Teacher Toolkit 

PTE Academic  
Listening  
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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Table of Contents  
Strategies for Summarize Spoken Text Items 4 
PREPARATION ACTIVITY 5 

Strategies for Multiple-choice: Choose Multiple Answers Items 8 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY 9 

Strategies for Fill in the Blanks Items 1​1 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY 1​2 

Strategies for Highlight Correct Summary Items 1​4 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY 1​4 

Strategies for Multiple-choice: Choose Single Answer Items 1​7 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY 18 

Strategies for Select Missing Word Items 2​0 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY 2​0 

Strategies for Highlight Incorrect Words Items 2​3 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY 2​4 

Strategies for Write from Dictation Items 2​6 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY 2​6 

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PTE Academic Listening 

 
The teaching toolkit contains helpful information and activity ideas for preparation classes for the 
Listening section of PTE Academic. 
 
Use the ideas and recommendations to build lesson plans that will give test takers an opportunity to 
practice answering the different question item types in this section of the test.  
 
Consider adding your own source texts and other learning materials as well to ensure that learners 
engage with you and others in the class as much possible when preparing. 
 
The toolkit for the Listening section includes: 
 

● One classroom preparation activity for each item type. 

● Strategies for each item type. 

   

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Strategies for Summarize Spoken Text Items 

Make sure the summary includes the main point and 
supporting points. 
When test takers take notes using an Erasable Notebook whilst they listen to the recording, they 
must make sure they note down the supporting points as well as the main idea. From their notes, 
they can then summarize the main point and refer briefly to the essential supporting points, which 
will ensure good marks for content. 

Remember to check grammar, spelling and punctuation.  

In their 50-70 word summary, test takers will be scored on grammar, spelling and vocabulary. So 
suggest that they leave one to two minutes after they have written their summary to check their 
sentences for things like subject/verb agreement, tenses and word order.  
 
Test takers should use grammatical structures that they can use confidently, and words that they 
know they have spelled correctly. Finally, test takers should double-check their use of punctuation 
and make sure they have begun each sentence with a capital letter. 

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PREPARATION ACTIVITY  

Aims of the activity 

● To acquaint learners with the requirements of the Summarize Spoken Text item type. 
● To practice listening to a short authentic text. 
● To improve learners’ note-taking skills. 
● To remind learners of the scoring criteria for the Summarize Spoken Text item type.  
● To give learners practice writing a short summary. 
● To encourage reflection on what has been learned. 

Assumptions 
● Learners know the requirements of the Summarize Spoken Text item type. 
● Learners can use some common abbreviations. 
● Learners are at least B1 level (the listening text is B2 level). 

Materials needed 
● Summarize Spoken Text item.  
● Summarize Spoken Text sound file. 
● Summarize Spoken Text sample response.  
● Summarize Spoken Text item transcript. 
● Summarize Spoken Text scoring criteria. 
● Timer. 

Time 
● Approximately 1 hour. 

Activity Plan 
1. Lead-in 
 
Put the learners into groups of three or four and ask them to discuss the questions below. Write the 
questions on the board or project them. 
● English is the most commonly taught language. Why do you think that this is the case? 
● Do you think that the English language is a necessary basic skill for everyone nowadays? 
● At what age do you think children should start learning English? 
● Do you think that the English spoken between non-native speakers is the same as the 
English that native speakers speak? 

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In open class, elicit a few answers from the learners and encourage them to discuss their answers 
across the classroom. 
 
2. Explaining the task 
 
Remind the learners that they will need to listen to a short passage and summarize it. The learners 
will need to do the following for this task: 
● Summarize the text in their own words using 50-70 words. 
● Take no more than ten minutes to listen to the text, write, and check the summary. 
● Take notes on the screen or the Erasable Notebook while listening. 
● Organize their summary: start with a topic sentence and support it with the main 
details mentioned in the text. 
 
3. Note-taking practice 
 
Learners are to recognize the main points, as they will be repeated or highlighted or supported with 
examples, explanations, facts or data. Main ideas and only the most significant support should be 
included in the summary. 
 
Remind the learners to use commonly-used abbreviations and abbreviate any words they can. Ask 
the learners to get ready to take notes of the main points and important details from the text.  
 
Remind the learners of the rubric for Summarize Spoken Text: 
 
You will hear a short lecture. Write a summary for a fellow student who was not present at the lecture. You 
should write 50–70 words. You have ten minutes to finish this task. Your response will be judged on the 
quality of your writing and on how well your response presents the key points presented in the lecture. 
 
4. Listen and take notes 
 
Play the recording once through to the end, while the learners take notes. Ask them to check their 
notes with their partner to see if they have noted the same points. Depending on their level, they 
may need to listen again. If so, play the recording again, while they improve their notes. Elicit the 
main points from the class, and write them on the board in note form. 
 
Suggested answer: 
English most commonly taught foreign lang.  
Commonly used bet. speakers of various langs 
In many countries = universal basic skill taught at early age 
Some think vital for biz, ed., info & glob. co-op. 
Not all agree. 

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5. Write the summary  

 
Ask the learners to use their notes, or the notes on the board, and their memory of what was said in 
the text to write a coherent summary of the text. Remind them of the scoring criteria, and that they 
should write between three and five sentences. Give them ten minutes to do this. 
 
6. Check the summary 
 
Ask the learners to swap their summaries with their partners. They should read and evaluate their 
partners’ summaries using the scoring criteria to give a mark out of ten (maximum score for this 
item type). They will have five minutes to comment on their partner’s summary.  
 
They are encouraged to comment on both positive and negative aspects of the summaries, after 
which they should then give the summaries back to their partners and share their marks and 
comments. Allow time for discussion and answer any questions that arise. 
 
7. Sample discussion 
 
Share the sample response with the learners. Explain that there is no single correct response for this 
item type, but many different responses, which could score maximum points. 
 
Encourage them to discuss the sample response with their partners in relation to their own 
responses and then open the discussion up to the full-class, with learners discussing the relative 
merits of their summaries in relation to the sample.  
 
8. Reflection 
 
Ask the learners to reflect on what they have learned in this lesson and how that could help them in 
the actual test.​ ​Share the transcript with the learners to check on what they have heard. 
 
 

   

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Strategies for Multiple-choice: Choose 

Multiple Answers Items 
Take notes of the main points and supporting details.  
In the seven seconds before the recording begins, test takers should read the question and get 
ready to take notes to help them answer. Taking notes is likely to be more helpful than trying to 
select options while you listen because they may not hear the information in exactly the same order 
as the options.  
 
Test takers should note down details (e.g., times, places, things that happened) as well as the main 
points, because they will need to select more than one option. 

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Select for meaning, not just to match the words heard. 

Test takers should select the options that best match the meaning of what they have heard. Don’t 
just choose an option because it has the same words or phrases as the recording. Several options 
may use words from the recording but may not match the meaning of what they have heard.  

PREPARATION ACTIVITY  

Aims of the activity 

● To practice the strategies for completing Multiple-choice: Choose Multiple Answers. 
● To remind learners what skills can be tested in this item. 

Assumptions 
● Learners know the requirements of the Multiple-choice: Choose Multiple Answers item type. 
● Learners are about B1 level (the listening text is B1 level). 

Materials needed 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Multiple Answers item. 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Multiple Answers sound file. 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Multiple Answers answer key. 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Multiple Answers transcript. 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Multiple Answers scoring criteria. 

Time 
● Approximately 20 mins. 

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Activity Plan 
1. Lead-in 
 
Write on the board: L​ aughter is the best medicine.​ Ask the learners in groups of three or four to 
discuss this idiom and answer the questions below.  
● Do they agree, or disagree? 
● Do they have an idiom with a similar meaning in their language? 
 
When they have finished, encourage some open-class discussion on the benefits of laughter. 
 
2. Focus on the item type 
 
Elicit which listening skills they could be tested on in this item type. Remind the learners that they 
need to read the prompt carefully in the seven seconds before the recording starts. This will tell 
them what they need to listen for. Encourage them to take notes on their Erasable Notebook while 
they listen. 
 
Remind them to keep listening right till the end, even if they think they already have the answers. 
Explain that the speaker sometimes revises what they have said or adds some important extra 
information at the end. 
 
3. Listen 
 
Elicit from the learners what they will be listening for during the recording. After playing the 
recording, ask the learners to re-read the prompt, read the answer options and choose the correct 
ones. Ask them to check with their partner to see if they have the same answers. 
 
4. Feedback 
 
Elicit the answers. If they are struggling to come up with the correct answers, play the recording a 
second time and ask them to check again in their pairs, and after a minute or so, elicit the answers 
again from the class. The answer key can be used to show the learners why the correct options are 
correct and the incorrect options are not correct. 
 
5. In the test 
 
If they have not understood the text, or they cannot identify the correct options, they should take a 
guess and choose one, as it may be correct. 
   

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Strategies for Fill in the Blanks Items 

Skim the text before the recording begins. 
In the seven seconds before the recording begins, test takers only have time to skim the text. As 
they do this, they should ignore the gaps and try to get an overall idea of what the text is about. This 
will help them recognize the words that fit the gaps, as they hear them.  
 
Some of the things test takers can look for:  
● Proper nouns (that begin with a capital letter). They can give information about people and 
what they do (e.g., ‘Mike Griffiths … conservationist’), places (e.g., ‘Indonesian island of 
Sumatra’) and organizations (e.g., ‘conservation group The Leuser International Foundation’). 
● Nouns that are repeated in the text, as they may help learners to decide on the topic.  

Use the Erasable Notebook to write the words heard for 

the blanks. 
The recording is at normal speed and is only played once. While test takers are listening to the 
recording, they will not have time to think about how to spell the missing words. They should use 
their Erasable Notebook to write down what they think they hear. 
 
After the recording has finished, test takers will be able to read through the text, and use their notes 
to decide on the words that are missing and how they are spelled. They should then type them into 

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the gaps. The next item does not start until test takers click Next (N) at the bottom of the screen, so 
they will have a little time to think about their answers. 
 
 
 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY  

Aims of the activity 

● To acquaint learners with the requirements of the Fill in the Blanks item type. 
● To practice listening for missing words. 

Assumptions 
● Learners are aware of the differences between the features of the written language and 
sounds of connected speech. 
● Learners are about B1 level (the text is B1). 

Materials needed 
● Fill in the Blanks item. 
● Fill in the Blanks sound file. 
● Fill in the Blanks answer key. 
● Fill in the Blanks transcript. 
● Fill in the Blanks scoring criteria. 

Time 
● Approximately 20 mins. 

Activity Plan 
1. Lead-in 
 
Ask the learners to discuss the following questions in groups of three or four. 
● How important is it to eat healthy food? 
● How can people be influenced to eat healthier food? 
 
Ask them to rank their ideas from most likely to succeed to least likely to succeed. Elicit from the 
learners in open class what they have discussed and how they have ranked their ideas. 
 
 

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2. Explaining the task 

 
Elicit from the learners what is required of them in this item type, including correct spelling. Remind 
them that they need to follow the recording with their eyes and move their cursor from blank to 
blank in time to type each new word in the blank as they hear it. They can also use their pen and 
Erasable Notebook to write down the words as they hear them. 
 
3. Listen 
 
Give the learners the task, and ask them to read the instructions carefully if they are not acquainted 
with the task requirements, and skim-read the text in the seven seconds they have before the 
recording starts. Remind them that they need to take a note of the word in each blank, even if they 
cannot write the full word. Reassure them that they will be able to check their words for word form 
and spelling before they click ‘Next’ to go to the next item. 
 
Play the recording once while the learners fill in the blanks. When they have finished, ask them to 
check their answers with their partner to see if they have the same answers. If not, they should work 
together to try to fill each blank with the correct word, correctly spelled.  
 
4. Feedback 
 
Elicit the correct words from the learners and write them on the board as they give them to you. 
Check that they have the correct word form and spelling for all the words.  
 
5. Reflection 
 
Ask the learners in groups of three or four to discuss what they found difficult about the task and 
how they could overcome their difficulties in the future. 
 
6. In the test 
 
If they have not understood the text, or they cannot identify the correct summary, they should take 
a guess and choose one, as it may be correct. 

   

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Strategies for Highlight Correct Summary 

Items 
Take notes and match them to the correct summary.  
Test takers should not read the options before or while listening to the recording, as there is too 
much to read, and this will distract them. Instead, they should note down the key ideas on their 
Erasable Notebook as they listen (e.g., keywords and phrases, numbers, names and dates and any 
information that is highlighted by the speaker through stress and intonation). Test takers should 
then read the options and match the option that is closest in detail to the notes. 

 
 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY  

Aims of the activity 

● To practice the Highlight correct summary item type. 

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● To improve learners’ ability to comprehend, analyze and combine information from a 

spoken text. 

Assumptions 
● Learners have had some experience with reading and analyzing summaries of short 
Listening texts. 
● Learners at approximately B1+ level (item at B2 level). 

Materials needed 
● Highlight correct summary item. 
● Highlight correct summary sound file. 
● Highlight correct summary answer key. 
● Highlight correct summary transcript. 
● Highlight correct summary scoring criteria. 

Time 
● Approximately 20 mins. 

Activity Plan 
1. Lead-in 
 
Ask learners to discuss in groups of three or four the following questions: 
● Which jobs do you think will be replaced by robots or 'bots' in the next ten years? 
● Which jobs will never be replaced by robots or 'bots'? 
 
Give them a few minutes to discuss the answers to the questions and then elicit their thoughts in 
open class. Encourage them to give reasons for their answers. 
 
2. The Task 
 
Give the learners a copy of the four answer options and ask them to read the options and highlight 
or underline the differences between each one. Ask them to check their work with their partner and 
to discuss any aspects of the answer options which they do not agree on.  
 
Elicit the answers in a full class and ask them to guess what the listening text is about, on the basis 
of their understanding of the options. 
 
 

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3. Listening and note-taking 

 
Ask the learners to take notes from the listening on their screens or paper. Remind them to take 
notes on the main points, which will be repeated, exemplified, supported or highlighted in some 
way. Ask them to also take notes on the most important supporting details. 
 
Play the recording once and ask them to compare their notes with their partners. If you feel it is 
required, play the recording a second time while the learners take notes. 
 
4. After listening  
 
Ask the learners to match their notes and their memory of the text to the correct option. Remind 
them that the options can be wrong because information from the text is missing, or incorrect in an 
option, or information that was not in the text is included in an option. 
 
Check their answers to see how many chose the correct option. If not many chose the correct 
option, play the recording again and ask them to tell you when to stop the recording at relevant 
parts of the text to help them understand how to complete the task successfully.  
 
5. Reflection 
 
Ask learners to think about what areas were most difficult with the task and remind them to practice 
those for their independent learning activities. 
 
6. In the test 
 
If they have not understood the text, or they cannot identify the correct summary, they should take 
a guess and choose one, as it may be correct.    

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Strategies for Multiple-choice: Choose Single 

Answer Items 
Focus on the kind of information you need.  
For listening multiple-choice questions, the main part of the question will tell test takers what to 
listen for. Being aware of the focus of the question will help guide their listening.  
 
For example, it will tell you whether you are listening for the main idea: What was the main cause of 
the company’s collapse?  
 
Or listening for some supporting information or details: What aspect of past transport policy does 
the speaker mention?  
 
Or listening for an inference drawn by the speaker: What does the speaker suggest that the factory 
may have to do?  
 
Or listening for the speaker’s purpose: Why does the speaker talk about the fall in car ownership? 

Skim the question and answer options before listening to 

understand the topic. 
In the five seconds before the recording 
begins, test takers should quickly read the 
question and answer options to make sure 
they understand the topic.  
 
For example, in the sample, the question 
shows that the speaker will talk about the 
future, and the options show they all 
include the word ‘media’. So test takers are 
listening to hear what the speaker thinks 
will happen to the media in the future. 
 
 
 

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PREPARATION ACTIVITY  

Aims of the activity 

● To practice the Multiple-choice: Choose Single Answer item type. 
● To improve learners’ ability to understand a short listening text. 
● To improve learners’ note-taking skills. 
● To practice speaking skills. 

Assumptions 
● Learners understand the requirements of the task. 
● Learners are approximately B1 level (sample item is at B1 level). 

Materials needed 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Single Answer sample item. 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Single Answer sound file. 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Single Answer answer key. 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Single Answer transcript. 
● Multiple-choice: Choose Single Answer scoring criteria.  

Time 
● Approximately 20 mins. 

Activity Plan 
1. Lead-in 
 
Ask learners to discuss their answers to the following questions in groups of three or four. 
● What did you enjoy most when you were young, being read to, or reading stories? 
● When did you start writing your own stories? 
● What kind of stories did you like to write when you were in primary school? 
● Have you re-read any of the stories you wrote when you were a young child? If so, how do 
you feel about them? 
 
2. The task 
 
Remind learners that they need to read the prompt before the recording starts. They will have five 
seconds to do this in the test. 
 

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Ask learners to read the prompt and discuss with their partner what they think the listening text will 
be about. Ask them to finish the sentence in as many ways as they can. 
 
Show the learners the response options for the item, and ask them to guess what the text is about. 
 
Prompt: In the speaker’s opinion, the main benefit of literature is that it helps us to: 
1. Develop the ability to pass exams. 
2. Build a better society. 
3. Connect with our own emotions. 
4. Understand other people. 
 
3. Listening and note-taking  
 
Ask learners to take notes as they listen to the short recorded text. Remind them that there is only 
one correct option for this item type. 
 
Play the text once and give the learners a few minutes to finish writing their notes. Ask them to 
check their notes with their partner. They should discuss what they have written and decide 
together the correct option from the four options available. They should justify their choice. 
 
4. Feedback 
 
Elicit the correct response in a full class, and if they have not all arrived at the correct response, elicit 
from a learner who has the correct response why they chose that response. 
 
Play the recording a second time and ask the learners to raise their hand when they hear the part of 
the recording which gives them the clue to the correct response. You may need to replay the 
recording at the part of the recording where the response is located, so that the learners who did 
not arrive at the correct response can clearly understand the reason for the correct choice. 
 
5. Discussing the content of the text 
 
Ask the learners to review their notes with their partner and to discuss whether they agree or 
disagree with the speaker’s opinion on the main benefit of literature. In an open class, elicit from the 
learners whether they agree or disagree. If they disagree, encourage them to say what they think is 
the main benefit of literature. 
 
6. In the test 
 
If they have not understood the text, or they cannot identify the correct summary, they should take 
a guess and choose one, as it may be correct. 

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Strategies for Select Missing Word Items 

Ensure test takers know what to do if they want to change 
their answer. 
For each item in this task, there are three to five response options but 
only ONE option is correct. At the end of the recording, test takers must 
click on the option they think is correct.  
 
The next recording does not begin playing until they select ‘Next’. So they 
have a little time to think about the answer. If they want to change their 
answer, they must select it again to ‘de-select’ it. They can then select 
another option. 
 
 
 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY  

Aims of the activity 

● To practice the Select Missing Word item type. 
● To improve learners’ ability to understand explicit and implicit information.  
● To improve learners’ ability to anticipate how a speaker may conclude. 

Assumptions 
● That learners are keeping a personal vocabulary notebook. 
● Learners are at least B1 level (sample item is at B1+ level). 

Materials needed 
● Select Missing Word item. 
● Select Missing Word sound file. 
● Select Missing Word answer key. 
● Select Missing Word transcript. 
● Select Missing Word scoring criteria. 

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Time 
● Approximately 20 mins. 

Activity Plan 
1. Lead-in 
 
Ask the learners in groups of three or four to think of five small on-line businesses that would be 
suitable for teenagers to start up and manage. Once they have their list of businesses, ask them to 
rank them in descending order according to the likelihood of returning a profit. 
 
Elicit the most likely businesses to return a profit from the learners and elicit different ways of 
making money from small on-line businesses. 
 
2. Focus on the item type 
 
Remind learners that they need to check the first sentence of the instructions to find out the topic of 
the text. For this text it is Teenage Entrepreneurs. Remind them to think about the topic in the seven 
seconds they have to prepare before the start of the recording.  
 
While they listen and focus on the general content of the recording, they should keep an eye on the 
audio progress indicator in the middle of their screen. As it approaches the right-hand side, they 
should listen more carefully. 
 
When the recording has finished, they should read the answer options and choose the correct one. 
They should then quickly check that the other options are not suitable, and when they are satisfied 
they have the correct option, they should click ‘Next’ to go to the next item. 
 
3. Prepare for the listening test 
 
Show the learners the answer options for the item and ask them to guess what the focus of the text 
is. 
 
Answer Options: 
1. Produce fascinating videos. 
2. Gain online followers. 
3. Understand social media. 
4. Join advertising companies. 
 
 
 

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4. Listening and selecting  

 
Play the recording through once. Ask the learners to choose the most suitable ending for the text. 
Once they have done that, they should check to see if they have the same answer option as their 
partner. Ask them if they agree; if not, they may need the recording to be played a second time. In 
this case, after the recording, ask them again to check with their partner and encourage them to say 
why they chose the answer option they did. 
 
Elicit the correct answer from the class. If there is still some disagreement, play the recording again, 
and ask them to listen carefully to find out why the incorrect options are incorrect, and the correct 
option is correct. Then clarify the reasons for the correct and incorrect options. 
 
5. In the test 
 
If they have not understood the text, or they cannot identify the correct summary, they should take 
a guess and choose one, as it may be correct.    

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Strategies for Highlight Incorrect Words 

Items 
Quickly read the transcription before listening to focus on 
keywords.  
In the ten seconds before the recording begins, test takers cannot read word-for-word, but they can 
skim the transcription.  
 
Focus on the words that give information: E.g., nouns (‘economy’), adjectives (‘industrial’) and verbs 
(‘manufactured’). Using these, they can decide what the general topic is. This will help them pick out 
words that do not fit this topic area as they read and listen.  

Follow the text with the cursor while listening.  

In this item type, test takers have to select the wrong words as the text is read. They should not try 
to make notes as they listen.  
 

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Suggest they move the cursor along the screen as the words are spoken, and click on any words that 
sound different from the words on the screen.  
 
 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY  

Aims of the activity 

● To acquaint learners with the requirements of the Highlight Incorrect Words item type. 
● To practice recognizing and using weak forms. 
● To train learners’ to identify wrong words from a stream of connected speech. 

Assumptions 
● Learners know the differences between weak and strong forms. 
● Learners know the phonetic alphabet, especially the /ə/ sound and symbol. 
● Learners know the requirements of the Highlight Incorrect Words item type. 
● Learners are approximately B1 level (item is at B1 level). 

Materials needed 
● Highlight Incorrect Words item. 
● Highlight Incorrect Words sound file. 
● Highlight Incorrect Words answer key. 
● Highlight Incorrect Words transcript. 
● Highlight Incorrect Words scoring criteria. 

Time 
● Approximately 20 mins. 

Activity Plan 
1. Lead-in 
 
Ask the learners in pairs to note down all the words they know that have weak forms when used in 
connected speech. To get them started, elicit a few and write them on the board, e.g., the /ðə/, you 
/jə/. 
 
Give them some time to come up with a few words. Elicit them from the learners, and write them on 
the board. Drill the weak forms. 

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2. The task 
 
Give the learners a copy of the transcription and remind them that there will be no more than seven 
incorrect words. Remind them that they lose points for highlighting words that are correct, but their 
score cannot go below zero. 
 
Ask them to listen to the recording and mark every word they hear which is different from the words 
in the transcription. Play the recording and ask the learners to check their words with their partners. 
Elicit from them words they identified as incorrect. Write all the words they tell you on the board. 
 
3. Check the answers 
 
Tell the learners that you are going to play the recording again and they should tell you when they 
hear each wrong word on the board. Mark each one as they tell you. When the recording has 
finished, give them the transcript and ask them to listen again with the script, so they can read and 
hear the correct words. 
 
4. In the test 
 
If they have not understood the text, or they cannot identify the incorrect words, they should take a 
guess and choose up to seven (maximum number of incorrect words per text), as they may be 
correct.    

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Strategies for Write from Dictation Items 

Type as many correct words as can be remembered into 
the response box in the correct order.  
Test takers will score points for every correct word written in the response box. If they can 
remember a word, but are not sure where it goes in the sentence, they should use their knowledge 
of English grammar to help them decide. 

 
 

PREPARATION ACTIVITY  

Aims of the activity 

● To acquaint learners with the requirements of the Write from Dictation item type. 
● To practice taking dictation. 

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Assumptions 
● Learners have taken dictation before. 
● Learners are B1/B1+ level or above (item at B2 level). 

Materials needed 
● Write from Dictation item. 
● Write from Dictation sound file. 
● Write from Dictation answer key/transcript. 
● Write from Dictation scoring criteria. 

Time 
● Approximately 5 mins. 

Activity Plan 
1. Lead-in 
 
Elicit from the learners the steps for completing the Write from Dictation item type. 
● Have their cursor ready in the response box or pen and paper ready for when the recording 
starts. 
● Listen to the sentence and focus on its meaning before starting to type or write. 
● Type or write as soon as the sentence is finished. 
● Check the meaning of the sentence is the same as the sentence they heard. 
● Check all the words are spelled correctly and in the same order as the sentence they heard. 
● Check they have a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and a period (full stop) at 
the end. 
 
2. The task 
 
Ask the learners to listen to the recording and follow the steps above. 
 
Encourage them to check their sentence to make sure they have all the words in the same order and 
that the sentence is the same in meaning as the recording, and has not been paraphrased. 
 
3. Check the answers 
 
Ask for a volunteer from the class to write the sentence on the board. Ask the learners to check the 
sentence and to point out any mistakes if they would like to. Encourage discussion and supply the 
correct sentence if required. 

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4. Debrief 
 
Remind the learners that this is the last item type of the test and that there are three or four of 
these in each test. Elicit ways of dealing with this item type, which is not difficult, but comes at a time 
in the test when they are likely to be quite tired and eager to finish. 
 
5. Answer key/Transcript 
 
The current economic climate is facing a challenging period. 

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