The IELTS test is one of the most important English language tests you must take to get admission to a reputable university, work and live in English-speaking countries. This test consists of 4 parts and lasts about 3 hours. One of the parts of this test is listening, which is explained in this article.
Listening structure
The listening test assesses learners’ ability to analyze sentences and events. A tape is playing from the beginning to the ending of the test, and you have to listen to it, analyze the conversations, and answer the questions.
The listening has four sections where you have to answer the questions in about 40 minutes. Each of these sections has different topics that gradually become more difficult, i.e., the fourth part of the listening test has the most difficult, and the first part has the easiest questions.
Listening test scheduler
The listening test has a time of 40 minutes, and this time is divided into two parts. The tape plays in the first 30 minutes, and you have to listen to it. When the tape is finished, you have to answer the questions in the last 10 minutes and enter them in the answer sheet.
The topics of listening questions
As you know, the listening test consists of 4 parts, and each part has ten questions. But the topics of each section are different, which we will examine in the following.
section 1
The first part of IELTS Listening, the simplest part, is about everyday conversations between two people, by phone or in person. For example, you may hear a student talking to the university’s education department, asking about the class schedule. This section is not time-consuming, and you can answer the questions with a bit of focus.
section 2
The second part, like the first, contains ten questions that have a social theme. The second section is a monologue (a speech by one person). It will be set in an everyday social context. In this part, two people are talking about everyday and social topics. For example, two friends may talk about a movie at a party. The questions in the second part are a little more difficult than the first, but with practice, you can easily give the correct answers.
section3
This is one of the most challenging parts of listening, and you have to be very Concentrate. In this part, there is a conversation between up to four people, and it talks about academic and scientific topics. For example, some students talk about the last student conference.
section4
This part is entirely specialized, so you have to practice a lot and know various words to understand the topic. The final part is another monologue. It is a lecture or talk of general academic interest such as a university lecture.
Supplementary Tips
Now that you are fully acquainted with listening, you need to consider a few essential points to be successful.
- The first thing about listening is to take a brief look at the questions before playing the tape and review them to get acquainted with the topics and find the answers when the tape is played.
- Note that the tape will be played only once and will not be repeated in any way. So listen carefully and with total concentration to fully understand it.
- Do not forget that spelling and grammar mistakes are also important in listening. So when answering, make sure that all the answers have the correct spelling and grammar.
Conclusion
In this article, you will get acquainted with the types of questions and listening structure. It may seem like a difficult task, but by repeating, practicing, and concentrating, as well as improving your listening skills, you can easily answer the questions and get your desired score on this test.