IELTS LISTENING

IELTS Listening : IELTS Listening Prepared by Laique Lodhi http://www.ieltshome.webs.com ieltshome@yahoo.com Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 1

Learning Objectives of this Unit : Learning Objectives of this Unit Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 2

Lesson# 1 Overview : Lesson# 1 Overview The IELTS listening module is designed to test if you can interact Properly With others, while living in an English speaking country, as there could be Many different situations for dealing with others; the test intends to cover the Most common situations of communication. Listening is the first test that you will take for the IELTS exam. The listening test is for 30 minutes and you get 10 minutes extra at the end to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. You should write your answers on the question booklet as you listen to the tape, and then transfer your answers on the answer sheet using 10 minutes transfer time. During the test, time is given for candidates to read the questions and write down and check their answers. Answers are written on the Question Paper as candidates listen. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 3

Lesson# 1 Overview : Lesson# 1 Overview When the tape ends, ten minutes are allowed for candidates to transfer their answers onto an Answer Sheet. You will have a recorded voice played in the test centre. You will have to listen to the tape carefully and at the same time write answers on the question paper, based on what you understand from the conversations or speeches. You are supposed to focus attention to names, the place and the purpose of conversation. The tape could either contain a conversation or a speech, for this reason the listening test is divided into four parts called Section 1, Section 2 Section 3 and Section 4 Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 4

Lesson# 2 Test Format : Lesson# 2 Test Format There are four sections in the listening test. Each section has 10 questions making 40 in all. Sections 1 and 2 are based on social survival in an English speaking country and sections 3 and 4 are more education and training oriented. At the start of each section you will be given a short introduction to the situation. For example, you might hear the tape say “you are now going to listen to a conversation between two students discussing their assignments in a language school”. Or “you are going to hear a conversation between Sara a university student talking to her lecturer”. Before the recording starts for each section you will be given some time typically 30 seconds to look at the questions. Make sure you read the questions carefully to predict and get an understanding of what type of information you should be listening for, for example a phone number, an address, name of a person or place. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 5

Lesson# 2 Test Format : Lesson# 2 Test Format One thing most candidates get frustrated about is that the tape is only played Once and if you miss something the first time, it will not be played again. So make sure you keep your concentration on the tape and eyes on the questions. The Recordings May have an Australian, British or American accent. Make sure you practice listening to all sorts of accents. There will be different types of questions you will get in the Listening test. You will be provided an example at the start of each section, make sure You always read the example Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 6

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies Listening is a complex process which involves information processing, use of strategies and contribution of different factors influencing comprehension such as text, speaker, task and listener. You will be handling multiple tasks simultaneously which requires an immense concentration and attentiveness. You can strategically handle these tasks with various strategies Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 7

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 1) MAKE A STUDY PLAN Procrastination is one of the key reasons students get a lower band score. You have to have a smart study plan and you can register yourself for the test months in advance. However, the day you decide to take the test should be the day you start the preparation. You will have to decide whether or not you are going to prepare yourself with reliable resources or whether you are going to take an IELTS preparation class. I suggest in order to get the best results, you should do both. If you cannot afford to take a preparation class, make sure to choose an IELTS book that has explanatory answers. You can also consider having a tutor. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 8

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 2) Build a strong vocabulary Another reason students do badly in the IELTS is that they have a very limited vocabulary. You can overcome this dilemma by creating a blank dictionary on the day you decide to prepare yourself for the test and track all the new words you learn along the way. You can use a notebook or an address book will be a better choice because it is separated into letters. For each new entry, write the word and use it in a sentence. At the end of each week you should write a short essay using as many of the words as you can. It is not useful to study vocabulary lists because practically you will only remember words that you have seen in situations and circumstances. Always use an English dictionary; it will help you to learn four or five new words while looking for a single word. Keep in mind you will not remember the word if it does not take any effort to understand it. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 9

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 3) Read the instructions Read the instructions carefully. To my experience the last thing most students would do is to read the instructions. If you fail to completely understand or demonstrate that you have understood the instructions, you may get your answers wrong even though you understood the question. instructions will be on your question booklet and will also be played on the tape, so make sure you get them right..For example, if the instructions for the questions say write “No More than Three Words” and you answer in four or more words your answer will be considered wrong because in essence you did not answer the question by not following the instructions. The reason for this limit is quite simple and obvious; there is not enough space for more than 3 words on the answer sheet. Articles “a” and “the” count as one word. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 10

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 4) Predict information One of the key strategies for listening is to predict some of the information you will require to answer the question. To apply this strategy you need to read through the questions first.  At the beginning of the test, and before each section, you will be Given time to read the questions before listening starts. This is extremely important as It gives you time to carry out some prediction and try to understand what information they are asking for and it also helps you to predict who the speaker/s is/are where they are why they are talking Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 11

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 4) Predict information Predicting the words you might hear becomes much easier if you can work out the word variables. The variables are those words and situations in a possible answer that can vary or change, according to what you hear on the tape. In many types of questions, multiple choice for example, those variable word/phrase choices are given to you. In other questions, the choice of words you may hear is completely up to you to predict. You can predict the part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, and adverb) or try to guess the answer based on your understanding and hints given in the questions. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 12

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 5) Underline key words It is an important strategy to underline significant or important words in questions. It helps you to recognise these keywords during listening. Conversations and dialogues in the listening tape might be excessively fast for you and you probably miss some important words before you realise it, your underlined words will help you to identify these words in a rapidly spoken dialogue. You can underline words while you read through the questions before you listen, but you make sure you focus on the whole question as you listen. If your problem to understand the conversations continues, you can think of possible synonyms for the words you have underlined, as you will often be hearing synonyms for the words in questions. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 13

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 6) Listen for Targeted Information During the listening test you are often listening for specific information. As you will be reading the questions and listening to the tape at the same time, which is not an easy task, it is important for you to read ahead as much as you can. This will allow you to listen for specific information to answer the questions. For example, some questions require a number (i.e.; , a postcode, a telephone number, a passport number, etc.) and you may hear someone say; "that's nine three, five, nine, six, eight, right? And then you might hear the other speaker says; "no! That’s five, nine, four, five.” so the number was deliberately given the wrong way by the first speaker, only to be corrected By the second. This problem may be compounded when the question is asked concerning the number that was first given. So don't just write down the first number you hear. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 14

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 6) Listen for targeted Information You will also need to be able to understand descriptions of locations And especially spoken directions about how to reach a certain place. Furthermore, you should know how to recognise and identify other People from their physical descriptions. Often in these dialogues, the Speakers change their minds and use slang that may be unfamiliar to you. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 15

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 7) Never leave a question unanswered There is no negative marking in the IELTS. You get a mark for each correct answer and you get no marks for incorrect or missing answers, so since you do not lose marks for wrong answers you can try to guess those questions you could not answer. Using this strategy you have a 25% chance getting your guess as a right answer. Each answer you guess correctly will add an extra mark. You have better chances of guessing the correct answers for questions such as ‘True’, 'False', or Multiple Choice questions. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 16

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 10) Separate your weak points After you have been preparing the IELTS for a while, you will find out about the areas that give you the most trouble for example you might find you are weak at predicting information or you do not comprehend specific information, distracters or spellings. You should change how you split your time across different areas of the listening test. If you are taking an IELTS preparation class, ask your teacher to bring in extra homework help on problems like these. If you are studying by yourself, find a good book in the library. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 17

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 8) Transfer your Answers You will write your answers on your question booklet as you listen and transfer them on to the answer sheet in 10 minutes given as transfer time. Make sure you transfer your answers to the answer sheet. You will be marked by Answer Sheet and not by what you write in the question booklet. Any correct answer which is not copied to Answer Sheet will not be marked and you will obtain zero mark for that. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 18

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies 9) Use the correct answer sheet Make sure you write your answers on the correct answer sheet while transferring your answers to the answer sheet. Both the listening and reading answer sheets are on the same piece of paper, one side is for listening answers to be transferred and other side is for reading answers and it is quite easy to mistakenly write answers on the wrong side of the answer sheet, so make sure it says IELTS Listening Answer Sheet, not IELTS Reading Answer Sheet. Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 19

Lesson# 3 Strategies : Lesson# 3 Strategies Author Laique Lodhi www.ieltslahore.com 20