Study tips - listening

These study tips have been adapted from the ETS information sheet.

The best way to improve listening skills is to listen frequently to many different types of material in various subject areas (sciences, social sciences, arts, business, etc.). Of course, watching movies and TV and listening to radio is an excellent way to practice listening. Audio tapes and CDs of talks are available in libraries and bookstores; those with transcripts of the listening material are particularly helpful. The Internet is also a great resource for listening material, including these valuable sites:

• • www.npr.org—The
  National Public Radio site provides a searchable archive section where any topic can be searched. Transcripts of the material can be purchased on the site.
• • www.bbc.co.uk/radio and www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
  These two Web sites of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) provide many options for streaming audio. Transcripts of the material are also available on these sites.
  

Here are some suggestions for ways to strengthen skills for the three listening purposes included in the TOEFL iBT test.

1. Listening for basic comprehension

• • Increase vocabulary knowledge, perhaps by using flashcards.
• • Focus on the content and flow of material. Do not be distracted by the speaker’s style and delivery.
• • Anticipate what a person is going to say as a way of staying focused.
• • Stay active by asking mental questions. (e.g., What main idea is the professor communicating?)
• • Copy the words, “main idea, major points, and important details” on different lines of paper. Listen carefully, and write these things down while listening. Listen again until you write down all major points and important details.
• • Listen to a portion of a lecture or talk and either orally summarize or write a brief summary of major points. Gradually increase the amount listened to and summarized.
  Note: This is not measured in the Listening section, but practicing summarizing skills is useful for the integrated tasks in the Writing and Speaking sections.

2. Listening for pragmatic understanding*

• • Think about what each speaker hopes to accomplish; that is, what is the purpose of the speech or conversation? Is the speaker apologizing, complaining, making suggestions, etc.?
• • Notice the way each speaker talks. Is the level of language formal or casual? How certain does each speaker sound? Is the speaker’s voice calm or emotional? What does the speaker’s tone of voice tell you?
• • Notice the degree of certainty of the speaker. How sure is the speaker about the information? Does the speaker’s tone of voice indicate something about his/her degree of certainty?
• • Listen for changes in topic or digressions*.
• • Watch a recorded TV or movie comedy and pay attention to how stress and intonation patterns are used to convey meaning.

3. Listening to connect and synthesize* ideas

• • Think about how the lecture is organized. Listen for the signal words that indicate the introduction, major steps or ideas, examples, and the conclusion or summary.
• • Identify the relationships of ideas in the information being discussed. Possible relationships include:
  cause-and-effect, compare-and-contrast, steps in a process.
• • Listen for words that show connections and relationships between ideas.
• • Listen to recorded material and stop the recording at various points and try to predict what information or idea will be expressed next.
• • Create an outline of the information discussed while listening or after listening.

*Pragmatic understanding—To understand a speaker’s purpose, attitude, degree of certainty, etc.
*Digressions—Side comments in which the speaker briefl y moves away from the main topic and then returns
*Synthesize—To combine information from two or more sources