Hi, this is Stephen. I upgraded to mac os Sierra, and now, for some reason, dictation and speech is missing from system preferences. That's the preference pain I use to turn on enhanced dictation, which is a feature that allows use of dictation even when offline.
You can upgrade to macOS Sierra from on any of the following Mac models. Your Mac also needs at least 2GB of memory and 8.8GB of. Introduced in late 2009 or later introduced in late 2010 or later introduced in mid 2010 or later introduced in mid 2010 or later introduced in late 2009 or later introduced in mid 2010 or later To find your Mac model, memory, storage space, and macOS version, choose About This Mac from the Apple () menu.
If your Mac isn't compatible with macOS Sierra, the installer will let you know.