Pupils from class 4A, 5A and 6A were chosen as sampling. Most of them were of average academic standard although a
few were a bit below average standard because many of them were new immigrants who had arrived from Mainland
China for less than five years. The project began and ended with interviews and questionnaires. In total two interviews
were conducted and three questionnaires were administered. A semi-structured interview and a structured questionnaire
were conducted at the start of the study to collect data on pupils’ perceptions of their traditional dictation lessons. Then,
a variety of innovative dictation activities were introduced to replace the traditional dictation exercises pupils used to
have. A checklist was used to help the teacher researcher to observe pupils’ behaviour and performance during class.
Afterwards, another semi-structured interview was conducted and an identical questionnaire was distributed to pupils to
gather their perceptions of their dictation lessons after the changes. Finally, an additional questionnaire was distributed
to pupils to collect their overall opinions about their dictation lessons after their new experiences. Pupils’ perceptions
and opinions before and after the changes were compared and analysed.