The Use of Creative Dictation by Picture in Teaching Croatian as a Foreign, Second, and Heritage Language

Abstract

Dictation is quite common in Croatian methodological literature, especially when it comes to elementary school teaching. Teachers use it to check and – at the same time –monitor and evaluate studentʼs knowledge –grammar, orthography, pronunciation and vocabulary. Knowledge can be checked by different types of dictation: controlling, explained, studied, creative, optional, dictation with error prevention, self-dictation and dictation with explanation (Visinko, 2015, 2016). Dictation in foreign language teaching, including Croatian as a foreign language, can also be implemented at higher education institutions (e.g. Jukić, 2018). This paper will present ways in which creative dictation by image, being a subtype of creative dictation, can be included in teaching Croatian as a second language at different levels of learning. The aim of this paper is to show the value of creative dictation by image and to provide examples of texts for the beginner, intermediate and advanced level of learning Croatian as a second language. It is argued that dictation is valuable in teaching because it contributes to the development of the studentʼs auditory memory, reaction and accuracy, while creative dictation by image is also an opportunity to introduce indirect reality into teaching.