KI UNIQUE TOEFL IBT LISTENING TIPS

KI UNIQUE TOEFL IBT LISTENING TIPS

This section in general tests the ability of the candidate to understand spoken English. The Listening Section in TOEFL IBT consists of 6 passages. Time given to complete Listening Section ranges from 60-90 minutes.

BASIC TIPS:

1. Anticipate questions that might be asked from the passage listened to.
2. Recognize idioms and phrasal verbs as figurative expressions.
3. Use context to get meaning.
4. Avoid answer choices that contain phrasal verb or idiom.

SPECIFIC TIPS:

1. Get the gist of the passages: A gist is to understand, how the overall ideas of the passage as a whole are related. One needs to understand the overall purpose of the passage. If you can get the gist of the listening passage, you are likely to score well on the TOEFL IBT listening, speaking and the writing sections.
2. Practice listening to academic discussions and lectures.
3. Improve note-taking skills as you listen to these passages.
4. Do not just focus on the details but understand how those details relate to the main idea of the listening passage.
5. Listen to news broadcast, from radio, television, internet etc.
6. Understand major points and important details.
7. Recognize how information is organized.

EXERCISE FOR LISTENING:

LISTENING TO NEWS AND CLASSIFYING AS FOLLOWS:

STORY	Where?	When?	What happened?/ Will happen	Who?	New words/ phrases?
5	Effective	Well organized & well developed	Displayed	Consistent
1
2
3

This will give an idea as how to organize information after listening and would be a great mode of practice.

OTHER TIPS:

1. Categorize the following in pragmatic type of questions:
   • Speaker’s purpose.
   • Attitude of speaker
2. Pay attention to context surrounding the conversation:
   • Tonal voice.
   • Social relationship of speakers.
   • Location of conversation.
   • Words spoken.
3. Draw conclusion about speaker’s attitude or purpose towards a particular subject.
4. Remember that you will not have to pull answers out of thin air.
5. Avoid answers that focus on the literal meaning of what was said, rather choose answers that focus on what was implied by the speaker.
6. Understanding transitions & main ideas:Improve your ability to differentiate between transitions and main ideas of discussions related to:
   • Campus related discussions.
   • Academic discussions.
   • Academic lectures.
7. Speaker will sometimes change topic and in that case one should take care of the fact that what previous lecture was about and when it changed to a new lecture.
8. Flow of ideas should be assessed.
9. Listen for signal words that indicate change in topic.

EXAMPLE:
EXAMPLE: In addition to hurricane being powerful low- pressure centres that wreak havoc on low-lying coastal areas, tornadoes are another weather phenomenon that can cause a lot of damage.