TOEFL iBT Listening TIPS
Listening test is very important in TOEFL Test. Listening section will give you more score in TOEFL test. The question is how to improve our listening skill. There are many ways that can use to improve our listening skill. Here is the example of that.
Listening assignment is considered to be one of the most difficult. That is why practicing and improving your listening skills is a vital necessity when preparing for the TOEFL.
There are two main ways to improve your listening skills:
• listen to the English language as often as possible (CD, audiotapes, English movies and radio, etc);
• read a variety of academic materials (scientific journals, periodicals, literature).
When train your listening skills, pay attention to three basic purposes of listening:
• Learn new topical vocabulary.
• Pay careful attention to the content, don’t get distracted by the speaker’s voice, accent, tone, etc.
• Try to predict what the person will say next using this as a technique to stay focused on the subject of the conversation/text.
• Be active by asking yourself questions about the text.
• Write down three different columns under the headings “main idea,” “major points,” and “important details.” While listening fill the columns with appropriate answers. Then listen for the second time and check your answers.
• Listen to a part of the text and summarize what you have heard. Gradually increase the length of the text for summarizing.
• Try to analyze the purpose of each speaker’s conversation. Does the speaker apologize, suggest, command, etc.?
• Notice the style of the speakers. Differentiate between formal and informal language; determine how confident or emotional the speakers sound.
• Listen for deviations made in the topic line (if there are any).
• Pay attention to different stress and intonation patterns that are used for different meaning.
• Determine the organization of the text you are listening to. Notice specific words that indicate the introduction, major ideas, examples, and the conclusion.
• Identify the relationships between ideas, e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, steps in a process, etc.
• Listen for words that convey relationships between ideas.
• If the information is recorded, stop it in different parts and try to predict what will be expressed next.
• Outline the information you heard.
Source : http://www.mytoeflsuccess.com/internet-based-test/ibt-preparation/listening.htm
Some TOEFL recordings are over five minutes long, with no pauses and a constant flow of new information. You will hear many thoughts and facts in those few minutes, and it can be extremely hard to remember everything you heard.
You’re not taking notes in order to write everything down, though. That’s impossible, because the speakers talk too fast. Instead, you are taking notes mostly just to keep focused. As a TOEFL teacher, I have taken the test many times. And there have been a few times when I got questions wrong in the listening section because I simply didn’t remember the part of the lecture a question was asking about. I’m a native speaker, but because I was distracted and stopped taking notes, I didn’t catch the important information. Always keep your pencil ready and think about the next thing to write.
As I mentioned in the above tip, you can’t write everything down. You need to choose what you write. If you try to write down everything you hear, you won’t understand what’s said.
Instead, note-taking should be a two-step process. First, you listen to the person who is speaking. Then, you put the main idea down onto paper in your own words, as quickly as possible. The pause between listening and writing is very short—less than a second—but it’s important to consider the meaning of what you heard before you write anything.
TOEFL iBT Listening TIPS
I don’t mean that you should close your eyes all the time; after all, how would you take notes with your eyes closed? Plus, there are pictures on the screen that can help you. Sometimes, you’ll see a diagram or picture that can clarify difficult information.
But if you become distracted, or if you have trouble staying focused on what the people are saying, it can be extremely helpful to just close your eyes and listen for a moment or two. Then, after you listen and understand a bit, you’ll want to open your eyes, write what you heard, and then close them again to re-focus.
It’s not only the words we say that give information to the listener; it’s also how we say the words. That’s as true on the TOEFL as it is in the real world.
TOEFL iBT Listening TIPS
If you can identify a speaker’s feelings by the way they say something (and what they say), then you’ll be more able to answer questions about the general purpose of the lecture or conversations as well as any questions on speakers’ attitudes.
Knowing many transition words can help with every section of the TOEFL, so I highly recommend studying them (as well as other academic vocabulary). When you hear a structural word like “however,” you know that the information which comes after relates closely to something that was just said. And you also know that the topic of both sentences (what they have in common) must be somewhat important, because the speaker is giving multiple details about that topic.
In the listening section, it’s very likely that you’ll hear whole sentences that show structure, too. Pay attention to any questions that you hear, for example. There will often be an answer to the question soon after, and that answer will often be a key part of the recording—something that should go in your notes.
Listening assignment is considered to be one of the most difficult. That is why practicing and improving your listening skills is a vital necessity when preparing for the TOEFL.
There are two main ways to improve your listening skills:
• listen to the English language as often as possible (CD, audiotapes, English movies and radio, etc);
• read a variety of academic materials (scientific journals, periodicals, literature).
When train your listening skills, pay attention to three basic purposes of listening:
Listening for Basic Comprehension
• Learn new topical vocabulary.
• Pay careful attention to the content, don’t get distracted by the speaker’s voice, accent, tone, etc.
• Try to predict what the person will say next using this as a technique to stay focused on the subject of the conversation/text.
• Be active by asking yourself questions about the text.
• Write down three different columns under the headings “main idea,” “major points,” and “important details.” While listening fill the columns with appropriate answers. Then listen for the second time and check your answers.
• Listen to a part of the text and summarize what you have heard. Gradually increase the length of the text for summarizing.
Listening for Pragmatic Understanding
• Try to analyze the purpose of each speaker’s conversation. Does the speaker apologize, suggest, command, etc.?
• Notice the style of the speakers. Differentiate between formal and informal language; determine how confident or emotional the speakers sound.
• Listen for deviations made in the topic line (if there are any).
• Pay attention to different stress and intonation patterns that are used for different meaning.
Listening to Connect and Synthesize Ideas
• Determine the organization of the text you are listening to. Notice specific words that indicate the introduction, major ideas, examples, and the conclusion.
• Identify the relationships between ideas, e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, steps in a process, etc.
• Listen for words that convey relationships between ideas.
• If the information is recorded, stop it in different parts and try to predict what will be expressed next.
• Outline the information you heard.
Source : http://www.mytoeflsuccess.com/internet-based-test/ibt-preparation/listening.htm
There are also TIPS that you can do in listening test.
TOEFL iBT Listening TIPS
1. Take Notes
Some TOEFL recordings are over five minutes long, with no pauses and a constant flow of new information. You will hear many thoughts and facts in those few minutes, and it can be extremely hard to remember everything you heard.
You’re not taking notes in order to write everything down, though. That’s impossible, because the speakers talk too fast. Instead, you are taking notes mostly just to keep focused. As a TOEFL teacher, I have taken the test many times. And there have been a few times when I got questions wrong in the listening section because I simply didn’t remember the part of the lecture a question was asking about. I’m a native speaker, but because I was distracted and stopped taking notes, I didn’t catch the important information. Always keep your pencil ready and think about the next thing to write.
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| TOEFL Listening TIPS |
2. Listen then Write
As I mentioned in the above tip, you can’t write everything down. You need to choose what you write. If you try to write down everything you hear, you won’t understand what’s said.
Instead, note-taking should be a two-step process. First, you listen to the person who is speaking. Then, you put the main idea down onto paper in your own words, as quickly as possible. The pause between listening and writing is very short—less than a second—but it’s important to consider the meaning of what you heard before you write anything.
TOEFL iBT Listening TIPS
3. Close Your Eyes
I don’t mean that you should close your eyes all the time; after all, how would you take notes with your eyes closed? Plus, there are pictures on the screen that can help you. Sometimes, you’ll see a diagram or picture that can clarify difficult information.
But if you become distracted, or if you have trouble staying focused on what the people are saying, it can be extremely helpful to just close your eyes and listen for a moment or two. Then, after you listen and understand a bit, you’ll want to open your eyes, write what you heard, and then close them again to re-focus.
4. Take Note of Opinions and Emotions
It’s not only the words we say that give information to the listener; it’s also how we say the words. That’s as true on the TOEFL as it is in the real world.
TOEFL iBT Listening TIPS
If you can identify a speaker’s feelings by the way they say something (and what they say), then you’ll be more able to answer questions about the general purpose of the lecture or conversations as well as any questions on speakers’ attitudes.
5. Pay Attention to Structural Words
Knowing many transition words can help with every section of the TOEFL, so I highly recommend studying them (as well as other academic vocabulary). When you hear a structural word like “however,” you know that the information which comes after relates closely to something that was just said. And you also know that the topic of both sentences (what they have in common) must be somewhat important, because the speaker is giving multiple details about that topic.
In the listening section, it’s very likely that you’ll hear whole sentences that show structure, too. Pay attention to any questions that you hear, for example. There will often be an answer to the question soon after, and that answer will often be a key part of the recording—something that should go in your notes.