IELTS Listening Lecture

LISTENING

LISTENING

Review

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Establish your ability to function on a

Establish your ability to function on a

daily basis in a country

daily basis in a country

where English is spoken as a first language

where English is spoken as a first language





Establish your ability to function in an

Establish your ability to function in an

academic environment

academic environment

where English is used as a tuition medium.

Listening in a 'Social Context'

Y

ou may need to telephone a landlord about renting

an apartment, or you might want to arrange a night

out in a restaurant with your friends from university or

college.

Listening in an 'Academic Context'

At university or college you may have to listen to a

lecture or presentation, take part in workshops and

discussions, and perhaps speak to your tutor or

T_{he test is 30 minutes long, there are always four sections and 40 questions;}

approximately 20 minutes to listen to the tape and answer the questions, and

10 minutes to transfer your answers to an Answer Sheet provided with the test booklet.

 Sections one and two test your ability to deal with situations where English is  spoken in a social context (for example, buying a plane ticket over the

telephone). Y_{ou will be expected to listen to dialogues and monologues and}

answer questions based on what you hear.

 Sections three and four test your ability to listen to English spoken in an academic context. This might include listening to a presentation or some form of

dialogue.

Unlike other tests, in the IELTS _{listening test you only hear a recording ONCE.} The questions get _{increasingly difficult as the test progresses}.

All instructions on what to do and how to answer questions are provided on the recording you listen to during the test, so listen carefully!

T 

he Listening module of the IEL

 S consists

of a total of 

_questions

T_{here are four sections:}

1. Social Needs (conversation between two speakers) - based on social or life situations: for example, travel arrangements, visiting a new city, or making arrangements to go out. T_{his is usually a conversation between at least two}

speakers.

2. Social Needs (speech by one speaker) - also based on social or life situations: for example, a news broadcast, or a description of college facilities. This is usually a passage with only one person speaking.

3. Educational or Training (conversation between two up to four speakers) -usually based on education and training situations: for example, a group of students planning a project, or a tutor and a student discussing career

options. T_{his is often a conversation with up to four speakers.}

4. Educational or Training (speech by one speaker) - also based on education and training: for example, a lecture or a talk of general academic interest.

 Main Ideas

Important words and main ideas in conversation are ones that will come up again and again. Listen carefully for any word or words that come up repeatedly.

V oice Changes

IELTS expects you to be able to recognize and interpret nuances of

speech. Be on the alert for any changes in voice, which might register surprise, excitement, or another emotion.

Example:

Man: Let·s go to Wal-mart.

Woman: There·s a Wal-mart in this small town?

If the woman·s statement was higher pitched, indicating surprise and shock, then she probably did not expect there to be a Wal-mart in that town.

 Specifics

Listen carefully for specific pieces of information. Adjectives. Example:

Man: Let·s go to the store and get some apples to make the pie.

Woman: How many do we need?

Man: We·ll need five apples to make the pie.

A typical question might be about how many apples were needed.

 Interpret

As you are listening to the conversation, put yourself in the person·s shoes.

Think about why someone would make a statement. Ex_ample:

Woman: I think I·m sick with the flu.

Man: Why don·t you go see the campus doctor?

Sample Question: Why did the man mention the campus doctor?

Answer: The campus doctor would be able to determine if the

Find the Hidden

eaning

L_{ook for the meaning behind a statement .}

Man: Are you going to be ready for your presentation?

Woman: I·ve only got half of it finished and it·s taken me five hours just to do this much. There·s only an hour left before the presentation is due.

 M

emory Enhancers

You have scratch paper provided to you while taking the test. While you listen,

you are free to make notes.

Ex_ample:

Speaker 1: I·m Bob T_{homas, and I·m majoring in business development.}

Speaker 2: I·m Matt Smith, and I·m majoring in chemical engineering.

Speaker 3: I·m John Douglass, and I·m majoring in speech therapy.

Your short hand might read:

Bob ² Bus.

Matt ² Chem. E John ² S_p. T_h.

With notes, you·ll be able to remember these basic facts and answer more accurately. The idea is that the notes should only supplement your memory, not

Test Tips

How to Improve Your Listening Skill

1] Read before you listen - predict the answer, think grammar

2] Read as you listen - focus on the whole question, not just key words

3] Look at 2 questions at once - often they come one after the other very quickly 4_{] Don't leave the writing to the end - you're not going to remember the detail}

5] Practice your shorthand - you need to write quickly as you listen

6] Check your spelling - wrong spelling, no mark

7] Don't write the answer too quickly - often the speaker corrects himself and you need the second answer

8] Do not leave any answers blank - You are not penalized for incorrect answers,

so ¶guess· wisely.

9] Listen for repeated information - sometimes the answer word is repeated or reformulated

10_{] Look for clues in the question - other questions or the layout of the table} can often help

DURING

_TH

_T 

_T 

 M ANAGE YOUR T  I  ME CAREFULLY 

T_{he tape is heard once only, and the questions are answered as you listen.}

Do not use this time to transfer your answers to the Answer Sheet because you are given 10 _{minutes at the end of the test in which to do this.}

T  HE GOLDEN RULE OF IELT  S 

T_{he Golden Rule is "Always give the monkey EXACTLY what he wants".}

In other words, your answer to a question must be exactly what is required.

READ T  HE QUES T  IONS V ERY CAREFULLY 

Know the type of information the test asks you to give:

Is the answer a method of transport? ... a person? ... a place? ... a number?

Know what you have to do with the information:

 Always know exactly what type of information you need to give and 

what you have to do with it

Do you have to complete a sentence, or fill in the missing words in a sentence? If so, your answers must, therefore, be grammatically correct within that sentence. Do you have to provide an answer with no more than a maximum number of words? If so, your answer must not contain more than that maximum number of words.

Do you have to name two items that you must hear on the tape, or find in a reading passage? If so, your answer must contain two items only; three items would be incorrect.

READ

HE INS 

RUC

 IONS CAREFULLY 

Candidates who do not read or listen to the instructions carefully may believe they are saving time, but the instructions contain vital information which must be understood in order to answer correctly.

T_{he instructions may contain information about the passage topic which helps}

to predict what you may hear or read.

T_{he instructions tell you what to do, what kind of answer to give, and, in the}

case of the Listening Test instructions, they tell you when to answer.

It is important to read the instructions quickly and accurately. You might not

have time to complete the test if you are too slow at reading the explanatory information.

ALWAYS LOOK A

HE EXA

LE 

The example is given to you for a number of very good reasons. _{It is}

important to read and/or listen to the example carefully . Some candidates

T_{here are many types of IEL}TS _{listening question tasks:}

 _{matching tasks}  _{multiple choice tasks}  _{gap fill tasks}

 _{short-answer question tasks}  _{diagram labeling tasks}

 _{true/false tasks}  _{sentence completion tasks}

 _{chart / table completion tasks}

In the Listening Test you use four skills at once. It is not surprising that candidates

often find this the most demanding of the four tests. Y_{ou need to be able to:}

T

_read

_listen

_listen

T

_write

Before each listening passage, in the time given to you to look at each section in the test booklet, you should try to predict information about the listening passage situation.

T_{he more effectively you can predict, the quicker your mind will form the}

correct word associations to make with the topic, and the better you will be able to work out the meaning of what you hear.

A useful exercise for helping to develop the ability to predict is to play videos, taped news items on the TV, interviews on the radio etc.

It is important to think about the words that you expect to hear. Write them down, and then check to see how many you guessed correctly.

T 

he secret to increasing your listening skills is to better predict

what you might hear.

USE  SHOR

 HAND FOR S 

EEDY WRI 

 ING

In the Listening Test, you are often required to listen for the next answer while writing

down the answer to the previous question. It is one of the measures of effective listening - the examiners want to find out if you can comprehend what is said while attempting another task at the same time.

To write down the answers more quickly, _{write only the first two or three letters} of

the answer that you hear.

Y_{ou can complete the words during the short period of time given to you after the}

passage has finished.

 P

RAC

 ICE FOR LIS 

ENING

GAP FILLS

Gap fill tasks are usually considered by candidates to be the most difficult of the

IELTS _{listening tasks.} Y_{our grammatical knowledge is as important as your listening}

ability, for answers should be grammatically correct within the given sentences.

The most common type of IELTS listening gap fill task requires you to listen to a

passage of spoken English containing information concerning a particular topic or event. In the tests in this book both gap fill listening tasks are news items.

The IELTS short-answer question tasks require you to listen to a passage of

spoken English, often a conversation between two people, and choose

words or phrases from the dialogue which best answer the given questions. It is good practice to listen to interviews and conversations with interesting

persons on the TV or radio, and make brief notes from short excerpts of what

you have chosen to listen to.

T_{he notes above make use of}

abbreviations underlining

symbols (especially dashes, arrows and brackets).

missing vowels etc.

Be aware, however, that your test answers, must not be in note form.

This is for practice only.

F_{or practice, you can devise and use your own system of note-taking}

 S 

ECIFY 

 HE 

O

 IC

In a question which asks you to provide a short answer to a question, you should first accurately out the question topic in order to give the correct answer.

Before the passage is played, or as you listen, circle the topic of each question.

 SU 

 ING U 

You should wait for the speaker to sum up before giving your short answer

C

_{STEP BY STEP}

Before you listen:

Ð Read the instructions carefully.

As you listen:

Ð Accurately specify the topic before choosing the keywords/phrases to listen for, and be aware of the question changing.

In the time given to you at the end of the short-answer questions:

Ð Make sure your words and numbers are easy to read.

Ð Guess the answers to unanswered questions - do not leave blanks.

Ð Check that your answers are given in grammatically correct English. i.e. for answers that should be in plural form.

First, look at the ways in which answer choices may be incorrect:

There is often at least one given answer choice that is neither sensible nor

logical, and therefore, cannot be correct.

CONSIDER ALL

 HE CHOICES 

Ð Do not forget to consider all of the possible answer choices.T_{he last}

choice may be one of the following two types:

Ð "all of the above" ... answer choices are correct,

Ð or "none of the above" ... answer choices is correct.

Ð If you do not read the last choice given, and it asks you to consider all of the other choices as correct

Ð or incorrect answers, you might easily make a choice that onlypartly

answers the question.

C

_{STEP BY STEP}

Before you listen:

Ð You need to understand what the topic of the talk or conversationis about so that you can predict what ideas and words you might hear.

Therefore, read the instructions first.

Ð Once you have read the instructions, do not forget to look at the example.

Ð Next, you should read the first question and all the possible answer choices to that question. By doing this, you will be prepared for the first question

when the passage begins.

Ð Underline any keywords/phrases in the question and possible answer choices that you feel might help you in listening for the answer.

Ð T_{hen, you should at least read the other questions for keywords before you}

 As you listen:

Ð Carefully examine the answer choices for each question as you listen to the passage.

Ð Do not overlook "all (or none) of the above" answer choices.

Ð If in doubt, consider the longest answer after rejecting any illogical answers.

 In the time given to you at the end of the multiple choice questions:

Ð Check the choices you have made.

T_{he IEL}TS T_{rue/False question tasks require you to listen to a passage of spoken English,}

often informative talk or lecture, and choose whether given statements are supported or contradicted the passage.

must ought to don't have to may

must not (mustn't) never however have to

should not required to might sometimes

should not (shouldn't) certainly necessary to strictly prohibit*

unnecessary to can cannot (can't) often

an exception is will need to could

need not (needn't) won't it is optional always

usually on the other hand but it is possible

absolutely essential yet can / may only

 Identify any modifying or qualifying words in

rue/False question

tasks

"100% _WORDS´

Be especially careful of True/False type questions when the statements

given include words such as " _always" _, " _never " _, " _must " _, " _{have to}" _, " _only " _,

and " _all ".

Sometimes statements which make 100% claims are not further qualified in

C

_{STEP BY STEP}

Before you listen:

Ð Read the instructions carefully.

Ð Always look at (and listen for) the example.

As you listen:

Ð Choose the keywords and topic to listen for and be aware of the question changing.

Ð Check the question statements carefully for modifying and qualifying words.

Ð Beware of question statements that contain words that imply 100%.

In Listening, use the example at the beginning of the first section to

familiarize yourself with the sound, the situation, and the speakers.

Keep listening until the recording stops, looking only at the questions that relate to the part being played.

T_{here are often pauses in the recording between different sections. Use}

these to prepare for the next set of questions.

Answer Listening questions in the order they appear on the Question Paper. Remember that they normally follow the order of the information in the recording.

At the end of the recording you have some time to transfer your answers to the Answer Sheet. Check your grammar and spelling as you do so.

T_{he instructions may also include a word limit, e.g. Use no more than three}

words. Keep to this by avoiding unnecessary words in your answer.

Spelling is not important in the Listening Sub-test, except that you must

spell words correctly when they are spelt out for you on the tape.

Your answers _{need to be legible}, that is, they must be able to be read. This

applies to all the types of answers you give: letters, numbers and phrases.

Y_{ou write your answers on the question paper as you do the Listening}S_ub

test, and when it is completed, you have10 _{minutes to transfer them}

carefully onto the Answer Sheet. Make sure that each answer is

transferred accurately and is legible.

You _{must write your answers} during the Reading Sub-test on the _Answer