| The present study was carried out with the aim to empirically examine the relation between language proficiency levels and dictation performances in L2 and the effectiveness of dictation as a testing tool in evaluating the different language proficiency levels of the subjects. In addition, strategies that students with low language proficiency level and those with high language proficiency level respectively adopted were also examined. Two research questions were raised and addressed in the present study:1. Is there any relation between language proficiency levels and dictation performances? Will different language proficiency levels lead to different dictation performances? 2. How effective is dictation in gauging the differences in performances due to different language proficiency levels? Will students with high language proficiency level exhibit different ways of information processing and error patterns from those with low language proficiency level?Literature review and Theoretical Background As shown by the materials and resources available to us, so far there has been scanty empirical study on dictation as a testing tool. Some opinions of the teachers who have used dictation as a testing tool were presented. Most of them argued for the continuous use as a testing tool mainly on the grounds that dictation as a testing tool stresses the morphological structure or the form of the language. This can be hardly accomplished by other forms of testing tools such as reading or listening comprehension. In the present study, dictation itself with its emphasis on the form of language will be empirically studied.Theories in psycholinguistics ESP information processing system which focuses on the study of how individuals comprehend, produce, and acquire language is used as the general theoretical framework of the present study. The information system is mainly composed of three parts, namely sensory store, working memory and permanent memory. The sensory stores take in the variety of environmental stimuli - colors, tones, tastes, and smell and held them in a literal, unanalyzed form. Working memory serves as a temporary holding place for intermediate decisions and it has limited processing capacity. Permanent memory, is a repository of our knowledge of the world. A general model of the information processing system is presented as follows:Environmental Stimuli Two alternative ways in which linguistic information is handled --- bottom-up and top-down approaches were also examined in the present study. Both are strategies that students may adopt in dealing with dictation. The bottom-up processing is defined as an approach which proceeds from the lowest level to the highest level of processing in such a way that all the lower levels of processing operate without influence from the higher ones. In contrast, top-down refers to an approach which proceeds from the lowest level to the highest level of processing in a way that information at a higher level may influence processing at lower levels. Previous studies on bottom-up and top-down were also examined. They are Conrad (1985), Wolff (1987), Vanpatten (1989), J.Michael O'Malley, Anna Uhl Chamol, and Lisa Kupper (1988), Chuming Wang and Luxia Qi (1992). Their findings were different. VanPatten and Wolff's studies inclined to the view that top-down approach was mostly used when the subjects processed difficult incoming information. The other three studies inclined to the view that bottom-up approach was used when it came to difficult passages or when the subject stayed at a low level of language proficiency. The different results were attributed to the different testing tool employed and the procedures of the experiments. The studies of VanPatten and Wolff emphasized and highlighted the meaning aspect of language. While the other three studies, to varying degrees stressed the form of language. Since dictation as a testing tool lays a special emphasis on the from of language, it is assum...
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