Writing dictations in an ESL classroom has become controversial. Some teachers strongly stick to the idea of using a dictation as an important means of evaluating students‘ knowledge, while others say that a dictation is a good tool in the hands of a bad teacher. Keith Morrow says of dictation that it does not give ‗any convincing proof of the candidate‘s ability to actually use the language, to translate the competence (or lack of it) which he is demonstrating into actual performance in ordinary situations i.e. actually using the language to read, write, speak or listen in ways and contexts which correspond to real life.‘