THIS PAPER CONSTITUTES A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSSIBLE USES OF DICTATION AS A LANGUAGE LEARNING ACTIVITY, AS WELL AS A BRIEF EXAMINATION OF THE PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES INVOLVED. THE AUTHOR OBSERVES THAT STUDENTS WHO ARE EXPOSED TO PROPERLY HANDLED DICTATION EXERCISES NOT ONLY LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THE RELATIONSHIP OF SPEECH TO WRITING AT AN EARLIER STAGE, BUT ALSO IMPROVE MORE RAPIDLY IN THEIR ABILITY TO COMPREHEND STRETCHES OF SPOKEN MATERIAL. HE ALSO POINTS OUT THAT IN ORDER TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PROGRAMED LEARNING TECHNIQUES IN CLASSROOM DICTATION ACTIVITIES, THESE PRINCIPLES SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD AND FOLLOWED--(1) THE PRINCIPLE OF SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES, (2) THE PRINCIPLE OF APPROPRIATE PRACTICE, (3) THE PRINCIPLE OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENTIATION, (4) THE PRINCIPLE OF IMMEDIATE REINFORCEMENT, AND (5) THE PRINCIPLE OF GRADUATED SEQUENCE. SUGGESTIONS MADE INCLUDE THE USE OF THE TAPE RECORDER AS A SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL DEVICE AND SPECIFIC DICTATION TECHNIQUES ARRANGED IN APPROXIMATE ORDER OF DIFFICULTY. THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE "TESOL QUARTERLY," VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1, MARCH 1967, BY TESOL, INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20007. (AMM)