Here are five tips
to help you be ready for the Listening section:
Take notes while
you listen. Only the major points will be tested, so do not try to write down
every detail. After testing, notes are collected and shredded before you leave
the test center.
Pay attention to
the speaker’s tone of voice. For instance, whether the speaker sounds excited,
sad or confused can help you answer questions that are about the speaker’s
attitude or opinion.
When listening to a
lecture, make note of the way the lecture is organized and the way the ideas in
the lecture are connected. Referring back to your notes will help you answer
questions about overall organization.
If you are unsure
of the correct response, try to figure out which choice is most consistent with
the main idea of the conversation or lecture.
Listening questions
must be answered in order. Once you click on OK, you cannot go back to a
previous question.
Don’t forget to
continue to build your English skills by listening to movies, TV and the radio
in English. Doing this regularly will have a great impact.
TOEFL iBT Listening section
is delivered immediately after the Reading section. The Listening section of
TOEFL iBT measures your ability to understand spoken English in academic
settings. In TOEFL iBT the listening is done for 3 major purposes:
1. Listening for basic
comprehension.
2. Listening for pragmatic understanding.
3. To connect and combine ideas presented in multiple information sources.
2. Listening for pragmatic understanding.
3. To connect and combine ideas presented in multiple information sources.
Each part of the Listening
section (2 or 3 parts) consists of 1 long conversation and two lectures. The
test takers hear each lecture or conversation only once. Lectures and
conversations are 3-5 minutes long. During the listening the time is not
running. The allotted time of 10 minutes for each part is only for answering
the questions.
Preparation
Strategies
Listen to spoken English
from multiple sources as much as possible. Listen to English spoken movies
and English spoken TV channels, listen to the radio and as many other listening
sources as you may find. It would be better if your passages are academic or
close to what is in TOEFL iBT. The more you practice listening, the better
listener you will become.
Listen for the main idea.
It is usually found at the beginning of the listening passages, while the
details are dispersed throughout the lecture. The main idea will give you
understanding of what the conversation/lecture is about. Then you may listen
for details.
Learn to find how the
ideas are presented in the listening passage. Some of the main relations
between ideas include cause/effect, compare/contrast, and steps in a process.
Learn to listen for signal
words that indicate different part of the passage - introduction, major
steps, examples, conclusions, etc.
Build your vocabulary.
While listening, try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words from context. It
is very important since there is a big chance to come across words you don't
know at the real test. Then, you should guess their meaning. Write down every
word you don't know and include it in your wordlist. Try to memorize it and use
it in your speaking and writing. Flashcards could be a great way to improve
your vocabulary.
Listen to conversations or
lectures with variety of accents. In TOEFL iBT Listening section there is
a variety of accents and pronunciations. For this reason, you should practice
listening to a people with different accents and pronunciation patterns.
Practice note-taking.
Note-taking is allowed during all sections of TOEFL iBT. Effective note-taking
may highly improve your performance. It is almost impossible to memorize all
clues and details provided in the Listening section. Moreover, you can hear the
passages ONLY ONCE. Therefore, to answer the questions you have to rely on what
you remember from the passage and your notes. See also our Effective
Note-Taking Strategies.
Summarize in writing what
you have heard, using your notes. Thus, you will learn to find the purpose and
main idea of the listening, and also the most important details. You will also
learn to take and use notes. It also helps in improving your writing skills.
Familiarize yourself with
the type of questions in TOEFL iBT. Make sure that during the preparation
you learn what answers are required by the different types of question. Some
questions may ask you to provide two answers, others to click in a chart box.
If you are familiar with the question types, you may save important time.
At
the exam strategies
Forget about the Reading
section. Now it is time to fully concentrate on the Listening section.
The clock is ticking only
when you are answering the questions and not when you are listening to the
passages. So, when you listen,forget about the clock.
Prepare for note-taking.
Before the section starts, write down the words 'main idea', 'major points',
and 'important details'. Under which word you will place your notes from the
listening passage.
Do not be distracted by the
speaker's accent, speaking style and delivery. Focus on the content and
flow of information the speaker(s) deliver.
Listen to find clues that
will help you understand what the speaker's purpose, attitude and degree of
certainty is. Listen for words that show relationship between ideas.
Pay attention to the visual
materials. Some of the visual materials in the Listening section bring
important information. Blackboards show important words or phrases that are
discussed during the lecture. Illustrations and graphics support the
information presented in the lecture. They are available only when the lecturer
refers to them.
Answering is different. In
the Listening section you may not return to the previous questions to correct
your answers. Nevertheless, you have to confirm twice that you want to move to
the next question. First, when you provide your answer you have to press the
NEXT button. After pressing the NEXT button you may alter you answer. To move
to the next question you have to press OK button.Sometimes test takers forget
this and lose important time. Please, set your mind that you have to press two
buttons.
Take a guess. There is no
penalty for an incorrect answer in TOEFL iBT. It doesn't bring any points. If
you see you are running out of time, just take a guess and mark answers for all
remaining questions. There is 25 % chance to guess the right answer.
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