I hope 2014 has started well for all our readers. Lifelines kicks off the Year of the Horse with an email from overseas reader Hannah, who has several questions about the Japanese education system:
How often do English teachers administer dictation to their students? And how useful is dictation in teaching students how to listen, transcribe, spell and comprehend English words?
Although I have observed a lot as a parent about the system here, I called on a number of experienced teachers, both Japanese and native English speakers, for their input. (Note that the opinions given here are those of individual teaching professionals and may not reflect the situation at all schools.)
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