 30 % of communication time was spent for speaking, 16 % for reading, and 9 % for writing. That finding confirmed what Rankin discovered in 1928, that people spent 70 % of their waking time communicating and those three-fourths of this time was spent listening and speaking. Therefore, listening is very important In listening, the students try to listen in order to identify and understand what they listen. According to Conaway (1982), listening has been regarded as the most widely used language skill in the classroom and it plays an important role in one's academic success than reading skill or academic aptitude. Murcia (2000, p. 70) states, “Listening comprehension lessons are a vehicle for teaching elements of grammatical structure and allow new vocabulary items to be contextualized within a body of communicative discourse”. In fact, listening is used far more than any other language skill in normal daily life. In spite of its importance, listening ability development has received only slight emphasis in language instruction (Thanajaro, 2000). Furthermore, Peterson (2001, p. 87) states, “Through listening, learners can build awareness of the interworking of language systems at various levels and