Passing an English proficiency test is a milestone for many non-fluent speakers. Among the different sections in such tests, the listening part can often present unique challenges. In most standardized English tests, your ability to comprehend and respond to spoken English will be put under scrutiny.
This blog post is dedicated to helping you, the ambitious test-taker, sharpen your listening skills and equip you with strategies to excel in the listening section of your English test.
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Before we plunge into the how-to's, it's key to understand what the listening section typically involves. You will be asked to listen to recordings of conversations and talks on a variety of topics. Following each audio segment, you'll answer questions based on what you've heard. This can assess a range of abilities from grasping and understanding the main ideas to recalling specific details.
Active listening involves fully concentrating, understanding and responding thoughtfully to what is being said. During your prep, don't just passively hear the content—engage with it. Take notes, summarize points and predict conclusions to enhance your retention skills and understanding.
When you come across words that are difficult to understand, it's essential to practice them repeatedly. Listening to these words in different contexts can help attune your ear to their nuances. Incorporate them into your study sessions by finding audio resources that use these words and listen to them multiple times. It also helps to make a note of any words you struggle with so you can practice them.
Homophones are words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings, and they can be a common source of confusion in the listening section. For instance, consider the words "pair" (two items of a kind) and "pear" (the fruit); "flower" (the plant) and "flour" (the baking ingredient); or "right" (correct or a direction) and "write" (to form letters or words).
These words highlight the importance of context in understanding spoken English, and recognizing homophones is crucial for excelling in the listening section. Make sure to include such pairs in your study routine to sharpen your listening skills.
Locate practice tests and materials that mimic the conditions of your upcoming exam. Regularly taking mock tests helps you familiarise yourself with the format and timing. This practice can also reduce anxiety on the day of the actual test, as you'll know exactly what to expect.
You won't remember every detail you hear, and that's okay. Develop a system of shorthand or symbols that enables you to jot down key information swiftly. With practice, you'll learn to discern what's likely to be the focus of questions.
The listening test may include multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank, matching and sentence completion, among others. By understanding each type, you can develop targeted strategies, like reading the questions beforehand where time is allowed, to anticipate answers.
For multiple-choice questions, listen for keywords and ideas that match the options provided, but also be wary of distractors—information that is true but doesn't answer the question. It helps to quickly read the questions before the recording starts, if allowed, to know what information to listen for.
When approaching fill-in-the-blank questions, your attention to detail is crucial. These questions often test your knowledge of vocabulary and understanding of key points. Pay attention to the grammatical structure of the sentence to predict what type of word is missing—be it a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb.
With matching questions, it's beneficial to understand the relationships between parts of the content. They might require you to match speakers to opinions or items to categories. Note any expressions that indicate agreement, contrast, or reason, which can provide hints for correct answers.
Sentence completion questions examine your ability to understand the main idea and specific details. Practice focusing on the context around blanks and predicting possible answers based on content already heard. This requires a good grasp of grammar and broad vocabulary.
Distractors might be used in listening tests. These are options in multiple-choice questions that seem correct but aren't. Improve your critical listening skills to spot these traps, often engineered to test if you're listening to the specifics or just the surface details.
One such trap involves the use of paraphrasing; the spoken content often rephrases what the questions or answers require, testing your understanding beyond mere word recognition. Another trap is the presentation of almost correct options, where minute details are altered to mislead unwary candidates.
A strategic listener will also be on guard for 'red herring' statements where extraneous information is provided to divert attention from the relevant answer. Lastly, watch for speakers correcting themselves in the audio; the initial information might be a trap, with the correct answer being provided only later in the dialogue.
Recognizing and navigating these traps requires a sharp focus and an active engagement with the material—skills that can be improved with deliberate practice over time.
During the test, you might miss an answer or find a section particularly challenging. It's important to stay calm and move on. Agonizing over one question can cost you the concentration needed for subsequent questions.
Q: How can I improve my ability to understand different accents?
A: Regularly listen to media from various English-speaking countries. Platforms like YouTube, podcasts, or even accent training resources can provide exposure to a wide range of English accents.
Q: Should I take notes by hand or on the computer?
A: Practice the method you'll use in the actual test. If you're taking a paper-based test, get comfortable with writing notes quickly by hand. For a computer-based test, practice typing your notes efficiently.
Q: How important is spelling in the listening section?
A: It can be very important, especially in sections where you have to write down what you hear. Incorrect spelling can sometimes result in a wrong answer, so it's crucial to sharpen up your spelling skills.
Conquering the listening section of your English test requires practice, strategy and patience. By becoming an active listener, immersing yourself in English, practicing purposefully and learning to stay calm and collected under pressure, you'll be positioning yourself for success.
Remember, every moment you spend preparing—from listening to English music, to tackling practice exams—is a step towards acing that listening section and moving one step closer to achieving your goals. Good luck.
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Stories can make us laugh, cry or tremble with fear. They can teach us valuable life lessons and transport us to other worlds. They've been around since the beginning of language itself, but can they actually help us learn a language?
Stories are one of the most useful toolswhen teaching childrenEnglish. Not only do they help with listening and reading skills, but they can also support speaking and writing skills by providing context, language and structure.
Very young learners may already be familiar with stories – they may hear them in daycare, school or at home with their parents. Therefore, incorporating these into their language classes may help them to feel more comfortable in their surroundings. And if children feel comfortable, they are more likely to be receptive to learning.
Storytelling usually happens as part of a group in the classroom. This means that it becomes a bonding activity for children where they can communicate and subconsciously pick up the key language. While having fun listening and interacting with the story, theysoak up information without even realizing they’re learning.
So, what storytelling activities can we use with younglearners? Let’s find out.
Often, we think of storytelling simply as reading a book aloud to children. Yet, there are other activities you can do. These include:
To get young children interacting with the story, first read out a sentence alone. Then, have the children repeat the line with you as a group. Repeat as many times as necessary, until the children feel confident with the language.
If your learners are happy to, ask them individually to repeat the sentence after you. Make sure each one has a turn and praise them for being brave and trying to use the language.
An activity that works well with children is to act out the story’s characters. For example, there may be animals, fairies, monsters or other exciting characters that they can each act.
Ask them to make the noises of the animals, the wind, or the scenery to create an atmosphere while you read. This gets them interacting with the story and the rest of the group, which will help their communication and listening comprehension skills.
Young learners react particularly well to visual aids and realia. Why not use puppets or dolls to act out the characters, or even ask students to have a go with them? They will engage more with the story and the language.
Children’s story books are usually quite visual with illustrations and pictures. Make the most of these while telling the story. Try asking students questions about the images to get them using the vocabulary.
You could ask them, “what can you see?”, “what’s he wearing?” or “can you find an apple?”. This is another great way to reinforce the vocabulary they’re learning in class.
Use these activities individually orincorporate a mix into your lessons. Either way, storytelling will help your learners with more than just developing their English language skills.
While we often think of storytelling as a pastime for children, it can also be a useful language learning activity for adults.
Stories are part of our daily lives, from news to social media to books and movies. Therefore, they can be extremely beneficial tools for English language learning.
Yet, the way we approach storytelling as a class activity for adults differs to that of young learners. While we typically read fairy tales to young children, we can bring in a much wider range of content for adults, such as:
Storytelling can be a wonderful language learning tool for both children and adults. If you’re looking for a new way to engage, inspire and motivate your learners, why not try it in your next class?
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