The listening comprehension section of the TOEFL tests your knowledge of
spoken english. The english is delivered at normal conversational speed by a
speakers. The vocabulary and grammatical patterns are typical of those used by
an educated speaker in a relaxed situation.
The listening comprehension section is the first section of the TOEFL. It
takes approximately forty minutes to complete all the items. All the questions
are spoken only once. The test, however, is preceded by a very complete
introduction, which includes sample item from every part. It is important to
pay close attention to this introduction, even if you are familiar with the
format of the test. Careful listening will help you determine if your seating
is satisfactory for comfortable listening.
There are three parts in the Listening Comprehension Section of the test,
and you are faced with three different listening tasks:
- Part A : Responding to one question that follows a short exchange between two speakers.
- Part B : Answering several questions about a longer conversation between two speakers.
- Part C : Answering specific questions about information contained in a short lecture, which is similar to task you have perform when listening to a professor in a lecture class.
Strategies to Use for the Listening Section of the TOEFL Test
- Take notes.
Taking notes will help you concentrate on and remember what is being said.
You can use your notes to help you answer the questions. Try to write what you
hear in a rough outline form that organizes the main ideas and details of the
conversation or lecture.
- Identify the main idea and the important details that support it.
The main idea is usually found at the beginning of the listening passage.
Details may be found throughout the passage. The language in the conversations
is often informal and concerns topics common to the everyday lives of young
adults studying at a university.
- Pay attention to stance.
Listen for clues to help you understand the speaker’s stance. Stance refers
to the speaker’s purpose, attitude, or degree of certainty. Being aware of
these features will help you answer some of the questions on the test.
- You cannot leave a question unanswered.
There are no penalty for wrong answers on the TOEFL test. Even if you are
not sure what the correct answer is, try to select the answer that you think is
the best and fill in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet. If you have
no idea which answer is correct, guess. Remember that responses (B) and (C) are
the most often correct.
- Look for the responses to the next question.
When working with the listening comprehension tasks, you should try to
figure out what the next listening section will be about. To do this, you need
to look at the multiple-choice responses to the next question in your test
booklet before the speakers begin the section.
- Pay attention when someone in the conversation asks a question.
Often it is a clue that information is about to given. However, this is not
always true so be careful for responses that sound a lot like the answer to a
question. Listen carefully as these responses are often there to your test your
ability to understand the context of what you heard.
Strategies to Use for Building Listening Skills
- Listen to spoken English as much as possible.
The more you practice listening, the better listener you will become. There
are many ways in which you can practice your listening skills. If you don’t
have the opportunity to listen to native English speakers in person, you can
hear English spoken in movie, on TV, on the radio, or on the internet. Try to
understand unfamiliar words in context. Write down any words you don’t
understand so you can look them up in in the dictionary later.
- Listen to natural speech
Most of what you hear in movies, documentaries, and TV or radio news
reports is scripted speech. Although these sources provide good listening
practice, they do not contain many of the natural speech features that will be
heard in TOEFL listening passage. By listening to unscripted interviews,
discussions, or debates, you can improve your ability to understand natural
speech
- Listen to different accents.
Speakers from different English-speaking countries may be featured in the
Listening section of the TOEFL test. To become familiar with different accents
and speech patterns, watch movies and TV shows and listen to radio programs
from various English speaking areas of the world.
- Listen to authentic academic lectures.
Try to attend lectures given in English and take notes. If you have access
to the internet, the websites of some universities and research institutions
provide free lectures and discussions that you can listen to as may times as
you want. These lectures and discussions are useful for several reasons. First,
you can improve your ability to listen to longer discourse. You have a choice
of lectures and discussions on different topics. And you have the opportunity
to hear different accents and speech patterns.
- Listen for stance.
When you listen to lectures and conversations in English practice listening
for clues that will help you understand the speaker’s purpose, attitude, and
degree of certainty.
Example:
In
part A, you will hear 30 short dialogues between two speakers. The purpose in
Part A is to test your ability to understand conversations on common, everyday
topics. Academic topics seldom appear in this part of the TOEFL. Because
exchanges between the two speakers are very informal and social, in Part A you
will hear many contractions and idioms.
Example of a short dialogue in Part
A:
Woman : Could you tell me what time the next
train is due to arrive?
Man :
At six. I think it’s a little behind schedule
Question : What does the man mean?
The
conversationally polite expression Could you and the contraction. It’s again
indicate the conversational style of the exchange. The phrase due to arrive in
woman’s question means is supposed to arrive. In the man response, the most important
information is behind schedule meaning the train is late.
The
multiple choice items for this short dialogue might be:
(A)The
train is behind the station
(B) The
next train is due in six hours
(C) The
train may arrive late
(D)The
schedule is wrong
(A)
is not correct because the man said behind schedule, not behind the station,
(B) is also wrong because nothing was said about the train being due in six
hours, (C) is correct, (D) is not correct because the man did not say anything
about the schedule is wrong.
In
Part B you will hear two types of listening tasks, long dialogues between two
(and sometimes three) speakers, and short lectures given by one speaker.
Example of a longer dialogue in
Part B:
Man : This beach is
really dirty. Look at all these pieces of plastic and litter everywhere.
Woman : It’s terrible. I’m
sure some of it has washed up from the ocean. Plastic trash from ships has been
dumped into the ocean for years.
Man : I’m surprised
that waste can just be dumped into the ocean. Essentially, the ocean has become
a receptacle for both industrial and city garbage. It is a disaster for sea
birds and all forms of marine life.
Woman : You can say that
again. Birds get caught in the plastic bags and packing materials that are
dumped in the water. Why is such pollution allowed to happen?
Man : You should have
seen what the sea water looked like just five years ago. The pumping of wate
water into the ocean had continued for decades. Finally, new laws prohibit
dumping industrial or city waste in the ocean. So, hopefully, over time, both
the water and the beaches will become cleaner.
Woman : It’s a good thing.
Who knows, the entire marine environment could have been spoiled by garbage
The
dialogue is followed by several questions, each spoken only once. In your test
book, you will see the multiple choice selections for each question. The
question and the answer choices for the preceding dialogue might be:
Question:
What is said about the condition of the ocean waters?
(A)They
are stormy
(B) They
are unpopulated
(C) They
are polluted
(D)They
are deep
(A)
is not correct because neither speaker mentioned stormy weather or waters. (B)
is not correct because “sea birds and all forms of marine life” were mentioned.
(C) is a possible answer, (D) is clearly incorrect because the dialogue does
not discuss the ocean depth. Therefore, the correct answer is (C)
Example of a short lecture in part C :
If you need to buy a good lock, there are several things you should keep in
mind. Locks differ in price and quality. You can make a decision about which
lock you want to buy if you know how they work. Let me show you what we have
here and quickly explain how basic locks work. When the correct key is inserted
into the door lock, the notches on the key make metal plates align. Once the
plates are aligned, the key pushes the bolt inside the lock between the door
and the frame. Spring bolts are considered more convenient because you don’t
need to use a key to lock them. When the door closes, they snap into the door
frame and stay locked until a key is used to open them. However, spring locks
are not as hard to do; you can see for yourself. On the other hand, dead bolts
work from inside the door, and they need a key to unlock them. Dead bolts
are called “dead” because they don’t move until you move them with a key. Spring
locks and dead bolts are the two types of locks we sell most.
Question:
Why are dead bolts called “dead”?
(A)They
are no longer used
(B) They
are poorly designed
(C) They
are difficult to maintain
(D)They
are require a key to open them
A
is not correct because the speaker said that spring locks and dead bolts are
commonly used. Nothing was mentioned regarding the design of dead bolts or
their maintenance, so both (B) and (C) are wrong, (D) is the correct answer.
Sources:
Gear, Jolene and Robert Gear. 2006. Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL
Test: Cambridge University Press
Hinkel, Eli. 2004. TOEFL Test Strategies: Barron’s Educational Series.
King, Carol and Nancy Stanley. 1989. Building Skills for the TOEFL. Jakarta:
Binarupa Aksara.
