The TOEFL Listening Section tests a candidate’s comprehension of English-language conversations and lectures. Candidates must listen to recordings with natural speech sounds and respond to questions based on those recordings for this TOEFL part. While listening to the audio, candidates are allowed to take notes. This section contains two different kinds of listening materials. Both the lectures and the dialogues use the university lingo. You have to respond to a series of questions based on the recordings once each lecture or conversation has ended.
There will be three to four lectures, each lasting three to five minutes, and six questions for each session.
There will be two to three dialogues with two speakers, each lasting three minutes and each featuring five questions.
You will have 20 minutes allotted for questions. The time spent listening to the recordings is not included. The whole TOEFL Listening Section will take 60 to 90 minutes.
There are often two parts to the TOEFL Listening section:
Academic lectures
The academic lectures on the TOEFL iBT simulate a regular classroom discussion often led by a professor. These discussions might take several forms. One professor and many students may engage in intellectual conversations or deliver monologues as part of a lecture.
There are many subjects, including business, anthropology, botany, biology, psychology, archaeology, and chemistry. The presentation lasts 4-6 minutes and is followed by 6 questions. The questions will be shown once the lecture is over.
Academic Dialogues
Conversations between two persons are a part of the TOEFL listening component. There is always one pupil. A second individual might be a fellow student, a member of the university administration, a teaching assistant, a librarian, etc. The TOEFL iBT test includes questions regarding talks in administrative offices or while discussing any service with university officials.
Academic issues and information on meeting course requirements, signing up for classes, paying for housing, or obtaining materials from the library are frequently discussed. You will see an image of the two persons conversing in a particular setting. Typically, the chat lasts for two to three minutes before the time of responding to the questions. You will only be able to read questions at the end of the conversation.
Types of TOEFL Listening Questions
The TOEFL’s Listening part includes the following sorts of questions:
Purpose Questions
This inquiry focuses on the context—rather than the subject matter—of the discussion or presentation. The typical opening of these queries is “Why.” For instance, “Why is the lecturer questioning the student about……?” or “Why is the student talking about the topic…?” The answer to these queries may be implied in the tape or stated outright by the speaker.
Questions with Specific Details
You will need to recall specific knowledge to respond to queries of this nature. To respond appropriately to the questions afterward, you must take notes while the audio is playing. Although they seem simple, these questions can be of any level of difficulty.
Functioning Issues
Function inquiries resemble little purposes inquiries. Instead of asking you what the term means, this type of question probes into the motivations behind the speaker’s statements. The speaker frequently uses idioms and slang or discusses things that are not immediately related to the issue. It’s up to you to find out what sentences in the talk was unimportant.
Attitude Inquiries
The attitude inquiry probes the speaker’s mindset and goal as they thoroughly discuss a specific subject. You must infer the speaker’s sentiments or ideas from indicated information to respond to these questions. To react appropriately to these queries, you must comprehend the tone of voice even when the information you want might not be vocal.
Organizational Issues
These questions test your comprehension of the arrangement of the discussion or lecture. You have to respond to one of the most challenging listening section questions. You must comprehend the lecture’s organizational structure, its primary subject, and the intended audience to respond appropriately to this question. To respond accurately to these questions, you might need more information than just how the presentation was organized.
Questions About Related Content
In a lecture or conversation, connecting content questions challenge you to share your understanding of the connections between various topics. You could have to fill up a chart or table or even respond to standard multiple-choice questions. Again, making notes will assist you in responding to this query.
Inference Questions
You may say that the questions included in the function, attitude, linking material, and purpose questions are subelements of the inference questions. It would help if you comprehended the implication of a lecturer’s use of indirect language to answer an inference question. To correctly answer this question, you must delve beyond the obvious and literal interpretation of the words, concepts, or phrases. This query will probably include “imply” or “infer” as its keyword. This question is more challenging to answer since, in both circumstances, the information you will require will not be expressly given.
Techniques for the Listening Section of the TOEFL
The tips below will help candidates who want to score well on the TOEFL test in the TOEFL iBT Listening Section. These are the regulations:
You can grow your vocabulary and enhance your listening skills by constantly reading academic texts and listening to English.
A great way to improve your listening abilities is to watch movies and television shows and listen to the radio.
Candidates may also use audiobooks, seminars, and presentations to improve their listening skills. Candidates can use the Internet to their advantage by finding them there.
Beginners should listen to various topics, starting with short and simple ones before progressively moving on to longer and more challenging ones.
You can begin by playing recordings on well-known subjects before gradually moving on to less recognized ones.
If you are new to this technique, you should begin your preparation with the recordings with English subtitles before switching to the tapes without subtitles after some time.
TOEFL test advice for listening
As you listen to the recordings, make notes. You won’t be assessed on every detail, so include those you believe are crucial and will aid in answering questions later.
Pay closer attention to the speaker’s voice tone. You can answer inquiries regarding the speaker’s attitude or viewpoint by observing, for instance, if they sound unhappy, enthusiastic, perplexed, etc.
Please notice how a lecture or discussion is structured and how the topics being discussed relate to one another as you listen to it. These remarks will be beneficial when providing a solution to the question of general organization.
If you’re unsure about the correct response, choose the option that most closely aligns with the discussion’s or lecture’s main point.
In case a question is particularly challenging, make an educated guess and move on. If you spend too much time on one question, you risk missing out on straightforward questions and running behind schedule on the listening portion.
Answers to the questions in the listening part must be given in order. You cannot return to an earlier question once you’ve submitted your response. So, after giving the question some thought, respond appropriately.
You are now fully aware of the TOEFL’s Listening part, and we’ve also included all the tips and methods you may use to complete the listening module and earn a high score.
Best wishes!!