Section 1 of speaking is a conversation between two people about everyday life and social needs like

arranging accommodation or arranging holiday. In this conversation people give and receive
information. In this we need to remember factual information like telephone numbers, places or dates.
Section 2 of speaking is of one person about general topic. Speaker fives information to other people for
example it may be an introductory to members of library. Or someone talking about a organization they
represent. In this we need to remember factual information.
Section 3 of speaking is between 2 – 4 people about academic or educational situation like a tutorial or a
seminar. This check the skill of follow a discussion, understand facts reasons and ideas, understand
opinions and attitudes of speakers and understand speakers agreements.
Section 4 of speaking is of one person about academic lecture. For example it could be an overview of
field of study or describe a research project and also the talk is given in educational setting like in a
university. The reson we listen is to identify the information or opinion of the speaker and also to show
you can follow and argument. Understanding the argument is easy because the lecture is organized in a
logical way.
If we have to write one word then if we write a number it is wrong. No more than two words and/or a
number means “5 people have” or “people have” or “ 5 people” or “people”
Section 1 and 2 could be accomadation office, travel agent or a public meeting. We are assed the
following skills
1. Identify main ideas
2. Identify factual information.
Section 3 and 4 could be student discussion or lecture. We are assesed the following skills
1. Identify main ideas
2. Identify factual information
3. Identify how much listeners agreeing with each other
4. follow academic explanation
5. attitudes and opinions
Questions types are listed below:
1. Form/Notes/Flowchart
2. Multiple-choice
3. Short answer
4. Sentence completion
5. Labelling diagram/map
6. Classification
7. Matching
Listening strategies:
1. Before listening
a. Using instruction –
b. Predicting – There is 30 second pause for prepare for the next type of questions. During
this time we need to predict the situation (Topic) and the vocabulary (Common words) for
the situation. We need to ask who is speaking, where is the place, why they are speaking,
what are they talking about. To answer these questions we need to use instruction we
heard from the audio, and the instruction on the question paper, and questions on the
question paper. When we try to think like this we can predict the topic of the discussion
and the common words that will hear in the listening.
2. During listening
a. Listen for the similar words or expressions similar to the keywords in the question- We
need to ready to hear words or expressions similar to the keywords in the question.
Ex:- number of employees = how many…../………staff
Ex:- …….makes…….= BCD is a manufacturer of ………….
b. Listening while reading – to do this we need to do two things, first one is read two
questions ahead. And the second one is don’t panic if you miss and answer mark it and
answer it at the end of the test.
3. After listening
a. Check whether you followed the instructions – ex:- Check the word limit
b. Grammatically fit to the question – We need to make sure only write words we hear in the
listening track and also grammatically fit to the question. ex:- sometimes word in ……..
the answer to this question is “other countries” and not the “overseas”. Another aspect is
check whether we have written unnecessary words to the blank space. Ex:-
“117…….street” the answer to this question is “Colombo” and not the “Colombo street”
c. Spelling is correct in the answer – if you can’t remember the spelling, it is better to try
memorize the spelling of the words. Another thing we can do is write number figure
instead of the word.
To handle missed answers we need to follow below three instruction:
1. Write something
2. Use what we can remember from the audio
3. Make a reasonable guess that is grammatical fit and logical fit
To avoid mistakes that happen while transferring answer we need to practice transferring answers.
Multiple choice question

Most of the time possible answer is a paraphrase that we hear in the audio.
Steps to do MCQ efficiently
Before listening steps:
Step 1: read the instructions to see how many answers we need to find
Step 2: read the question and underline the keywords in the question. For example a keyword might be
“speaker’s friend”. When the audio is playing listen out these keywords because it will guide you.
Step 3: then read the options and thin how this might paraphrase. For example “Sport counseller” might
paraphrase into “adivisor to the sport people”
Step 4: Then underline the key words in the options that might hear exactly same or paraphrase.
While listening steps
Step 5: And when playing the audio listen for these keywords and pharpahsed words pharses.
Step 6: choose the answer that has the same meaning as in the audio.
Form Filling

Steps do form filling efficiently:

Before listen steps:
Step 1: check the instruction to identify how many words need to be written
Step 2: during the preparation time read through the form and identify what does it covers and what are
the main points are covered
Step 3: try to predict what words might fit the black. Words that come before the gap and after the gap
might help to predict the answers. For example it might be a name or a number.
While listen:
Step 4: use the heading of the form and information already there to help understand the listening.
Step 5: write the answer with correct word and number
Step 6: make sure the spelling is correct
Matching

Before listening
Step 1:- Read the instructions to identify do some letter might be not needed or some letter might need
to use more than once.
Step 2:-In the preparation time we need to read the question to identify the topic. And what the task
covers and what are the keywords.
Step 3: identify what do the numbered questions have in common
Step 4: Think how the options in the box be paraphrased
While listening
Step 5: Focus on the options and match them to the numbered questions
In the above example we can say options from A-G are the features of hotels and blank 1-5 are the list of
hotel and from the question we can identify we need to match what speaker say about each hotel. And
the questions are in the order of 1-5 so you will hear “hotel mayfair” first and other later. And while
listening think about how the option might paraphrased. In the above example instead of “larger room”
speaker might say “Room are spacious”. And also speaker might mention other options but he will later
rule them out so be ready for this. The main thing for this type of questions is to look for the options
while the audio is playing.
Short answer Questions

One of the difference between this type of questions and other type questions is, in this type of
questions we need to use only the words that we heard in the audio. So that do not use synonyms and
don’t paraphrase the answer.
Before listening
Step 1: Read the instructions to identify to what number of questions we need to find the answer and
the word limit.
Step 2: read the question and identify and underline what type of answer we need to find. And also the
we need to identify and underline keywords that gives us idea about the topic.
During listening
Step 3: During listening listen for the synonyms or the keywords that highlighted
Step 4: when you hear the answer write it in the gap. Check that it is spelled correctly and firs the
instructions.
Labeling a Diagram/Plan/Map

one of the difference between this type of questions and other type of questions is we need to not only
understand by reading the question but also we need to understand the visual representation.
Answers are in the same order as the questions.
We need to write the letter in the answer.
One of the important thing in this type of questions is to use all the information that already given to
follow the speaker. If we can follow the speaker we can easily find the lables
Before listen
Step 1: before the audio look at the visual and try to understand what it is represent. For example we
can identify it is a map and it has the layout of the map. And it is represent a layout of a tennis center.
Step 2: then identify what are already labled and what are missing labels
Step 3: look at the options
While listening
Step 4: while listening look at the lables that are already given to guide the understanding.
Step 5: if it a map listen to the prepositons to follow the talk in relation to the map.
Step 6: finally write the letter of the lable
Table or flow chart completion

This table or flow chart represent part of a talk or a conversation.

We need to fill the blank with a accurate description of the heading.
Before listening
Step 1: read the instruction to identify how many words need to be write
Step 2: read the table/flowchart and identify what facts or information is represented
Step 3: look at the gap and try to predict what type of words or numbers might fit. To do this words
come before and after the gap might help.
While listen
Step 4: use the heading and the information already there to guide the understanding of the listening. It
is also remember the answers are in the same order as the questions.
Step 5: write the answers that fit the blank. And also remember not to put “s” when it is not needed or
put “s” when it is needed. And also remember to write the words in the correct way.
Sentence completions

The gap can be in the start middle or the end of the sentence
One of the important thing in this type of questions is that we have to write it down the word as in the
same form.as we hear them
Another important thing is sentences in the question is paraphrase of the sentence we hear in the
recording, that is we hear different words in the recording but there meaning will be the same.
Another important thing is to spell the words correctly.
Before reading
Step 1: read the instruction and identify how many words need to be written and the number of
questions that we need to do.
Step 2: then highlight the keywords in the questions
Step 3: think about synonyms or paraphrased words that we might hear for the highlighted keywords.
Step 4: think about and predict the type of word that might fit the gap, for example is it a time, amount,
noun or adjective
While listening
Step 5: while listening listen for the synonyms that you thought of
Step 6: write the answer with the correct spelling
After listening
Step 7: read the complete sentence and check whether it is grammatically correct. In this type of
questions grammar is very important. One of the reason that is cause incorrect grammar is that you
didn’t hear the correct form of the word for example because “s” is missing. Another reason for
grammatically incorrect is you chosen the wrong word from the listening for example “furniture” and
“tables” both said the speaker but you choose “furniture” but it is a uncountable noun so it is wrong for
the following question.

Classification
This type of questions are distinctive because the question numbers are different features given by
statement, words or phrases which you will hear in the audio.
In this type of questions identifying the speakers and their opinion and attitude is important.
In this type of questions it is possible to use same category more than one time
In all classification questions answers are in same type of category and also the questions are also in the
same type of category.
Sometime there the both or neither category as well like in the following example
Step 1: read the complete task and identify what is the topic
Step 2: read the task question and identify the word or words that refer to the categories for example
the word “who” in the task question means it is referring the categories and it is name of people

Step 3: read the task question again and identify which words or words referring to the features or
phrases or statement next to the question numbers.

While listening
Step 4:- identify who is speaking any one time Especially if classification task appears in the section 3. To
identify who speaking notice the quality of the voice for example how high or low is the voice or it is
male or female, and also identify the different of the accent. While listening identify the opinion and the
attitudes of the speaker for example is the speakers agreeing or disagreeing or surprised of something
Step 5:- once we identify the speaker and the attitude or the opinion we can find the correct category
and write down the answer
Notes completions

Notes are record of main points and the structure of what we are hearing
In the note we can identify the heading, subheadings and the bullet points. The gap that we need to find
the answer usually in the bulleted text.
Before listening
Step 1: read the instructions and identify the questions numbers that we need to answer and the word
limit
Step 2: then read the notes and see what information and fact are presented
Step 3: look at the gap and predict what type of word or number might fit
Step 4: highlight the keywords and try to think about synonyms
While listening
Step 5: use the synonyms and keywords you thought of and the subheading to guide you through the
speech. Speaker will tell the words or numbers for the answers in the same order as the questions
Step 6: because we only hear once write the missing word as you hear them
Step 7: you don’t need to change the form of the words but make sure answer fit grammatically and
spell correctly
Sign post language
Sign are used in the academic talks to follow the talk and to understand the argument and is can be seen
in the section four of the listening test.
Using signpost language listener don’t loose in the middle of the lecture and also they can predict what
comes next
Example 1 – “In the lecture today we talk about nuclear fusion”. Fucntion of this is to give subject of the
talk. This usually used in the start of the talk to let the ordience know what the overall subject of the
lecture will be. And also setting the context of the talk so that they can predict the vocabulary and the
context they might hear.
Example 2:- “Now let’s turn to …..”. Using this lecturer signal he is moving to a new point or topic
relavant to the context of the talk. This is used in the middle of the talk.