IELTS

Listening

AZ International Islamic Institute

Test Format and Tasks

•Format and Tasks

•Strategies and Examples
•Further Help
•References
•Questions
Test Format

• Test Format (Recorded tape played once only)

• 30 minutes
• Four Sections, each with 10 questions
• Time allocated for
• Reading questions
• Writing and checking answers
• Transferring answers to an answer sheet
 Test Format and Tasks
• Based on Conversation and Monologue
• A variety of question types
• Multiple choice
• Short-answer questions
• Sentence completion
• Notes/summary/diagram/flow-chart/table completion
• Labeling a diagram which has numbered parts
• Classification
• Matching
 Test Format
• Section 1 Questions 1-10
• Complete the table
• Label the rooms on the map
• Section 2 Question 11-20
• Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer
• Write NUMBERS OR NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for
each answer
 Test Format – Listening
• Section 3 Questions 21- 30
• Choose the correct letters A-C
• Write NOT MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer
• Section 4 Question 31 -40
• Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer
• Write NUMBERS OR NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each
answer
Test Format and Tasks: Assessment
Criteria
• One mark is awarded for each
correct answer in the 40 item test
• Care should be taken when writing
answers on the answer sheet as poor
spelling and grammar are penalised.
Test Format and Tasks – Listening
Activities
• Section 1: A conversation between two speakers in
a social and semi-official context
• Section 2: A talk by a single speaker based on a non-
academic situation
• Section 3: A conversation with up to 4 speakers
based on academic topics or course-related
situations
• Section 4: A university-style lecture or talk
Approaching the listening tasks

• Before you listen, survey the questions and try to build up an idea
and reason for listening; e.g. what is the topic? What is the situation?
How many characters are there?
• Follow the instruction carefully, get the information and answer the
question accurately
Example of Tasks

Complete the notes using no more than three words.

1. In the mornings the student teachers will …….. ( teach
and observe)
2. student teachers could be teaching large classes with up
to …. (70 students)
3. Discussion groups are quite difficult to arrange in
Vietnamese classes but not … … … … … … ..
( impossible)
Example of Task

Tapescript
Good morning everyone. Welcome
to the second year of your teaching
degree. My name is Simon Taylor.
I'm a second year lecturer in the
education faculty. Today I'll be
giving you an overview of the field
trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam,
that you all registered for at the end
of last year.
 Example of Task
Sample task
Tick the three items which are discussed in the talk.
A. Teaching schedule for student teachers
B. Safety issues for student teachers on the field trip
C. Accommodation
D. How the field trip fits into the teaching degree
E. Vietnamese students' level of proficiency in English
F. How the work requirements for the field trip compare with
the work requirements for student teachers who remain in
Australia
G. Quality of English language teaching in Vietnamese
universities
H. Textbooks commonly used in Vietnamese English classes
Strategies – Test Tips

• Your purpose of listening is to

identify what the question requires
you to
• It is not necessary to understand
every word that is spoken
• You will hear the information once
only, so prepare yourself by
anticipating what you will hear
• Read and analyse the question as
pre-listening task
Useful websites

• UGC Introductory site http://www.ugccepa.com

• IELTS homepage http://www.ielts.org/index.htm

• ELC homepage http://elc.polyu.edu.hk