Can't Make Dictation Work

Question

I am unable to make dictation work.
I am using a USB microphone.  From preferences, audio inputs, I selected the USB microphone.
The bar graph responds perfectly when I speak. However, when using Text Edit, I turn on Dictation, a small microphone appears but does not respond to my speech and no text appears in the document.
I have verified the operation of the USB microphone using another Macintosh running Snow Leopard.

Answer 1

Back up all data.
This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.
Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:
res
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.