UNIT 3

IELTS course

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UNIT 3
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IELTS Listening Test

Overview of the listening test

1 The listening test has four sections.

2 There are 40 questions.
3 Candidates hear each section once .
4 The speakers have different accents.
5 Candidates have time to transfer their answers after the recording has finished.
6 Spelling is important.

Section 1

a conversation in an everyday social context between two people

Section 2

a monologue on a topic relating to general social needs

Section 3

a conversation in an academic context between two or more people

Section 4

a lecture or talk on a topic of general academic interest

Predicting

Predicting involves using the context and your knowledge of the topic to guess what people are
speaking about. For instance, if you were watching TV and you saw an advertisement for a car, you
could guess that the purpose of the advert would be to sell the car and that there was likely to be
vocabulary related to cars.

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Predicting is an important listening skill because we can make more sense of what we hear if we use
what we know already about the topic. 
 

Identifying key words

When listening to a recording, it is sometimes difficult for learners to understand every word. A very
important skill is the ability to identify the key words – that is, the most important words which carry
the message.

Related to this skill is the ability to recognise the way speakers use sentence stress and intonation
– in other words, making words louder and higher – to highlight important words.

Listening for specific information

Our reason for listening will affect the way we listen. Often we need to listen for specific information.
For instance, if you are listening to a weather forecast for your area, you would be listening out for
the name of your area.

Identifying key words and listening for specific information depend on the ability to deal with
distraction – being able to ignore information or words that are not important. In the example of the
weather forecast, you would ignore the names of areas you were not interested in.

The ability to recognise synonyms and paraphrasing is also important. In the example of the weather
forecast, you might be listening for the word 'rain', but the speaker might actually say, ‘Wet weather
is expected.’

Listening intensively

Intensive listening means listening very carefully when all the content is important. For instance, if
you were buying a new mobile phone and the shop assistant was explaining how it worked, you
would need to listen to the instructions very carefully.

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Identifying attitudes of speakers

This means understanding what the speaker is thinking or feeling, even when they do not express
their thoughts directly. For instance, if someone said to you, ‘Are you sure about that?’, they might
be expressing doubt about what you have said, or they may be disagreeing politely. Recognising the
use of intonation is very important for this.

Understanding attitude and opinion is an important listening skill because people will often not state
directly what they are thinking or feeling.

Task

Match the listening skills to the examples:

listening for specific information, predicting, identifying key words

listening intensively, identifying attitudes of speakers

You are trying to work out what your friend really thinks about  your new jacket.

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You are at the train station listening to announcements because you want to find out which platform
your train leaves from.

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You have come into a lecture and are thinking about what you have read about the subject in
preparation.

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You are listening to your teacher giving you directions to the library.

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You are listening to someone who is speaking very fast and trying to pick out the important words.

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Answers

You are trying to work out what your friend really thinks about  your new jacket.

identifying attitudes of speakers

You are at the train station listening to announcements because you want to find out which platform
your train leaves from.

listening for specific information

You have come into a lecture and are thinking about what you have read about the subject in
preparation.

predicting

You are listening to your teacher giving you directions to the library.

listening intensively

You are listening to someone who is speaking very fast and trying to pick out the important words.

identifying key words

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Task types

The particular listening skills that we need in a situation will depend to a large extent on our purpose
for listening. In the IELTS Listening test, the purpose for listening is provided by the questions and
these will affect the way learners need to listen.

There are several different task types used in the Listening test. As with the Reading test, the task
types could be used in any section of the Listening test. Very often, each section in the Listening test
will have more than one task type.

plan/map/diagram labelling

Candidates complete the labels on a plan, map or diagram by using between one and three words,
or numbers from the recording.

multiple choice

Candidates choose the correct answer to a question on the recording from three answers or from a
list of possible answers.

matching

This task might involve, for example, matching a list of people to what they said or matching places
to the facilities they have.

short-answer questions

Candidates answer questions with between one and three words from the listening.

sentence/table/form/flowchart/summary/note completion

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Candidates complete a sentence, form, table, flowchart, summary or notes by using one to three
words and/or numbers from the recording.

What is top-down processing?

When we listen to someone talking, we use visual clues, the context and our knowledge of the world
to make sense of what we are hearing. We continually make predictions based on this. For instance,
if we are in a shop and the shop assistant asks us something, we use the context (the fact that we
are in a shop and it is a shop assistant speaking to us) and our knowledge and experience of the
world (that is, we know the type of things that shop assistants say to customers) to predict what the
shop assistant is saying. We would expect to hear something like Can I help you?. This is what we
refer to as top-down processing. So predicting is a top-down processing skill.
What is bottom-up processing?
We then use what we actually hear to confirm our predictions or alter them. When we listen to the
actual words that are being said, we are using bottom-up processing. So listening intensively is a
bottom-up processing skill.

A successful listener will use both top-down and bottom-up processing and a range of listening skills.

Task
Look at the following extract of an IELTS Listening Section 1 question and try to make
predictions about the conversation. Choose the correct answers below.
 
Harper Holiday Job Agency
Application for Temporary Work
 
Personal Details
First Name: Lily
Surname: (1) …………
Date of birth: (2)…………
 
Temporary Work Requirements
Period when work wanted: From June to (3)…………
Where work wanted: (4)………… or (5) …………

1 The two speakers

 are friends.
 are colleagues.
 probably don’t know each other.

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2 Lily
 is employed by the agency.
 wants a temporary job.
 can start work in December.
 
You were able to answer these questions by looking at the information in the question and using
your world knowledge of this type of situation (top-down processing). The order of the information on
the form can also give you an indication of the structure of the conversation as the listening follows
the same order as the information on the form.

Answers:

 probably don’t know each other

 wants a temporary job

Think about questions for the other gaps in the task. Write some possibilities in the box
below.
 
 Date of birth: (2) …………
 Period when work wanted: From June to (3) …………
 Where work wanted: (4) ………… or (5) …………

Suggested answers

2    What’s your date of birth? Can you tell me your date of birth? When were you born?
3    When do you want to work? When would you like to work?
4/5 Where would you like to work? Do you have any preferences about where to work?

 We make a prediction (top-down processing) and then use what we hear (bottom-up processing) to
confirm or revise our predictions.

When candidates practice Section 1 of the Listening test, they will hear the exact words they need to
complete the gaps and do not need to change them in any way.

Distractors

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There will often be distractors in the text – that is, extra information that sounds as if it could be right,
which candidates need to listen to carefully to rule out as an answer.

In Section 1, candidates are often asked to listen to and write down numbers, dates and to spell out
words, usually names. This involves very intensive listening.

Task
Listen to Audio 1 on your course page.

Now answer the questions:

1. What is the topic of the talk?

2. How many people are talking?

3. What is the purpose of the recording?

Task
Look at the following questions. Which do you think are the key words?

1  What type of film does John prefer?

2  What sport does he play?

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Suggested answers are in bold.

1  What type of film does John prefer?
2  What sport does he play?

Look at the audio script for the questions above. The answers to the questions have
been underlined. The words that are acting as distractors are highlighted.

Teacher:   What do you like doing in your free time?

John:   I like reading and going to the cinema.

Teacher:   What kind of films do you prefer?

John:   Well, if I had a choice I would go to see horror movies  but my friends prefer  action films.

Teacher:   And do you play any sports?

John:  Well, I used to play basketball but  I gave up  a couple of years ago. Now I play badminton at

the weekend with my friends.

English speakers highlight the important words by making them slightly louder, slower and
higher in pitch than the other words in the sentence. The words that are stressed in this way are
usually content words – e.g. nouns and verbs – as they are the words which carry the message.
The other words in the sentence – function words like articles, prepositions and auxiliaries – are
difficult to hear because they are said more quickly. Often, however, these words are not so
important.

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Section 2: Listening to a general monologue

In Section 2 of the Listening test, candidates hear a monologue in an everyday social context. This
could be, a guided tour or a talk about a museum or place of interest and so on.

Map/plan/diagram labelling

Section 2 sometimes features a map or diagram that candidates have to label. The map or diagram
gives the candidates important visual clues to what the listening is about. As we saw earlier, making
predictions is an important listening skill, which can help candidates to answer correctly.

Candidates are given some time to look at the map, plan or diagram before the listening starts.

Matching question

In map labelling tasks there is often a list of labels to choose from to answer the question, so
candidates have to listen for specific information. Look carefully at the list so that you can identify the
words if they come up in the listening.

Look at the list of labels for the question about the motor show exhibition hall:

A    biofuels exhibit

B    in-car entertainment
C    sandwich bar
D    sat nav developments
E    sports car stand

In this task, candidates would have to listen and label the map of the Motor Show Exhibition Hall with
these labels. However, it is again important for learners to be aware of synonyms and paraphrasing.
For instance, instead of There’s a sandwich bar ... they might hear There’s a place where you can
get a sandwich ... or That’s where to go to get something to eat.

Label:sandwich bar

That’s somewhere you can get a snack.

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Label: sports car stand

This is the place to go if you like fast cars.

Label: in-car entertainment

They’ve got a display showing the latest technologies for listening to music in the car.

Label: biofuels exhibit

There’s an area where you can learn about more ecological ways to power cars.

Label: satellite navigation developments

This is a good stand to go to if you keep getting lost when you’re driving.

Highlighted parts of the sentences with the paraphrasing for in-car

entertainment and biofuels exhibit.

 When you get to the Motor Show you’ll find it’s an enormous hall  and it would be quite easy to

miss  some of the most interesting exhibits,  so I’d like to give you  a bit of general information

first.  First of all,  there is a small stand to the left of the information desk  as you go into the

hall.  That’s got a very interesting display looking at  different modern technologies allowing you to

listen to good quality music as you drive.  Next to that,  to the right of the information desk,  is a very

interesting area  which is devoted to the development of more ecologically sound forms of petrol and

diesel.  I think that you will be impressed by  what you see there.

Listening only once

In the IELTS Listening test the recordings are only played once. This reflects real life, where
learners often only have one opportunity to understand something.
Common learners’ problems and advice

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What I find difficult is when they spell their names.

Make sure you know how all the letters of the alphabet are pronounced.

They speak so fast – how can I recognise the key words?

You need to listen for those words which are stressed – they will often be the important words.

It’s so difficult when you’re not clear about the topic of the conversation.

Before the listening starts, look at the questions and try to think about the topic.

I look at the words in the options in the question, but they often don’t use the same words in the
recording.

Think about different ways of expressing the options.

Because you only get to hear it once, I often miss the information.

In Section 1, you often know when the information you need is going to come because of the
question that is asked before.

I never know what I’m meant to be listening for, so I try to write everything down.

Just think about the information you need to complete the questions and focus on that.

√ Well done! Now move on to Part 2 of this Unit.

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