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Definition Of Dictation
Dictation is technique used in both language teaching and language testing in which a
passage is read aloud to student or test taker, with pauses during which they must try to
write down what they have heard accurately as possible. Basically, this is a technique
used to know how much student ability to recognize and identify the spoken language.
The act of dictating; the act or practice of prescribing; also that which is dictated. 1 The
speaking to, or the giving orders to, in an overbearing manner; authoritative utterance; as,
his habit, even with friends, was that of dictation.2
B. Homophone
Homophone means "sounds the same," and a homophone is a word that sounds the
same as another word, while having a different spelling and a different meaning3 or
Homophones are words that have exactly the same sound (pronunciation) but different
meanings and (usually) spelling.Many homophone examples turn up in lists of frequently
confused words. They are the words that make up one of the largest classes of typo.
Some examples of common homophones that people often substitute for each other when
writing include the following:4For example, the following two words have the same
sound, but different meanings and spelling:
- hour
- our
In the next example, the two words have the same sound and spelling, but different
meanings:
1
http://sancesdict.blogspot.com/2010/01/definition-of-dictation.html
2
http://www.brainyquote.com/words/di/dictation154091.html
3
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-homophone.htm
4
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-homophone.htm
Usually homophones are in groups of two (our, hour), but very occasionally they can be
in groups of three (to, too, two) or even four. If we take our "bear" example, we can add
another word to the group"
- bare (naked)
- bear (the animal)
- bear (to tolerate)
You will see many other English words using one or other of these combining forms.
The following list of 70 groups of homophones contains only the most common
homophones, using relatively well-known words. These are headwords only. No
inflections (such as third person singular "s" or noun plurals) are included.
air heir hair hare
buy by in inn
sight site
NB: In a few cases, a third
sew so sow homophone, although possible, has
not been included for simplicity.
shore sure Different varieties and accents of
English may produce variations in
sole soul
some of these pronunciations. The
some sum homophones listed here are based on
British English.5
son sun
stair stare
stationary stationery
5
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciati
on/homophones.htm
C. Constraction
For example, "don't" is a contraction that is short for "do not"; the apostrophe in
"don't" takes the place of the missing "o". Another example is "o'clock," a contraction "of
the clock." A less common example of a contraction is "jack-o'-lantern," short for "jack-
of-lantern"; in it, the apostrophe takes the place of the missing "f" in "of." 6
6
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/grammar/contractions/
will would has
what's/what're what'll what'd what's what'd
what what is/what what what what what WORDS
are will would has had (woulda-
CONTRACTION
shoulda-
where'll where'd where's where'd coulda)
where's
where where where where where
where is would have would've
will would has had
when'll when'd when's when'd should have should've
when's could have could've
when when when when when
when is
will would has had might have might've
why'll why'd why's must have must've
why's why'd
why why why why
why is why had
will would has
how'll how'd how's WORDS
how's how'd CONTRACTION
how how how how (odd ones)
how is how had
will would has
of o'
of the clock o'clock
WORDS DOUBLE CONTRACTION madam ma'am
she would have she'd've (colloquial) never-do-
ne'er-do-well
well
it is not 'tisn't (archaic)
cat-of-nine-
cat-o'-nine-tails
tails
jack-of-the-
jack-o'-lantern
lantern
will-of-the-
will-o'-the-wisp
wisp
it was 'twas (archaic)
D. Compound Word
1. Definition
In English, words, particularly adjectives and nouns, are combined into compound
structures in a variety of ways. And once they are formed, they sometimes
metamorphose over time. A common pattern is that two words — fire fly, say — will be
joined by a hyphen for a time — fire-fly — and then be joined into one word — firefly.
In this respect, a language like German, in which words are happily and immediately
linked one to the other, might seem to have an advantage. There is only one sure way to
know how to spell compounds in English: use an authoritative dictionary.
This is more a question of vocabulary than of grammar. The only real difference
between regular and irregular verbs is that they have different endings for their past tense
and past participle forms. For regular verbs, the past tense ending and past participle
ending is always the same: -ed. For irregular verbs, the past tense ending and the past
participle ending is variable, so it is necessary to learn them by heart.7
To make the past tense or past participle form of most verbs (regular verbs) we simply
add “ed” at the end.
(The past participle form is used in the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect
tenses. The above example is written in the present perfect tense.)
Irregular verbs are not that simple. We sometimes need a dictionary to help us write the
different forms of irregular verbs.
Look up the word “see” in the dictionary. Notice that the different forms of the word are
given. Look up “walk.” Notice that the dictionary doesn’t bother to give the different
forms of regular verbs.8
F.Idiom
G. Passive Voice
Passive Voice is a structure we use in English where the subject becomes the object.
7
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-what_classification-main.htm
8
http://www.rhlschool.com/eng4n6.htm
In the active voice, the subject does the action.
It performs the action. We see the action in the cat’s point of view.
Now, Passive Voice expresses an action done to a subject. That means the subject
receives the action. The object becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
àwe do not know who is performing the action, or it is not apparent who is
performing the action,
To talk about the actions or events when we want to emphasize what happened, or who it
happened to, rather than who or what caused the action.
We form Passive Voice by putting the verb “to be” into the same tense as the active verb
and adding the past participle of the active verb.
We can omit ‘by’ if we don’t know who is performing the action, or it’s not apparent.
- We generally use the passive because the agent is not important or not known.
- However, we can include the agent after the verb in a passive sentence, using the
preposition ‘BY’
H. Reconstruction Text
I. Narrative Text
Narrative text is a kind of text to retell the story that past tense. The purpose of the text is
to entertain or to amuse the readers or listeners about the story.
1. Orientation : It set the scene and introduce the participants (it answers the
question : who, when, what, and where).
2. Complication : Tells the problems of the story and how the main characters
solve them.
3. Resolution : The crisis is revolved, for better or worse.
4. Re-orientation : The ending of the story.
5. Evaluation : The stepping back to evaluate the story or the moral message of
the story
Linguistic features :
3. Use conjunction.
4. The first person (I or We) or the third person (He, She, or They).
4. Science fiction
Sleeping Beauty
Long ago there lived a King and Queen who said every day, “If only we had a child!”
But for a long time they had none.
One day, as the Queen was bathing in a spring and dreaming of a child, a frog crept out
of the water and said to her, “Your wish shall be fulfilled. Before a year has passed you
shall bring a daughter into the world.”
And since frogs are such magical creatures, it was no surprise that before a year had
passed the Queen had a baby girl. The child was so beautiful and sweet that the King
could not contain himself for joy. He prepared a great feast and invited all his friends,
family and neighbours. He invited the fairies, too, in order that they might be kind and
good to the child. There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but as the King only had
twelve golden plates for them to eat from, one of the fairies had to be left out. None of
the guests was saddened by this as the thirteenth fairy was known to be cruel and
spiteful.
An amazing feast was held and when it came to an end, each of the fairies presented the
child with a magic gift. One fairy gave her virtue, another beauty, a third riches and so on
— with everything in the world that anyone could wish for.
After eleven of the fairies had presented their gifts, the thirteenth suddenly appeared. She
was angry and wanted to show her spite for not having been invited to the feast. Without
hesitation she called out in a loud voice,
“When she is fifteen years old, the Princess shall prick herself with a spindle and shall
fall down dead!”
Then without another word, she turned and left the hall.
The guests were horrified and the Queen fell to the floor sobbing, but the twelfth fairy,
whose wish was still not spoken, quietly stepped forward. Her magic could not remove
the curse, but she could soften it so she said,
“Nay, your daughter shall not die, but instead shall fall into a deep sleep that will last one
hundred years.”
Over the years, the promises of the fairies came true — one by one. The Princess grew to
be beautiful, modest, kind and clever. Everyone who saw her could not help but love her.
The King and Queen were determined to prevent the curse placed on the Princess by the
spiteful fairy and sent out a command that all the spindles in the whole kingdom should
be destroyed. No one in the kingdom was allowed to tell the Princess of the curse that
had been placed upon her for they did not want her to worry or be sad.
On the morning of her fifteenth birthday, the Princess awoke early — excited to be
another year older. She was up so early in the morning, that she realized everyone else
still slept. The Princess roamed through the halls trying to keep herself occupied until the
rest of the castle awoke. She wandered about the whole place, looking at rooms and halls
as she pleased and at last she came to an old tower. She climbed the narrow, winding
staircase and reached a little door. A rusty key was sticking in the lock and when she
turned it, the door flew open.
In a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax. The old
woman was so deaf that she had never heard the King’s command that all spindles
should be destroyed.
“Good morning, Granny,” said the Princess, “what are you doing?”
“What is the thing that whirls round so merrily?” asked the Princess and she took the
spindle and tried to spin too.
But she had scarcely touched the spindle when it pricked her finger. At that moment she
fell upon the bed which was standing near and lay still in a deep sleep.
The King, Queen and servants had all started their morning routines and right in the
midst of them fell asleep too. The horses fell asleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the
doves on the roof and the flies on the wall. Even the fire in the hearth grew still and went
to sleep. The kitchen maid, who sat with a chicken before her, ready to pluck its feathers,
fell asleep. The cook was in the midst of scolding the kitchen boy for a mess he’d made
but they both fell fast asleep. The wind died down and on the trees in front of the castle
not a leaf stirred.
Round the castle a hedge of brier roses began to grow up. Every year it grew higher until
at last nothing could be seen of the sleeping castle.
There was a legend in the land about the lovely Sleeping Beauty, as the King’s daughter
was called, and from time to time Princes came and tried to force their way through the
hedge and into the castle. But they found it impossible for the thorns, as though they
were alive, grabbed at them and would not let them through.
After many years a Prince came again to the country and heard an old man tell the tale of
the castle which stood behind the brier hedge and the beautiful Princess who had slept
within for a hundred years. He heard also that many Princes had tried to make it through
the brier hedge but none had succeeded and many had been caught in it and died.
The the young Prince said, “I am not afraid. I must go and see this Sleeping Beauty.”
The good old man did all in his power to persuade him not to go, but the Prince would
not listen.
Now the hundred years were just ended. When the Prince approached the brier hedge it
was covered with beautiful large roses. The shrubs made way for him of their own
accord and let him pass unharmed.
In the courtyard, the Prince saw the horses and dogs lying asleep. On the roof sat the
sleeping doves with their heads tucked under their wings. When he went into the house,
the flies were asleep on the walls and the servants asleep in the halls. Near the throne lay
the King and Queen, sleeping peacefully beside each other. In the kitchen the cook, the
kitchen boy and the kitchen maid all slept with their heads resting on the table.
The Prince went on farther. All was so still that he could hear his own breathing. At last
he reached the tower and opened the door into the little room where the Princess was
asleep. There she lay, looking so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her. He bent
down and gave her a kiss. As he touched her, Sleeping Beauty opened her eyes and
smiled up at him.
Throughout the castle, everyone and everything woke up and looked at each other with
astonished eyes. Within the month, the Prince and Sleeping Beauty were married and
lived happily all their lives.9
9
http://4antum.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/narrative-text-itu/